Bean Brawling (Beanpot Preview)
It's Officially Beanpot season, BC faces Harvard in the early game while defending Champions BU face off against NU in the night cap.
The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, the Beanpot. The oldest active Division I Men’s Ice Hockey tournament begins its 73rd edition on Monday night with the Boston College Eagles facing off with the Harvard Crimson at 5pm and the Boston University Terriers and the Northeastern Huskies facing off at 8 pm (or an hour after the first game ends, whichever is later).
The Matchups
Semifinal 1 (5 pm): BC vs. Harvard
The Eagles and Crimson face off for the first time since January 14th, 2025 (3-1 BC win) and the first time in the Beanpot since the 2024 Beanpot Consolation Game (5-0 BC Win). BC leads the all semifinal series 13-10 with 7 of those wins coming since 2001. Prior to their last semifinal matchup in 2023 the Eagles has won 7 straight against the Crimson. The matchup has seen 5 overtime semifinal games including the last one however there has only been 2 since 1998.
Semifinal 2 (8pm): BU vs. Northeastern
For the 4th time this season the Terriers and Huskies will face off. BU won 2 of 3 so far including each of the last two (2-3, 4-3 (OT), 4-3). Their last game against each other saw BU come back from down 2-3 with less than 2 minutes to play to close out Boston (Matthews) Arena on December 13th.
BU holds an 18-5 lead all time in semifinals but have not beaten NU on the first Monday in February since 2016. Every final since 2009 has featured one or the other other. Since 2018, the only teams that have lifted the Beanpot have been Boston University and Northeastern including 4 head to head finals. Last season was the first time since 2017 that the teams didn’t face each other in the Beanpot.
The Teams
Boston University
The defending Beanpot Champion Terriers (12-13-1, HEA (4th): 8-10-0) will look to win back to back titles for the first time since 2006-2007. All four goal scorers in last year Beanpot Championship game return for the Terriers including Beanpot MVP Cole Hutson who recorded 5 points in last years tournament. The 2025 Eberly Trophy winner Mikhail Yegorov also returns for his 2nd Beanpot.
The Terriers enter on a three game losing streak on the down of an up and down second half of an up and down season. Though the Scarlet and White have two shutouts in 2026, they have also been shut out twice in 2026. BU has strung together 3 wins in a row just once this season, while they have strung 3 losses in a row twice this season. On the positive side, BU won their 1 other game at an NHL arena this season, beating Cornell at Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden.
Players to Watch
Cole Hutson (D, SO), the 2025 Beanpot MVP is 1st in Hockey East and 5th nationally in points by a defenseman
Cole Eiserman (F, SO) has scored in each of BU’s last 3 neutral site games
Nick Roukounakis (F, SO) recorded 3 of his 5 points last season in the Beanpot
Mikhail Yegorov (G, SO) record a .972 save percentage in last year’s Beanpot, the best save percentage by an Eberly winner since TJ Semptimphelter (.972) in 2022 in a losing effort for NU vs BU
Boston College
The Eagles (14-8-1, HEA (2nd): 10-5-0) enter as runners-up of the 2025 Beanpot after making their first Beanpot final since 2019. BC are the top ranked Beanpot team coming into the tournament.
After a rocky October where they finished 2-4-1, BC lost just 1 in November (shut out by Maine, 0-3, on November 22nd), 1 in December (Western Michigan in the Holiday Face-off in Wisconsin, 3-5). They followed two straight losses to Providence to start January with 3 straight wins over UNH (5-2, 3-0) and BU (4-1).
Players to Watch
Dean Letourneau (F, SO) is second among Hockey East skaters in goals with 14 after 0 as a freshman
James Hagens (F, SO) has 7 points in his last 6 games
Jake Sondreal (F, SO) leads the Eagles with 14 assists but has just 1 in 2026
Louka Cloutier (G, FR) has the 3rd most shutouts in Hockey East with 3
Harvard
The Crimson (12-8-1, ECAC (2nd): 10-5-0) finished 3rd in last year’s Beanpot, after getting rocked by BU 7-1, beat Northeastern 4-3 to earn their 21st third place finish.
A solid first half for Harvard (7-3-1) with their only losses coming to Michigan (1-5, 3-4 (OT)) and Cornell (1-3), gave way to a rough start to 2026, which saw the Crimson loss 4 in a row. The team, however, bounced back winning 4 straight before falling again to rival Cornell (1-4). Harvard does come in on a win, over RPI (3-1).
Players to Watch
Mick Thompson (F, SO) has at least a point in 7 of 9 games in 2026, including a 6 game point streak prior to going pointless vs. RPI
Casey Severo (F, SR) recorded 3 multipoint games in November
Philip Tresca (F, SR) has a career high 16 points on the season and has more multipoint games (7) than single point games (2) this season
Ben Charette (G, SO) has a .909 SV% in back to back seasons and is the only goalie outside of Mikhail Yegorov with Beanpot experience
Northeastern
The Huskies (12-12-0, HEA (T-5th): 7-9-0) enter the Beanpot after their first 4th place finish since 2012 in the 2025 Beanpot. The most successful Beanpot team in the past decade will look to return to their heights of the recent past.
After starting the season 10-4-0, NU has lost 8 since December 7th, including separate 5 and 3 game losing streaks with their only success being a sweep of UNH on January 16th and 18th.
Players to Watch
Dylan Hryckowian (F, JR) leads all Hockey East players with 31 points
Jacob Mathieu (F, FR) has 6 multipoint games on the season
Vinny Borgesi (D, SR) leads the nation in TOI/G with 27:31
Lawton Zacher (G, JR) is 2nd among HEA goalies in GAA (2.15) and 3rd in SV% (.928)
