BU Hockey at the Arena
A look back at the history of BU Hockey at Boston (Matthews) Arena as it closes its doors this weekend
“FOUR HOCKEY TEAMS TO BE SEEN AT ARENA TONIGHT” read the headline in the Boston Globe on February 6th, 1918 of an article about Boston University’s first ever collegiate hockey game against a team who the Globe describes as the “Newton collegians”. That game began over a century of BU Hockey at a place that went by many names, originally Boston Arena, then Northeastern Arena, now Matthews Arena, and sometimes referred to simply as “the Arena”. In 104 seasons of BU Hockey, the Terriers played a game at the Arena in 99 of them, the only exceptions: 1919-20, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1979-80, and 2020-21.
Home Sweet Home
BU began their residency at Boston Arena, unfortunately, with a loss to arch-rivals Boston College on February 6th, 1918 (1-3), a game in which Warren Pond scored the first ever goal for the Terriers. The Arena would subsequently burn down eight months later on December 18th, 1918. The Terriers would lose their next three at the Arena before winning, beating the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMass Amherst) 6-1 on January 11th, 1923. Adolphus Provost scored the game winner and Joseph Almer recorded the first Scarlet and White Hat Trick in team history in the game.
As the only arena in town, from the start the Terriers shared their first home with Harvard, Boston College, and the Boston Bruins—from 1924 to 1928, the opening of the Boston Garden. Northeastern, who still calls the Arena home today, took up residence there in 1930.
Despite the four schools sharing the Arena, all four didn’t occupy it at the same time till 1932-33. While BU and BC played their rivalry opener in 1917-18, Harvard’s program was suspended for World War I. The following season, BU suspended their program for World War I during the 1918-19 season. In that same year, Boston Arena was burned to the ground on December 18th, 1918. The Terriers played just a single game in the first iteration of the arena.
Following the Arena’s rebuilding in 1921 and the Terriers’ return to the sport, BU, BC, and Harvard became arena mates. BU held a 34-35-4 record in this era—only beating the Crimson once in 7 games, and holding a 7-4-1 record vs. the Eagles. This era also featured BU’s first shutout of BC—and just 2nd overall—on December 23rd, 1924 a 1-0 effort by Don Martin. It took BU till their 5th attempt to defeat Harvard for the first time, a 3-0 shutout also by Don Martin on December 18th, 1925. It would be another 11 games and 13 years before the Terriers beat the Crimson a second time on December 20th, 1938 (6-3).
From 1929-32, BC suspended their program due to the Great Depression as Northeastern began their program. The Terriers got their first win over Northeastern on February 6th, 1931—13 years to the day of BU’s first game vs BC, an Olympic Tryout organized by the New England AAU—a 4-3 win in which Paul Bergholtz scored 2 goals in a 3 point effort.
In the 1932-33 season, for the first time in the history of Boston Arena, BU, BC, Harvard, and Northeastern shared the arena. On February 9th, 1943, as Allied Forces earned their first major land offensive against Japan in the Battle of Guadalcanal, BU and Northeastern—despite sharing an arena for 13 years—played their 2nd ever game against each other. All four programs suspended operations for the 1943-44 and 1944-45 seasons due to World War II, with NU taking a third season off in 1945-46.
The post-war years saw many of the program records that still stand today get set. Jack Garrity set the program records for goals in a season (51) and points in a season (84), as well as matching the program record for goals (7) and points (9) in a game. All in 1949-50 en route to being named among BU’s first All-Americans alongside goalie Ike Bevins and fellow forward Walt Anderson. Garrity went on to be the first Terrier to be named a First Team All-American in multiple seasons, earning the honor in 1950-51 as well.
Tournaments at the Arena — Part I
The New England Intercollegiate Hockey League was an early attempt for eastern teams to form a conference and stabilize their schedule starting in 1936-37. The Terriers won the league title in 1937-38, 1938-39, 1946-47, 1947-48, and 1949-50. The league began to organize an end of season tournament at the Arena starting in 1947-48, the Terriers won the tournament in 1949-50, 1950-51, 1951-52—though the 1951-52 was an invitational tournament that included non-league teams.
1952 saw the start of the oldest mid-season tournament in the country begin at Boston Arena, what was then called the “New England Invitational Tournament” which would almost immediately become known as the Beanpot. The Terriers beat NU 4-1 in the first ever Beanpot game before falling 4-7 to Harvard in the final. Future 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist Dick Rodenhiser scored BU’s first ever Beanpot goal, and Paul Whalen had the game winner.
The first edition of the tournament was a bit different from how the tournament is known today. First off it was played at Boston Arena, secondly it was played in December, thirdly it was played in consecutive days—the 26th and 27th to be exact, fourthly it started on a Friday.
The Beanpot moved to Boston Garden in its 2nd Edition in 1954, this time in January, still on consecutive days but was a Monday-Tuesday event instead.
It would not become its traditional self until the 1958 edition, when fittingly, BU won its first Beanpot title after beating BC 5-4 on February 3rd, and Northeastern 9-3 in the final on February 10th.
In 1956-57 the Boston Arena quartet was broken up as the Arena’s first collegiate resident, Harvard, left for the newly built Donald C. Watson Rink in Allston. BU finished their time sharing the Arena with Harvard at 10-22-1 against the Crimson at their shared home. Most of those wins came between 1946-47 and 1951-52, when the Terriers won 7 of 9 games against them.
Two years later, the Eagles would fly the nest, turning the trio to duo, as BC headed out of Boston to McHugh Forum on their Chestnut Hill campus in 1958. The Battles of Comm Ave in the shared arena era were tight at 25-26-3, including a 10 game unbeaten streak that stretched from March 4th, 1926—a 3-0 Sydney Silberberg shutout—through February 16th, 1934 a 6-3 overtime win (at the time overtime did not end when a team scored).
For the next thirteen years, the Terriers and Huskies would be the sole residents of Boston Arena. This being the era of Jack Kelley behind the bench and Jack Parker on the ice. Kelley posted an astonishing 96-31-1 record in the Arena, including a 15-3-0 record vs. their black and red arena mates—the three losses coming in three consecutive games: December 30th, 1963 (2-6), January 8th, 1964 (2-3 (OT)), and December 28th, 1964 (3-4). Jack Parker scored his first goal at the Arena on November 30th, 1965 vs. Yale (7-0).
On March 9th, 1971, the Terriers played their final game as the home team at Boston Arena defeating RPI 11-0 in the ECAC Tournament, Dan Brady made 28 saves in what was also the last BU shutout as a home team at the Arena. The win capped off a 17 game winning streak at Boston Arena stretching from February 28th, 1970 through March 9th, 1971, their longest winning streak at the arena. From December 27th, 1968 through their final game in 1971, did not lose consecutive home games, recording a 35-4-0 record in that span.
BU ended their residency 306-158-11 at Boston Arena. The Terriers held a 41-13-0 record vs. NU, 34-10-2 vs. MIT, 34-29-3 vs. BC, and 17-29-2 vs. Harvard, their most played opponents at the arena. BU’s first game against 27 different opponents were played at Boston Arena, including western teams such as Michigan State (12/30/58), Denver (3/18/60), Notre Dame (12/29/70) and Bowling Green (1/16/71).
The Terriers left Boston Arena as reigning National Champions, claiming their first title in their final season at the Arena. Then moved into their shiny new Walter Brown Arena on November 27th, 1971 establishing a new era of BU Hockey and winning their second National Championship in their first season in their new arena.
Tournaments at the Arena — Part I
Starting in 1953, BU hosted the Boston Arena Christmas Tournament, a tournament that fluctuated from 4 teams in its first edition to 9 in 1955, by 1961 it shrunk back down to 4. After a few editions, NU would join as co-host of the event around the time that BU and NU were the sole residents of the Arena. The Terriers dominated the tournament, the only team to win more than twice, BU won 6, including the last 5. The 1966 featured the only joint-title with BU and Cornell, both undefeated in collegiate play, skated to a 3-3 tie after two overtimes.
Boston Arena was the original host of the ECAC tournament from 1962-1966, though the Terriers never won an ECAC tournament title at the Arena. However, BU only suffered two losses in 10 ECAC tournament games there: the 1965 Semifinal vs. Brown (2-5) as the #1 overall seed and the 1966 Semifinal vs. Cornell, in both instances they went on to win the 3rd place game.
On the national stage, Boston Arena hosted the 1960 Final Four in which BU finished 3rd, losing to eventual champions Denver (4-6) in the semifinal and beating St. Lawrence in the 3rd place game 7-6.
You Can Go Home Again
Boston University opened Walter Brown Arena on November 27th, 1971, ushering in a new era of BU Hockey. Their time at Boston Arena did not truly end, as they continued to make visits to St. Botolph Street for decades to come.
For the first time since the arena burned to the ground in 1918, the Terriers saw a season on the ice where they didn’t skate on Boston Arena ice—as they went without a visit to the Arena—in 1971-72. Their first game back to their former home came on January 23rd, 1973, a 3-2 win, Bill Burlington scored the game winning goal. BU went on to win their next 4 games at the Arena. The Scarlet and White finally saw their 22 game winning streak at Boston Arena end on January 10th, 1979 (4-6).
Northeastern won the next 4 and within that streak purchased the arena from the Metropolitan District Commission for $250,000 on October 3rd, 1979, and renamed the arena “Northeastern Arena” for a short time before giving it its current name Matthews Arena on November 14th, 1982 after George and Hope Matthews. George, university chairman emeritus and major benefactor of the arena.
Women’s Club Hockey at the Arena
During that time, the BU women’s club team secured their first Beanpot, winning it at Matthews Arena in 1981. The Terriers won both games 4-0, beating hosts Northeastern in the semifinal before knocking off rivals Boston College in the final. It would be the only Beanpot the Terriers won as a club team, facing off against the other school’s varsity teams for decades before they went full varsity in 2006.
Their Beanpot success as a club team was short lived, with BU only garnering consolation game wins in 1979 and 1986. The Terriers won just one non-Beanpot game at Matthews Arena as a club team, a 1-0 shutout of the Huskies.
Most games in the Matthews Arena Era saw the Terriers face the Northeastern Huskies. However, on one—surprisingly warm (50 degree)—December night, the ancient rivals played one more at their former shared home when the Boston University Terriers and Boston College Eagles faced off on December 9th, 1987 at the Arena. The impetus for the game was the construction of the new Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill on the site of McHugh Forum, resulting in the nomadic Eagles taking up residence at various area arenas. The game was a back and forth battle, with future Hobey Baker Award winner David Emma putting the Eagles in front in the first. The Terriers answered back in the 2nd with a goal from Ville Kentala in the first 38 seconds of the period. BC took the lead back when Steve Scheifele scored at 11:48. BU again tied things up with a David Tomlinson goal at 16:20 in the period. In the third the team again traded goals BC’s Scheifele at 2:11, BU’s Mike Sullivan at 11:43, Eagles’ Jeff O’Neil at 13:46, and finally Tom Ryan to send things to OT at 19:32. Both team’s goaltenders shined despite what the scoreline says BC’s David Littman recorded 37 saves and BU’s Tom Ryan recorded 35. The final Battle of Comm Ave at the Arena ended in a well fought 4-4 tie.
The first three decades saw each team go on winning streaks at the arena. BU’s aforementioned 5 game win streak from 1973 through 1978, followed by NU winning 4 in a row from 1979 through 1983, BU won 6 from 1984 through 1987, 4 straight from 1988 through 1989 for the Huskies, then 4 straight by the Terriers from 1990 to 1992. After trading wins for a few seasons in the mid 90s, the Terriers won 13 of 17 from the 1995-96 season through the 2005-06, holding a 13-2-2 record. The stretch included a 10 game unbeaten streak from February 23rd, 2001 to February 28th, 2007.
All seven of the ties between the teams at the Arena came between 2004 and 2021, including a match-up in 2009 that saw #1 ranked BU and #4 ranked NU in the only top 5 match-up between the teams in the Arena’s history.
From 2010 through 2015 BU won 7 of 8 at Matthews, their one loss a 4-5 overtime loss on March 3rd 2012.
The past decade has seen a very tight 4-3-3 series, with no team winning more than once in a row. That span has also seen one or both teams ranked in each matchup, with the last completely unranked game at Matthews between the teams was March 6th, 2010, a 4-3 win for the Terriers.
The women’s program, like their male counterparts, had their first varsity game also played at the Arena, a 3-4 loss on October 7th, 2005. Caroline Bourdeau scored the first goal in program history at the Arena. They held a 13-22-4 record at the Arena including Beanpot games. 33 of those games were against Northeastern, 5 against Harvard—who they beat just once on January 14th, 2025 in their last matchup against them at the Arena, and 1 against BC in the 2017 Beanpot semifinal (2-3).
Sarah Lefort leads all Terriers with 6 goals at the Arena, Victoria Bach leads in assists (6) and points (11). Lefort (12/03/2013) and Bach (01/16/2018) also have the only Terrier hat tricks at the arena. Allyse Wilcox recorded the only shutout for the Terriers at Matthews on February 21st, 2009.
The Terriers recorded their last win at Matthews Arena on February 4th, 2025 a 3-2 win, Alex Law recorded the OT winner. Their last game was November 1st, 2025 (3-7) Clara Yuhn scored the final goal at Matthews for the Scarlet and White.
Final Whistle
When the final whistle sounds at Matthews Arena, it will be the first time that BU’s three home arena will no longer be in active use. All but 1 Terrier head coach has taken a spot behind the bench at Boston (Matthews) Arena—Harold Stuart coached the Terriers a single season in 1919-20 when the arena was being reconstructed. Of the remaining coaches, only Edgar Burkhardt, the Terriers’ 1st head coach, failed to win a game at the Arena. Harry Cleverly leads all BU coaches with 126 wins in the arena.
The closing of Matthews Arena also ends the opportunity for a Terrier to record a historic home hat trick by scoring at all three BU home arenas: Boston Arena, Walter Brown Arena, Agganis Arena. An achievement that only 3 Terriers have ever accomplished Kenny Roche and David Van der Gulik in 2004-05—the season that Agganis Arena opened—and Domenick Fensore who did it in 2022-23 when BU played a one-off game against Harvard at Walter Brown Arena.
So much BU Hockey history took place through the famous arch in a place at one point known simply as “the Arena”. From Harry Cleverly and Jack Garrity, to Jack Kelley and Bob Marquis, to Jack Parker and Chris Drury, to Jay Pandolfo and Lane Hutson, all took a front row seat in the pews of one of hockey’s great cathedrals. A grand hall of hockey closes its door, leaving only the memories of the names, the moments, the triumphs, that once rang through its vaulted rafters.
Farewell to the Arena, thanks for the memories.