Wally Beans (Women's Beanpot Preview)
BU hosts the first round at Walter Brown Arena facing Northeastern in the late game, BC and Harvard face off in the opener
Beanpot season begins as the Women’s Beanpot heads to BU’s Walter Brown Arena for the first time since renovations.
The Venue
BU’s Walter Brown Arena, the oldest active DI hockey arena in the City of Boston, will host its 6th Beanpot semifinal, and first since 2020.
The Terriers are the only team not to have won a Beanpot hosted at Walter Brown. Harvard and Northeastern have 2 each, and BC has 1 (2016). BU however have won all but 1 Beanpot semifinal at the Arena, in 2016.
Northeastern is the only non-BU team to loss a Beanpot final at WBA (2016).
TD Garden, the home of the Bruins and the Men’s Beanpot, will host its 3rd consecutive Women’s Beanpot Consolation and Championship games on January 20th at 4:30 and 7:30 pm, respectively. Last time out, Northeastern defeated BU 4-0 to win their second straight Women’s Beanpot at TD Garden. BC finished 3rd, topping Harvard in the consolation game 4-1.
The Matchups
Semifinal 1 (4:30 pm): Harvard vs. BC
Harvard and BC will face off in the early game of the Women’s Beanpot semifinal at 4:30 pm on January 13th. Harvard is 12-5 vs. BC in the Beanpot semifinals, including 10 straight from 1983-2004. However, since then, the teams have trade wins nearly every time they’ve met in the semis. In the one meeting at Walter Brown Arena in 2016 the Eagles got the 8-0 win.
Semifinal 2 (7:30 pm): BU vs. Northeastern
BU and Northeastern will face off in the early game of the Women’s Beanpot semifinal at 7:30 pm on January 13th. BU has a 3-13 record vs. NU in Beanpot semifinals, with just two wins since becoming a varsity program in 2005—one of which was a shootout win in 2019 in route to the title. After winning their first semifinal vs. the Huskies 4-0 the Terriers scored just 1 semifinal goals vs. NU till they became a varsity program.
The Huskies won both of the two teams’ matchups this season (3-1, 7-3) on October 31/November 1st.
The Teams
Northeastern
The Huskies (16-5-0, HEA (1st): 12-1-0) come in to the 2026 Women’s Beanpot the 3 time defending champions looking to be the first team to win 4 straight title since Harvard won 7 straight from 1999 to 2005.
NU began the season 4-0 before getting swept by Quinnipiac on October 17th/18th. Following that, the Huskies rattled off 9 straight wins. Back to back losses to Penn State and New Hampshire were followed by a sweep of Boston College. Opening the second half, the Huskies were shutout by Yale (0-3) and come into the tourney off a 5-2 win of Providence.
Players to Watch
Lisa Jönsson (G, SO), the reigning Beanpot MVP, leads Hockey East in shutouts with 3, is eighth in SV% (.923) and fourth in GAA (1.82)
Lily Shannon (F, SR) leads Hockey East in goals (14), assists (16) and points (30)—10th nationally in points
Stryker Zablocki (F, SR) is T-4rd in Hockey East in goals (11), T-2nd in assists (14), T-2nd in points (25). She also record a 4 point game vs. PC last time out (3g-1a)
Jules Constantinople (D, SR) leads all Hockey East defenders with 18 points
Boston University
The Terriers (6-11-3, HEA (5th): 5-6-2) have made 2 straight Beanpot finals, falling to NU both times, and will look to win their 3rd Beanpot in program history.
BU began the season with just 2 wins in their first 12 games. Followed that with a 4 game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) including a big 2 point weekend vs. UConn in which they got a shootout win in game 1 and lost game 2 with just 7 seconds to play. BU open 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which that earned a shootout win vs. Quinnipiac and a 3-2 win over Harvard to win the inaugural Friendship Series tournament. The Terriers come into the tournament on a 3 game unbeaten streak after beating UNH on Saturday.
Players to Watch
Mari Pietersen (G, JR) is 5th in Hockey East in SV% (.927) and 7th in GAA (2.26). She earned the Friendship Series MVP after she saved 63 of 67 shots she faced in the tournament, a .940 SV%
Sydney Healey (F, SR) is T-4th in Hockey East in goals (11) including both goals in the Terriers 2-2 semifinal vs. Quinnipiac
Clara Yuhn (F, SR) recorded a 6 game point streak from Nov. 8 to Dec. 2
Lili and Luisa Welcke (F, SR) were named to the German Olympic team
Boston College
The Eagles (9-11-1, HEA (4th): 7-5-1) finished 3rd in last year’s Beanpot beating Harvard 4 to 1 in the consolation game.
BC have had an up and down season so far this season, starting the season losing two games to Minnesota by a combined score of 1-18. They went 4-3 in October, followed by a 5-2-1 November, which included a 5 game winning streak. Following that 5 game winning streak is their current 5 game losing streak, stretching to the last game of November.
Players to Watch
Ava Thomas (F, FR) is the joint leader in points among Hockey East freshman with NU’s Zablocki with 25
Grace Campbell (G, SR) has 2.70 GAA and .926 SV% (9th and 6th in Hockey East, respectively)
Sammy Taber (F, JR) is 2nd on the team in assists (11) and points (14)
Harvard
The Crimson (9-8-1, ECAC (8th): 5-6-1) were last in the 2025 Beanpot however they are the last non-NU team to win the title, doing so in 2022.
Like their first round opponents, Harvard has also had an up and down season. Starting the season with 2 wins, followed by 3 losses, followed by a four game unbeaten streak—which included 3 wins, back to back losses into back to back wins, and trading wins in their last 6. After beating WCHA team Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the Friendship Series in overtime, the Crimson fell to BU 2-3 in the final. The Crimson fell 2-3 to Yale in their last game before the Beanpot
Players to Watch
Ainsley Tuffy (G, SO) made 55 saves vs Duluth and holds a .953 SV%, 1st nationally
Ella Lucia (F, SO) leads the team in points (11)
Carla McSweeney (F, FR) recorded a career 6 game point streak