2024 Beanpot Semifinals Recap and Championship Preview
WRITTEN BY ARIANA OTTRANDO - FEBRUARY 12, 2024:It’s true when they say that there are no blowouts in the Beanpot.
Boston hockey fans witnessed two neck-and-neck games last Monday night at TD Garden between Northeastern University and Harvard University, followed by No. 1 Boston College and No. 3 Boston University in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,258. In consecutive nail-biters, Northeastern came away with a 3-2 overtime win over Harvard and BU beat BC 4-3, thus sending the defending champion Northeastern and top-ranked BU to the Beanpot finals.
Let’s break down each Semifinals matchup below — how Northeastern and BU got the job done, and where Harvard and BC came up short — and preview today’s “Battle of the Dogs” championship between the Northeastern Huskies and BU Terriers. Will Northeastern upset No. 3 Boston University for its fifth Beanpot title in six years? Or will BU take home its second title in three years?
Semifinals matchup #1: Northeastern University vs Harvard University
The first Semifinals matchup was a 2023 Beanpot championship rematch between Northeastern and Harvard. While the teams hadn’t faced off since last year on the same stage, both rosters have very different makeups this year with Northeastern’s Devon Levi, Aiden McDonough and Jayden Struble, along with Harvard’s Alex Laferriere, Sean Farrell and Mitchell Gibson onto the NHL or affiliates this season.
Although Harvard’s 2023-24 record and standings in comparison to NU come across as very underwhelming, they don’t account for the compete that Harvard brings into every game — especially now that its roster is healthy again. In its last matches before the tournament, Harvard beat Colgate 6-3 and fared 2-1 in a close loss to No. 7 Quinnipiac.
Riding a four-game hot streak, including two consecutive upsets of top-ten teams in the country in No. 3 Boston University and No. 6/5 Maine, Northeastern came into the contest with the upper hand.
With the help of junior captain Justin Hryckowian, graduate transfer Alex Campbell opened scoring at 7:08 to give the Huskies an early lead for his 15th goal of the season. Shots on goal (SOG) count ended 15-7, in favor of NU, headed into first intermission.
“He’s a hell of a player,” said Hryckowian of his linemate in the post-game conference. “I’m super lucky to have [Campbell] on my line. He helps the line out in so many ways — retrievals and pumping out pucks. You can see his skill up on display there.”
The second period flipped the script of Northeastern cruising to an easy spot in the championship with Harvard tying it up only 2:53 into the second frame. From the blue line, Harvard freshman forward Ben MacDonald threw the puck on net and got by a screened NU freshman goaltender Cameron Whitehead, who posed a .911 SV% coming into the game.
The goal was MacDonald’s fourth of the season, with assists from Salvatore Guzzo and Ryan Healey, Harvard’s leading defenseman in points. Northeastern challenged for goaltender interference, but the on-ice call stood and it was now a 1-1 game.
Excluding the overlapping power play minutes from Harvard’s first man-advantage, the Crimson had two additional opportunities through the second period to take its first lead, but Northeastern held at one.
On that note, the Huskies faced some adversity in this twenty-minute stretch from taking too many penalties and consequently, not enough offensive rushes or shots on net. While Northeastern still led in total SOG at 22-17 by the 40:00 mark, Harvard tallied more for the period at 10-7.
Northeastern started off the third period with roughly four minutes of 5-on-4 to get back on the scoreboard, but it was Harvard to follow the trend of early goals and put another over the red line. Eager to return to even-strength, it didn’t take long for Harvard freshman defenseman Matthew Morden to net the Crimson’s go-ahead goal at 4:21 behind Jack Bar and Cam Johnson — his first at the collegiate level.
“We’ve had a lot of growth, we’ve had a lot of injuries,” said Harvard head coach Ted Donato. “Hopefully we’ll be getting some guys back little by little. I think, overall, the attitude and perseverance are impressive to me. It’s a group that sticks together.”
Suddenly Northeastern was trailing 2-1 and having difficulty setting up in the O-zone to get back in the game.
By midway through the third, Northeastern led Harvard in shots by seven (28-21) and produced the anticipated equalizer 43 seconds later. Driving towards the left post, sophomore defenseman Vinny Borgesi dropped the puck in front of Harvard’s crease and it was Hryckowian who put it away for the tying goal, his seventh of the year, for a 2-2 game.
“I thought our captain just willed us tonight,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe. “In that third period, he was outstanding. Every time he stepped on the ice, [he was] creating scoring chances. The rest of the group fed off of that and we kind of started to roll there.”
For a final shot count of 37-22, Northeastern ramped up its offensive pressure to end the game in regulation, but Harvard’s senior goaltender Derek Mullahy kept the Crimson alive through the final buzzer. Northeastern and Harvard were headed for a consecutive Beanpot matchup decided in extra time.
Except in this one, there wouldn’t be a need for a shootout.
Just 33 seconds into overtime, Northeastern’s Hryckowian set up senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine for the left-dot wrister and it was game over. For his sixth and biggest goal of the season yet, Fontaine secured the OT winner to send the Huskies to their sixth straight Beanpot championship — ironically following his two-goal performance against the Crimson in last year’s tournament for the title.
“You want to put guys that want the puck on their stick in those situations, and you can tell [Fontaine] wanted the puck,” said Keefe. “He wanted to be a difference maker … He’ll remember this for the rest of his life.”
Semifinals matchup #2: Boston College vs Boston University
The latter game of the Semifinals featured the “Battle of Comm Ave,” and a very different narrative than the prior.
Just a week before, Boston College and Boston University played a home-and-home series with BC taking the sweep in a 4-1 home win Friday and 4-3 road win Saturday. Although every game is a battle between the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in the Pairwise, BU came into the Beanpot rematch with the recent losses looming, eager to dish out some revenge over its biggest rival.
Hence, BU got to work early. Behind both an even-strength and power play goal scored by 6:10 into the first period, freshman forward and projected first-round draft pick Macklin Celebrini gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead. Celebrini’s 20th and 21st goals of the season were assisted by Quinn Hutson [2], Lane Hutson [1] and Gavin McCarthy [1].
“When [Celebrini] gets to the big stage, I think opponents drop below their ability and he just seems to stay at that level,” said BU senior forward Luke Tuch. “He’s had this swagger out on the ice and he really wants the puck on his stick.”
While BC went 1-for-2 on the penalty kill in the first period, the Eagles held off BU’s offense headed into the first intermission. BU finished out the frame leading SOG 19-13.
“I thought we did a good job of playing behind them, pressuring their D,” said BU head coach Jay Pandolfo. “If we didn’t have anything, we were working below the goal line, we were getting pucks to the net. We were reloading very well so [BC] couldn’t get [its] transition game going. I thought those things were a big factor for us in the first period.”
Also being an offensive powerhouse, it was a matter of time before BC got its first tally on the scoreboard.
After notching five shots in the opening minutes of the second period, BC’s 25.7% power play unit came through to cut the deficit to one. On a give-and-go, 4th overall 2023 NHL draft pick Will Smith fed the puck in front for 23rd overall pick Gabe Perreault to sneak behind BU junior goaltender Mathieu Caron for his 11th of the season and a 2-1 game.
SOG were even at 21 by the end of BC’s second power play — only putting up one shot to match BU’s one shorthanded chance — but it was the Terriers who netted the next one.
Off a transitional error behind BC’s goal line, Tuch took possession and ripped a wrister blocker-side past BC freshman goaltender Jacob Fowler. For Tuch’s seventh of the season, the unassisted goal gave BU a 3-1 lead.
“I was just trying to buy some time for our guys changing, and I got lucky,” said Tuch. “I think there was a little bit of a screen and it went in.”
While BC crept back in the shot count at 25-24 BU overall — 11-6 BC for the frame — the team still trailed by two goals yet again headed into the intermission. It would be an uphill battle for the Eagles to shake the Terriers’ momentum in a big, upcoming third period.
But BC’s deficit only increased when 4:47 into the third, BU scored a second unanswered goal for a lead of 4-1. After a big faceoff win by sophomore forward Ryan Greene, he was rewarded with the perfect setup by Tuch. Without hesitation, Greene snapped the puck past Fowler from the low slot for his 9th goal of the season.
At this point, the Terriers’ student section was erupting with cheers throughout the Garden’s upper bowl. However, it wasn’t long before that comfortable three-goal lead was snatched from BU and two more unanswered goals were scored on behalf of BC.
Within three and a half minutes [at 8:07 and 11:24], BC’s senior forward Gentry Shamburger and Perreault scored their respective first and 12th goals of the season — Perreault’s second of the game — to propel BC back into the game at 4-3 BU.
Down to two minutes left in regulation, BC had surpassed BU in shots by seven (36-29) and was itching for that tying goal. It came down to the final seconds as BC had multiple good looks to do so, but Caron and the Terriers D-core held down the one-goal lead for their second Beanpot championship appearance in three years. The Eagles put up a good fight in a very close contest, but never breaking BU’s early lead was their ultimate downfall in this one.
“Full credit to BU — they came out and established their game plan much better in the first and we were chasing it all night,” said BC head coach Greg Brown. “Loved our effort in the third — had a lot of chances, had a lot of sustained time in the zone, but [it] wasn’t enough to get the equalizer.”
Championship Preview: Northeastern University vs Boston University
Tonight, for the 56th time in Beanpot history, Northeastern and No. 3 Boston University will go head-to-head for the chance at the 71st Beanpot title. In Northeastern’s sixth straight appearance in the championship, this will be the fourth of which facing off against Boston University where NU’s record is 2-1 — only losing in a 1-0 game in 2022.
While the Terriers are the third best team in the nation, the Huskies know how to bring out their A-game on the big stage — winning four of the last five Beanpot tournaments. BU will seek to claim its second title in three years, and the defending champions are going for five out of six.
“We have [had] a hard time with Northeastern since I’ve been here, and they play us very tough,” said Pandolfo. “It seems like they’re always at their best playing against us. We certainly have to be ready.”
It’s hard to predict which team will come into the game with more momentum on their side as BU had a standalone match against Merrimack this weekend in between, but NU did not. One could argue that playing — and winning 7-1 no less — is more or less beneficial than resting, but there are pros and cons to both.
It’s also worthy to note that in the two times Northeastern and BU have played each other this season thus far, both games were 4-3 OT wins for the home team: BU’s win back in early January and Northeastern’s just under two weeks ago.
“I feel like this group has a little bit of confidence when we step onto the ice and the expectation is to win. If we play a certain way, we’re going to give ourselves the best chance to win,” said Keefe. “Just looking forward and excited that we get another opportunity to win the finals.”
With talented goal-scorers like Macklin Celebrini on BU’s squad, the Huskies don’t want to find themselves in an early 2-0 hole like BC did, and will need to hem those first-liners’ time and space. That being said, the same goes for the Terriers with NU players like Alex Campbell who leads the team with 15 goals and opened scoring in the Semifinals.
In terms of the goaltenders, it’s a tight race. BU’s Mathieu Caron comes into the championship with a .913 SV% and 2.46 GAA. For Northeastern, Cameron Whitehead has a .912 SV% and 2.68 GAA.
Don’t miss these rivals battle it out for the 71st Beanpot trophy at TD Garden tonight at 7:30 p.m. More blog coverage on the championship to come!
