Beanpot 2026: Semifinals Preview

Is it already that time again? Yes it most certainly is. The Beanpot kicks off this week, as Boston University plays host for the semifinals of the 47th annual tournament. 

Coming into this year’s iteration, we’ve got the three-time reigning champions, a team on the rise after some struggles, a program led by young players making a name for themselves, and a squad looking to capitalize on a mid-season resurgence following a lackluster start to the year. 

Let’s take a peek at the storylines you need to know coming in, and what each team brings to the table as we get set for the first round on Tuesday. 

Boston College (HEA) — 9-11-1 overall record this season | Last Beanpot Title: 2018 

To start the season, BC seemed to be settling into the upper spots of Hockey East and were capitalizing on the success of rookie standout Ava Thomas. 

Since American Thanksgiving, however, things have gone south for the Eagles. With just one win in their last six contests, BC comes into the tournament on a five game skid, with the majority if not all of their momentum stagnating since the holiday.

There’s one glaring reason for why the Eagles have failed to put it all together recently: their lack of production. 

Across five games, BC has scored six goals while giving up 17 total. After scoring at a 2.6 goals per game pace to start the year, that number has dropped down to just 2.1, thanks to a 1.2 G/GM clip since Nov. 29. 

It’s not helped by the fact that the Eagles are constantly being outshot by their opponents. While goaltender Grace Campbell has been strong throughout 2025-26, she’s often being relied upon to make far more saves than her counterparts on the other side of the ice. In fact, the last time BC outshot their opponent was back on Nov. 22 against Merrimack — one of just four times BC has come away with a higher shot total than their opponent in 21 total contests.   

The aforementioned Thomas is critical to BC’s scoring production, but when she’s curtailed it’s hard for anyone else to get things going. Their next highest scorer, junior forward Sammy Taber, is 11 points behind Thomas for the BC’s scoring lead (25 points for the freshman compared to 14 for Taber). In order to win here, the Eagles will need other players to step up, especially if Harvard is able to shut down Thomas the way other teams have been able to do recently.

And maybe keep the shot count down, considering Harvard is averaging below 30 a game on average this season. But that’s just a suggestion. 

Boston University (HEA) — 6-11-3 overall record this season | Last Beanpot Title: 2019

The fall of 2025 was not kind to the Terriers, after they dropped their first five contests of the season, and were just 4-11-2 before the December break. 

Since returning to action, BU has secured a shootout victory over Quinnipiac followed by back-to-back wins over Harvard and UNH to open the new year undefeated. A Friendship Series win is helpful to build up the team's momentum heading into another tournament, and so is hosting a Beanpot game at home for the first time since February of 2020. 

One thing I’d like to see for the Terriers is to keep things close. While they’re currently conceding 2.8 G/GM while scoring 2.1 on the opposite side, tightened defense has helped mightily in the last few weeks. The last time they played Northeastern — who they’ll face in the late game on Tuesday — they allowed seven goals and scored just three. Keeping a high powered offense like the Huskies’ at bay is going to be a test, but there’s a chance BU could pass it depending on if they play the shot suppression style of game they’ve favored in recent memory. 

Where the Terriers can’t seem to find their game almost at all is on the player advantage. BU hasn’t scored on the power play since Nov. 14 against Boston College, and have scored three times altogether on 65 chances. That’s a conversion rate of just 4.6%, which is second-worst in the NCAA. Northeastern’s penalty kill is strong, but has struggled of late, leaving the door open for BU to break the streak somehow. 

Playing Northeastern in the tournament isn’t unknown territory for BU either. The teams have met in the championship game each of the last two seasons, with the Huskies coming out on top both times. BU will want to spoil NU’s quest for a four-peat, and that edge to their game could help propel them, especially in their home rink. Keeping things close and capitalizing on playing in their home barn will be critical here. But we’ll see how they handle things when the puck drops on Tuesday night. 

Harvard (ECAC) — 9-8-1 overall record | Last Beanpot Title: 2022

Since winning the Beanpot title in 2022, it’s been a rough go of things for the Crimson. 

Across three seasons, Harvard went a combined 14-69-7, finished last in the ECAC twice, and overall could never seem to get anything going. In 2025 they entered the Beanpot with just two wins on their season, and ended the season with that same amount of wins. Their scoring was practically nonexistent, and while they put up a fight against BU in the semifinal round, it wasn’t enough to get them back to the championship game. 

This year it’s a different story, as the Crimson are sitting at 9-8-1 coming into the tournament, with an improved offense and a defense that has found their stride in a way we haven’t seen in a while. 

While they don’t have any standout individually on offense the way the other three teams do, the team offense as a whole has taken a step further. Angelica Megdanis, who scored the lone Harvard goal in the semis last year, leads the team with 11 points in 18 games; last year the Crimson’s highest scoring player, Gabi Davidson Adams, had just 10 points in all 28 games played.  

However, it’s evident though that the most important step forward is how solid the goaltending has been from all three of Harvard’s netminders. Last year Emily Davidson and Ainsley Tuffy combined for a .909 save percentage, with Tuffy having an edge individually at a .920. This year, between the pair and third string goaltender Izzy Whynot, Harvard’s team average has jumped all the way up to a .934, to the tune of a combined 2.07 goals against average. 

I think Harvard has a case this year to at the very least out perform the previous three years. With overtime wins over Minnesota-Duluth and Brown in their last four games, they have an edge in the momentum factor over Boston College. They might want to not be outshot by 57-27 like they were against UMD though, if only to make their lives a tiny bit easier. 

Northeastern (HEA) — 16-5-0 overall record | Last Beanpot Title: 2025

Our final team on the list has had the best season of the four schools — there's no doubt about that. However, they’re also the team that has the most to lose. With three-straight trophy wins in the tournament, the Huskies are looking to make it four in a row this season and are doing so as one of the top-10 programs in the country. 

Led by an offense that has come alive, and aided by goaltending that is always consistent, the Huskies have found themselves atop their conference standings and have dropped just five games all season. One of those games came within the last week, however, as they played a disappointing effort against Yale to open the semester with a 3-0 loss. 

In a twist from the last few years, one of the reasons for Northeastern’s uptick in offense is their success on the power play. Last year they scored 18 goals on 116 opportunities with a skater advantage. This year, they’ve matched that total on just 80 opportunities, and have the best power play of the four teams playing this week. 

Altogether this squad seemingly has a leg up on the other three. A 3.3 G/GM is 0.8 points better than the next closest team in Harvard, and while the Crimson’s 2.1 GA/GM is nothing to sneeze at, NU’s the only program in the Beanpot below two allowed per game (1.9 combined). 

Offensively, their biggest name is their captain Lily Shannon, the highest scoring player that will suit up in the tournament overall. Her 30 points is 13th most in the NCAA, and the forward was on a tear throughout the first half of the season. Where she leads, her team will follow, and she’ll be one of the most important pieces for NU over the next two weeks. 

I like what the Huskies are bringing to the table — they’ll just need to perform up to the level they can compete at in order to succeed here. Tightening up the penalty kill, which has been solid overall but has struggled in their recent games, is a must. And so is staying out of the box to begin with. 

If they can play the Terriers the way they did back on Nov. 1 in a 7-3 drubbing, then things seem bountiful. But if they look like they did against Yale, it’s a dangerous place to be. 

What Makes This Special 

It’s easy to look at a tournament and think about what’s important for the teams playing it on the ice. But off the ice, there’s something important about this too. 

For the last two years the tournament has set records in terms of attendance, and not just because of the championship round being moved to TD Garden. Last year’s semifinal between Northeastern and Boston College was the highest attended women’s game ever in the history of Matthews Arena — a building that had seen organized NCAA hockey played in it since 1980 on the Women’s side. 

Not to mention that each of the last two years spectators at the Garden have set attendance records for not just the schools, but also for women’s hockey in New England as a whole. After having over 10,000 in year one, 13,279 packed TD in 2025, and hopefully that number is even higher next week.

And for students and fans of college hockey in Boston, there’s a magic that comes with being in the arena for a game like this. Whether it’s an overtime thriller, or a shutout led by a freshman netminder, there’s an energy that comes with winning this trophy, and from having the claim of running Boston over the other three schools involved. 

So if you’re tuning in on television, or listening over the radio, or even in the building when the teams hit the ice, you’re in for a treat. It doesn’t matter whether a team is top ranked nationally, or at the bottom of their standings in their conference. These teams play up in a moment like this, and it shows from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer. 

And if you’re not planning to tune in, may I say one last thing: You really should. 

Schedule:

Week One at Walter Brown Arena

Semifinal #1: Boston College vs. Harvard – Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 4:30 PM EST | Available to stream on NESN within New England and on ESPN+

Semifinal #2: Northeastern at Boston University – Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 PM EST | Available to stream on NESN within New England and on ESPN+

Week Two at TD Garden

Consolation Game – Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 4:30 PM EST | Available to stream on NESN within New England and on ESPN+

Championship Game – Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 PM EST | Available to stream on NESN within New England and on ESPN+