Harvard Beats Boston College, Advances to Beanpot Championship

The Harvard women’s hockey team officially punched its ticket to the Beanpot Championship for the first time since 2022. Spurred by a roster composed of strong underclassmen, many of whom are from the Boston area, the Crimson (10-8-1, 5-6-1 ECAC) beat Boston College (9-12-1, 7-5-1 Hockey East) in the semifinal match of the Beanpot at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena.

With the win, Harvard advances to the final game, held at TD Garden, the home of the Boston Bruins, to take on Boston University, which won the other semifinal match against the Northeastern Huskies in overtime.

In a rematch of the final of the Friendship Four Tournament hosted in Belfast, Ireland, early this January, the Crimson will take on the Terriers as it looks to earn its first Beanpot title since 2022.

For the semifinal game, Harvard’s Head Coach, Laura Bellamy ’13, gave the starting goaltender position to sophomore Ainsley Tuffy. Under Bellamy’s tutelage, three goaltenders have rotated throughout the Crimson’s schedule, including Tuffy, freshman Izzy Whynot, and captain Emily Davidson. Tuffy, who played phenomenally tonight, is currently ranked eighth in the nation for goals against average and boasts a .956 save percentage.

In the first period of play, Tuffy served as a brick wall for the Harvard team. The Eagles controlled the puck early, maintaining possession in their offensive zone, which forced the Crimson into long, arduous shifts.

As Harvard struggled to break the puck out of its zone, BC was able to create some threatening offensive plays. Fortunately, Tuffy was able to deflect all 13 of the Eagles’ shots in the first period, keeping the slate clean for her team.

Meanwhile, sophomore forward Annie Dinges ignited the first offensive rush of the game for the Crimson. The Woodstock, Conn., native flew down the ice and ripped a shot onto the Eagles’ net.

Unfortunately for the Harvard faithful, BC’s goaltender, Grace Campbell, made her first save of the game and helped her team regain possession.

The Crimson was outshot 5-1 in the first few minutes of the game, largely due to some dangerous turnovers in front of Tuffy.

Bellamy, in only her third season as Head Coach at her alma mater, has added lots of emerging talent to Harvard’s roster. The underclassmen on the team currently combine for 66 percent of all of the Crimson’s points this season, and are well-positioned to reestablish the team as a top contender.

The young team quickly adjusted to BC’s pace of play, and after junior Angelica Megdanis was called for slashing, it expertly killed the penalty, bolstering its momentum.

With only 2:10 left on the clock, freshman Morgan McGathey opened the scoring for Harvard. The local from Braintree, Mass., broke through three defenders, flipped the puck onto her backhand, and dramatically fired it home. The Crimson’s bench burst into cheers as the rookie lit the lamp.

In the second period, the Eagles were able to even the score.

As freshman defender Bella Finnegan tried to clear the puck out of Harvard’s defensive zone, BC’s redshirt senior Emma Connor stripped the puck off Finnegan’s stick and dished it to rookie Ava Thomas, who capitalized on the cross-crease pass.

After the Eagles’ goal, the Crimson ramped up its speed. BC struggled to keep up with Harvard’s rapid pace of play, which caused it to commit a pair of consecutive penalties, the first of which was a slash by Thomas.

During the skater-up advantage, Harvard maintained total possession of the puck. As the Crimson fired shots on goal, it exhausted the Eagles’ defensive unit.

Although BC was able to record the kill, another Eagle was called for tripping, sending Harvard back on the power play.

At the end of the second period, the Crimson had outshot BC 14-12, although the score remained locked at 1-1.

In the final frame, Harvard regained the lead, thanks to a brilliant goal by junior defender Kaley MacDonald. The Walpole, Mass., native ripped a bar-down shot, nabbing the game-winning goal for her team.

After taking the 2-1 lead, the Crimson squashed any chance of a BC comeback for the remainder of the game, spurred largely by Tuffy’s dominant performance in net. In the last period, Tuffy, hailing from Duxbury, Mass., notched 16 saves, bringing her total to 40 for the contest.

The goaltender’s success was also aided by Harvard’s defense, which tallied an impressive 17 blocks during the game. Freshman defender Emi Biotti, from Cambridge, Mass., led the blocking effort, recording six throughout the contest.

The win marks many milestones for the Crimson, not only because the team is advancing to the Beanpot Championship for the first time since 2022, but also because it is the first time that Harvard has earned ten or more wins in a single season since its 2021-2022 campaign.

Next, the Crimson will embark on a ranked road trip, taking on two top-ten opponents, the No. 9 Princeton Tigers and No. 6 Quinnipiac Bobcats. After its weekend contests, Harvard will make the short trip across the Charles River to the TD Garden, where it will play in the Beanpot Championship game at 7:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 20, against Boston University.

—Staff writer Isabel C. Smail can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @Isabel_Smail.