Harvard Hockey Wins the 2026 Beanpot in Overtime

The Harvard women’s hockey team (11-10-1, 5-8-1 ECAC) took down the Boston University Terriers (7-13-3, 5-7-2 Hockey East) in overtime to win its first Beanpot Championship title since 2022. The Crimson’s effort was backed by sophomore goaltender Ainsley Tuffy, who recorded an impressive 46 saves during the game. After getting hooked on a breakaway in overtime, freshman forward Carla McSweeney tallied the golden goal on the resulting penalty shot, sending the Harvard banner up to the victory rafters of the TD Garden for the 16th time in program history.

Under the tutelage of Harvard’s head coach, Laura Bellamy ‘13, the Crimson roster has three starting goalies who each have save percentages over .900. Tonight, Tuffy earned the starting position for Harvard. The Duxbury, Mass., native has been a brick wall in the net for the Crimson all season, boasting a .952 save percentage before entering the contest.

“Getting that flow is great. You just got to lock in on the first couple and then just build off of every shot,” Tuffy said as she talked through her game strategy. “You can’t think too much.”

On the offensive end of the ice, Harvard lit the lamp early, as veteran player Gwyn Lapp scored just a minute and a half into the first period. Lapp, who was sidelined with a devastating knee injury for nine months last season, poked the puck over the Terriers’ goaltender to nab her first goal of the 2025-26 season.

Shortly after Harvard took the 1-0 lead, sophomore defender Kiera Ley was called for tripping, tallying the first of the Crimson’s seven penalties. Entering the game, Harvard was tied with the UConn Huskies for the fewest penalty minutes in the country. However, the referees were friendly with their whistles tonight, as the Terriers were called for five penalties, bringing the game’s total to 12.

Unfortunately for the Crimson fans who made the trip to TD Garden, BU’s Maeve Kelly ripped a shot from the blue line. Junior forward Greta Henderson screened Tuffy in the slot and tipped Kelly’s shot into the back of the net. Thanks to the power play goal, the Terriers evened the score at 1-1.

After lighting the lamp, BU’s Tessa Demain was called for slashing, which gave Harvard the skater-up advantage. The Crimson have struggled on power plays so far this season, with only an 8.3 percent success rate.

The Terriers, meanwhile, excelled on the kill, seeming to maintain their offensive momentum despite the disadvantage in numbers. Tuffy was forced to make a big stop on BU’s first shorthanded rush down the ice. Seconds later, the Terriers flew back towards the goal on a two-versus-one opportunity. Tuffy, who was recently named to the Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association’s Goalie of the Year Watch List, came up with another stellar save.

During the series of special teams play, Harvard’s defense clogged the middle of the ice, which proved effective in preventing close-range shots, but enabled the Terriers to work the puck around the outside and rip shots from the blue line.

Late in the period, the Crimson was able to generate some offensive momentum. Sophomore forward Ella Lucia won a faceoff in the offensive zone. After dishing the puck to McSweeney in the corner, Lucia raced to the net to collect a feed, attempting to poke it past the BU goaltender.

Harvard’s sophomore forward Annie Dinges then slid a pass through the wide-open crease, which would have been a perfect helper, but got picked off by a defender.

The Terriers made a final push towards the goal, resulting in a minor scuffle in front of the net. With just thirty seconds remaining on the clock, Tuffy made a phenomenal save. At the end of the period, BU had outshot the Crimson 13-6.

Harvard started the second period with a flurry of point-blank shots from sophomore forward Emily Hamann. Despite the Marlborough, Mass., native’s efforts, BU’s goaltender was able to make the critical saves.

Then, the Crimson was forced onto the defensive due to four consecutive penalties. Dinges clobbered a Terrier along the boards, earning a boarding call. After the kill, sophomore Bella Finnegan got called for hooking, Ley notched another for interference, and junior captain Zoe Boosamra was cited for hooking.

Although it spent uncharacteristic time in the box due to the penalties, Harvard managed to defend itself against each of the Terriers’ power plays.

“Obviously, we want to play with more discipline and not be going to the box all night,” Bellamy explained. “But we just kept saying, if that’s the game it’s going to be, we’ve got to keep working and if we have to kill, then we’ll kill.”

“I just thought our penalty kill, starting with Ainsley (Tuffy) and with our group, was really good,” the coach added.

Tuffy recorded 18 saves during the second frame alone, keeping the game tied at 1-1 despite getting pummeled with BU shots. Through 40 minutes of gameplay, the Terriers had managed to fling 31 pucks onto the net, in comparison to the Crimson’s 12.

“That person is a brick wall right here,” Bellamy said, nodding over to Tuffy. “I mean, what a performance.”

In the third period, Harvard picked up the pace despite the raucous ‘Go BU’ cheers from the crowd.

MacDonald prevented a breakaway shot by taking another penalty for her team. The Crimson recorded its seventh kill of the game, preventing the Terriers from taking a late lead.

Tuffy continued to stand on her head, making save after save. On the other end of the ice, Harvard boosted its efforts as freshman Morgan McGathey stimulated some offensive action, threatening the net with just five minutes remaining in regulation play. Dinges also ripped a shot toward BU’s goaltender, but was unable to capitalize on the chance.

With the scoreboard locked at 1-1, the game extended into three-versus-three overtime.

McSweeney took off on a breakaway, and in a desperate attempt to prevent a shot, the Terriers’ defender took her down.

The rookie was awarded with a penalty shot. McSweeney, known by her teammates as McClutch and McFive-Hole, fired her attempt home, securing her team its 16th Beanpot Championship and its first since 2022.

“We did a goalie scout, but I really try not to pre-plan,” the rookie said as she talked through her penalty shot strategy. “So I took a deep breath and just went for it.”

“Just to celebrate that with my teammates was unbelievable, and to see a bunch of our fans and fellow athletes in the stands were right there, it was priceless to just turn and see all of them,” McSweeney said about the post-goal celebration. “It was a pretty amazing moment.”

Although McSweeney nailed the shot to steal the win for the Crimson, it was Tuffy who was awarded the honor of Most Valuable Player for her sensational performance between the pipes. The sophomore also earned the Bertagna Award, recognized as the top goaltender in the tournament.

The Beanpot title is the first under Bellamy’s leadership and foreshadows a bright future for the young Harvard team.

“I think our team has guts, and you saw it tonight, and it was just a resilient effort from our group, and we had big goals to take big steps forward this year,” Bellamy said. “This (the Beanpot) was circled from day one; we wanted to put a 16th Beanpot up on our wall at Harvard.”

“I am just so proud of our team, and felt like it started from the net out with Ainsley (Tuffy). That was a performance, maybe like I’ve never seen under the bright lights. Then, for McClutch here to get it done on the penalty shot. I mean, you can’t script it any better, so I’m just so proud of these guys, their individual performances, and our team as a whole,” the coach added.

The Crimson will resume its regular ECAC play this weekend, hosting St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

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