BOSTON—For the first three rounds of the shootout that decided the winner of the 2024 Women’s Beanpot consolation round, fans in TD Garden sat in anguish as one, then two, then six pucks did not find the net, keeping Boston College women’s hockey gridlocked with Harvard at 2–2.
In the fourth round of the shootout, though, Gabi Davidson Adams skated toward BC’s goal and finally snuck one past Grace Campbell. Julia Pellerin couldn’t replicate the make, and Harvard earned third place in the tournament, knocking the Eagles down to a last-place finish.
“What an honor for our team to play here,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said after the game. “I think it’s something really special. And I think the crowd saw a good game. Not the outcome we wanted.”
The Eagles still left their mark on the historic tournament, though, as BC’s Sidney Fess notched the first ever Women’s Beanpot goal at TD Garden. Tuesday’s game between the Eagles (13–7–5, 12–3–3 Hockey East) and Harvard (4–15–2, 2–11–1) marked the first time the Women’s Beanpot has been played at the TD Garden, and the tilt ultimately ended with Harvard earning the win in the shootout.
“Happy to be the winners, but I think, you know, really the winner here is women’s hockey,” Harvard head coach Laura Bellamy said.
Harvard responded to Fess’s inaugural goal just after the halfway mark of the second period, when a loose puck worked in the Crimson’s favor by putting Campbell out of position and allowing Eva Dorr to score from the right side to tie the game up 1–1.
Just under nine minutes into the third period, with the score still tied, a holding penalty took Harvard’s Shannon Hollands out of the game, giving BC a glimmer of hope at potentially putting the game away.
But what could have been a chance for BC to pull ahead quickly became a disaster for the Eagles, as Sophie Ensley got out in open ice and fired the puck over Campbell’s glove to put the Crimson up 2–1.
As the clock ticked down, penalties built up for the Eagles. Harvard racked up three power play opportunities in the third period alone.
“I think we battled quite a few penalties,” Crowley said. “I don’t think we’ve had six in a game all year.”
BC’s defense, anchored by Campbell, held up, though, and kept it a one-goal game. Campbell finished the game with 47 saves, the second-highest count she has tallied this season.
With less than two minutes left in regulation, Sammy Taber came to the rescue for BC. Taber fired a one-timer home from the left side of the goal after an Abby Newhook pass found her stick. The score gave the Eagles life and tied the game up 2–2.
“[Taber is] an elite hockey player, and she does things that elite hockey players do,” Crowley said.
The crowd, filled with young girls donning hockey jerseys, responded ecstatically to Taber’s goal, filling the arena with cheers.
“These little girls are going to want to play in this tournament too, and play it here in the Garden,” Crowley said.
BC could not score after Taber’s goal before the end of regulation, and the game headed into overtime. Despite several good looks for each squad, both remained scoreless in overtime, forcing the game to end in shootout.
Newhook, Molly Jordan, Gaby Roy, and Pellerin all missed the mark with their shootout attempts for BC, and the Crimson walked away with a victory after Adams’ goal.
“It’s just great to play highly ranked teams and kind of see where we stack up like that,” Bellamy said of the Eagles, who are currently ranked No. 13 in the country.
Despite the Eagles’ loss, Crowley emphasized the value of the experience for her team, as well as for viewers.
“The amount of teams, and little girls, and people, that got to experience a game like that in this building,” Crowley said. “I just think it’s so special for our game, for women’s hockey in general.”
