The 2025 Beanpot semifinal game was as easy as one, two, three — first-period goals, that is — for No. 1 Boston College men’s hockey.
Last time BC played Northeastern in the semifinal round of the Beanpot, the Huskies beat the Eagles 3–1. But that was 2022, and times have changed. Just look at Monday night’s score.
“Last couple of years we didn’t get to the final game,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “You could feel the gravity, the importance of this game tonight. The older guys were pushing that message before the game, and the team responded.”
Teddy Stiga scored the Eagles’ first goal of the night less than 50 seconds after the puck dropped in TD Garden on Monday night.
James Hagens found Stiga flying the right side of the ice, and Stiga quickly switched directions over to the left side of the goal with the puck on his stick. With defenders trailing him, Stiga came to a sudden halt, turned his body toward the goal, and launched a shot that flew past Northeastern netminder Cameron Whitehead’s right ear.
From then on, the game was almost all BC.
The Eagles (20–4–1, 12–3–1 Hockey East) went on to beat Northeastern (9–13–3, 4–9–3) 8–2 in the first round of the 72nd Beanpot Tournament, breaking the Huskies’ six-year streak of finals game appearances.
“I didn’t feel like it was as lopsided as the score,” Brown said. “Our guys were sharp on the shooting, and we were able to get pucks to the net, so things worked out for us there.”
With the win, the Eagles secured a spot in the Beanpot final for the first time since 2019 and will take on familiar foe No. 10 Boston University next Monday in search of BC’s 21st Beanpot title.
“The older guys in the room have been preaching it,” Stiga said. “It’s hard to do. It’s two games. So really, anything can happen.”
Ten minutes after Stiga’s goal, Brady Berard’s dish to a cutting Connor Joyce turned into a second goal right in front of the Huskies’ net.
But forty seconds later, Northeastern provided BC with its biggest scare of the night as Jacob Fowler gave up his first goal since Jan. 24 to Ben Poitras for the freshman’s first goal of the season.
That mistake was a rarity in the game for Fowler, though. The sophomore goaltender fended off 28 shots in the win.
The Eagles got their two-goal lead back about four minutes later when Eamon Powell received the puck from Jake Sondreal and took one touch before launching a rocket, rounding off BC’s three-goal first frame.
A two-goal lead is not impossible to overcome. The game was far from over as it headed into the second period.
But any uncertainty about who would take the matchup started to dissipate quickly as Lukas Gustaffson stuffed in a goal off a dime from Ryan Leonard just 35 seconds into the second frame, stretching BC’s lead to three.
Then with 2:29 left in the period, Aram Minnetian netted a goal as the Eagles’ power play expired, extending their lead to four as the game headed into the final frame.
“Aram’s a horse—he doesn’t get tired,” Brown said. “He’s the first one over the boards a lot of times on the penalty kill, and this year he’s added getting some power play time to his game, so he’s developed very well for us, and is a big part of our defensive core.”
At that point, it seemed like the life had officially been sucked out of Northeastern’s student section, which became progressively more bare as the clock ticked down and BC’s lead continued to grow. But if the life hadn’t already been gone, BC made sure it was completely depleted by the time the final buzzer sounded.
Gabe Perreault orchestrated the Eagles’ sixth goal of the night with about six minutes left to play as he delivered a no-look dish that set up Andre Gasseau for a one-timer that brought the score to 6–1.
Northeastern ended up scoring its second goal of the game when Dylan Hryckowian took the puck right at Fowler with no defenders separating the two of them and launched it past him.
But BC wasn’t to be outdone. Leonard scored a goal with about four minutes remaining—his 23rd of the season—and James Hagens made sure to sneak one of his own in with two minutes to play—his seventh.
Northeastern didn’t lose due to a lack of chances—they ended the game nearly even with the Eagles in shots on goal. But Fowler’s almost entirely rock-solid play, combined with BC’s complete offensive takeover, kept Northeastern out of the game for almost all 60 minutes.
“I thought there were a few saves, especially early in the game, that kept us keeping the momentum, keeping the lead,” Brown said. “I think those were huge. And then later on, he made some incredible saves when we got a little loose, to keep the score comfortable, I guess—or as comfortable as it can be.”
Fowler has given up one goal in the last three games, and hasn’t given up more than two goals in a matchup since Jan. 11, when the Eagles suffered an ugly loss to an unranked Merrimack team.
BC has not lost since, and the Eagles extended their win streak to eight games with Monday’s victory while booting the Huskies to the consolation game for the first time since 2017.
BC’s student section bought tickets in Harvard’s designated corner of TD Garden, doubling the size of the Eagles’ normal fan section in the Beanpot.
“I mean, it’s incredible,” Minnetian said. “It’s something we feed off of, too. We take pride in, and it adds an incredible element whenever our school rallies support like that. So it was an unreal atmosphere to play in, and we love when they show up like that, and we’re extremely thankful.”
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