BC Wins First Men's Beanpot Since 2016

Boston College shook off an early deficit and rebounded for a 6-2 victory over Boston University last night in the 2026 Beanpot Tournament championship game at TD Garden in Boston. It was BC's 21st Beanpot men's crown all-time, in the 300th meeting overall between the two Commonwealth Avenue rivals, and first Beanpot championship since it also defeated BU in the title tilt in 2016.

After defending champion BU took an early 1-0, lead, BC responded with five consecutive goals, three of them on the power play. Andre Gasseau scored two goals for the 14th-ranked Eagles (16-9-1 overall), and Lukas Gustafsson notched the eventual game-winner from the point on a man advantage. Will Vote also scored twice for BC, including an empty-net insurance tally in the final two minutes of regulation, while Ryan Conmy collected four assists. 

Louka Cloutier stopped 27 shots in net for the Eagles, and also earned the Eberly Trophy as this year's top Beanpot goaltender with a .950 save percentage. BC's James Hagens took home Beanpot MVP accolades after registering two assists last night, and five points over two Beanpot contests. Mikhail Yegorov finished with 32 saves for BU (13-14-2), which got goals from Brandon Svoboda and Cole Eiserman. The Terriers and Eagles will meet again on Feb. 27-28, in a home-and-home series in Hockey East conference play.

Harvard took last night's Beanpot men's consolation contest with 4-1 victory over Northeastern. The Crimson won this year's women's Beanpot, defeating BU in overtime at TD Garden. 

 

U.S. Ousted at 2026 World Juniors

There will be no three-peat for the United States at this year's World Junior Championship. The U.S. was ousted tonight by Finland, 4-3, in overtime in a semifinal game in St. Paul. It was the second straight loss for the Americans, who also fell to Sweden, 6-3, on New Year's Eve in their final game of group play.

Ryker Lee (Michigan State) tied the contest late in regulation after Finland had taken a 3-2 lead on back-to-back goals. Cole Eiserman (Boston University) and Cole Hutson (Boston University) scored second-period goals for Team USA, which also got two assists from James Hagens (Boston College), and 21 saves in net from Nick Kempf (Notre Dame). Heikki Ruohonen (Harvard) scored a goal for Finland, which fell to the U.S. in last year's final in OT in Ottawa.

Finland will now face Sweden in one WJC semifinal, while Canada will take on Czechia in the other, both on Sunday. The bronze and gold medal games are scheduled for Monday.

ADDENDUM: Sweden won the gold medal over Czechia, while Canada took the bronze.

Western Michigan Wins 2025 NCAA Hockey Title

Owen Michaels scored two third-period goals, and Hampton Slukynsky made 24 saves in net to lift Western Michigan University to a 6-2 victory over Boston University in Saturday's 2025 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national championship game in St. Louis. It is the first-ever NCAA hockey crown for WMU (34-7-1 overall), while BU (24-14-2) was seeking its sixth national title all-time and first since 2009.

WMU, which got goals from five different players, scored the first goal of the game less than two minutes into the contest on a deflection by Wyatt Schingoethe, and led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. BU closed to within 3-2 midway through the second period on a power-play goal by Shane Lachance, but the Broncos tallied the final three goals of the game in the third period to put matters to rest, with Tim Washe finishing the night with two assists. 

Sluknysky also made a huge save on a one-timer in close by Cole Eiserman, who scored BU's other goal, in the final frame to keep WMU ahead. Mikhail Yegorov finished with 22 stops in goal for the Terriers before 16,953 on-lookers at the Enterprise Center.

Michaels earned Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player honors after scoring four goals in two games. He finished the campaign with 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points as WMU set a program record with 34 victories, and also ended the year on a 10-game winning streak.

WMU, which was the last of Michigan's seven Division I men's hockey schools to make a Frozen Four, is the fourth program all-time to win the NCAA men's hockey title in its championship game debut, and the first since Lake Superior State in 1988. It is also the third Michigan school to win an NCAA hockey championship in St. Louis, the first since Michigan State in 2007. 

The Broncos, who advanced to this year's national title game by edging defending national champion Denver in double overtime on Thursday's semeifinals on a goal by Michaels, had previously won this year's National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season and tournament championships, its first NCHC titles since the conference began in 2013.

Next year's men's NCAA Division I Frozen Four will be held in Las Vegas for the first time ever.