The Beanpot is headed back to Huntington Avenue: Northeastern beats Boston University 4-0 in 46th Annual Women’s Beanpot Tournament
For the second time in tournament history, the 46th Annual Women’s Beanpot Championship took place at TD Garden. This year, in front of a Massachusetts women’s hockey record crowd of 13,279 in attendance to watch the 14th ranked Northeastern Huskies defend their title against the 15th ranked Boston University Terriers on Tuesday. The Huskies looked to win their third straight Women’s Beanpot, and the Terriers had aspirations of winning their first championship since 2019.
In the end, the Huskies’ system of strong defense and goaltending was too much to overcome as they cruised to a 4-0 victory to win their third straight Beanpot and fourth tournament in the last five years.
The star of the night was Northeastern’s freshman goalie Lisa Jönsson, who had a perfect 30 saves on 30 shots — she stopped 65-of-67 throughout the entire two-game tournament. Jönsson has had one of the most remarkable freshman seasons for a goalie. She is currently the second-ranked goaltender in the nation, with a save percentage of .955 (first in college hockey) and goals against average of 1.15 (second in college hockey).
“When your team believes in their goaltending, they play totally different,” said Northeastern Head Coach Dave Flint, “When I started coaching 29 years ago, a coach told me one time ‘when you build a team, GAG, get a good goalie.’ So, that’s one thing I’ve always tried to pride myself on. When we prove to try to get the best goalies…you can always build a team around that, and Lisa proved tonight that she’s one of the best goalies in the NCAA.”

On top of strong netminding, the Huskies were in many of the Terriers’ shooting lanes, blocking a total of 27 shots. Strong play in their own zone has been a calling card for this Northeastern team all season.
“[Our lock-down defensive play] comes from the D-core, we’re all so close, and we know we all have to do the little things. All of us are just cheering for each other, and we have Lisa back there too. So honestly, everyone’s willing to put their body [out] there. We know what to do, and we pulled it out tonight,” said Northeastern senior defenseman Tory Mariano.
Northeastern got their scoring from their veterans Lily Yovetich, Lily Shannon, Jaden Bogden, and Skylar Irving. Senior Tory Mariano also had a big game, registering two assists.
For Boston University, another loss in a Beanpot and a sixth straight empty-handed tournament.
“I wanted more for our team tonight. Tough to come from a goal down, knowing that [you’re playing] a good defensive team and good goaltender,” said BU Head Coach Tara Watchorn following the loss.
The Terriers had their chances in the offensive zone and seemed to have the edge for long-stretches of the game — including most of the second period before the Huskies got two quick goals — but falling to an early deficit against a confident Husky squad — who wants to play lockdown defense in tight games — is a difficult position to be in.
Despite the loss, Watchorn is still confident in her team and said her message to the group was “that this team has a lot in them for the rest of the year.”
“I want this tournament to be a tournament that our team wants to win, you know, yeah, we want it, but we don’t have to, you know, it’s something that doesn’t define our success. We have a lot of hockey ahead of us. We want to celebrate this tournament; it’s an amazing history and tradition, but there’s a lot of season left. And, how do we take from this, all those experiences, and put them down the back half [of the season].”
So, once again, Northeastern defends their title — still the only women’s program to win a Beanpot at TD Garden.
The next college hockey coverage on 985TheSportsHub.com will be for the Men’s Beanpot. Pre-tournament coverage will begin on Monday, Jan. 27, and the semi-final games on Feb. 3, with the 5 p.m. game between Harvard and Boston University, and the 8 p.m. game between Northeastern and Boston College.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Follow him on X @LukeGraham05.