Boston University defeats Harvard 7-1 in Beanpot semifinal, will compete in championship game for second straight year
The 72nd Men’s Beanpot tournament began on Monday with the first semifinal matchup between the Boston University Terriers and Harvard Crimson at TD Garden. BU came out on top with a decisive 7-1 victory, advancing to the Beanpot final for the second year in a row.
The first period was a back-and-forth affair until a hooking penalty to Boston University freshman defender Cole Hutson led to a power play goal for Harvard junior center Casey Severo (his ninth) who knocked in a rebound goal to open the scoring, five minutes into the first period.
Harvard played with the lead looking very strong up until the 15:47 mark in the period when Devin Kaplan evened the score with his sixth goal of the year to tie the game at one. The shots after the first were 12-9 in favor of BU.
Coming into the second period, the Terriers made it known why they were heavily favored to beat the Crimson in this first match. The 1-1 tie was broken early when Shane Lachance scored just three minutes into the period on the power play. That led to an onslaught of BU goals from Cole Hutson, Jack Harvey, Devin Kaplan (his second of the game), and Quinn Hutson to make it 6-1 Terriers.
The shots on goal counter rose to 26-13 Terriers after the second. The second period was a display of the skill that the Terriers have up-and-down their lineup; they quickly tilted an even game heavily in their favor.
In the third period, Boston University played shutdown defense, and extended their lead to six late in the period, off a beautiful give-and-go between Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman on the power play that sprung Hutson on a breakaway where he snuck in his second of the game.
The Terriers await the winner of the late match between Boston College and Northeastern to see who they will play in the Beanpot final on Feb. 10.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore communications student at Northeastern University. Follow him on X @LukeGraham05.