BOSTON — Harvard is your 2022 Women’s Beanpot champion.
The fifth-ranked Crimson defeated Boston College, 5-4, on Tuesday at Matthews Arena to claim the tournament title for the first time since 2015.
You can view the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The magical thing about the Beanpot is that any team can win it in any given year. Case in point: Boston College, which entered the title game 17-11-0, offed No. 3 Northeastern in the semifinal one week ago. And with the championship on the line, they kept pace with No. 5 Harvard.
Harvard headed into the first intermission with a one-goal lead, but Boston College upped the intensity in the second frame to turn it into a 2-2 game. It wasn’t just on the offensive end, where Maddie Crowley-Cahill scored two goals to get BC back in it as they traded goals with the Crimson. The Eagles also improved their defensive effort, holding Harvard scoreless on two power play attempts while blocking 12 shot attempts in the frame. What they didn’t get to, goaltender Abigail Levy did, as the senior made 19 saves in the second period alone.
The back-and-forth continued into the third period too, as both sides traded early goals to tie things at three, then four. But playing 4-on-4 hockey with 3:21 left in the game, Harvard eventually broke through, with Becca Gilmore — one of the top scorers in the country — reminding everyone where the Crimson stood, potting the winner when her team needed it most.
Gilmore finished the night with two assists in addition to her goal.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Levy, the BC netminder, didn’t make it easy on the Crimson. She put up another monster performance one week after making 49 saves against Northeastern. She finished the night with 50 saves and was named the Bertagna Award winner as the tournament’s best goalie.
— Kristin Della Rovere, who scored the opening goal for the Crimson in the first period, added another midway through the third.
— The Eagles had an unlikely hero pot a pair of equalizers early in the second period, as sophomore defender Crowley-Cahill scored her second goal of the season under a minute into the frame. The crucial point came with Harvard’s powerhouse forward Anne Bloomer in the box for tripping.
Then, after the Crimson got one back to take the lead, Crowley-Cahill scored again.
UP NEXT
The Women’s Beanpot may be over, but there’s the rest of the regular season to go.
Harvard will return to ECAC play with a home game against Princeton, scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
Boston University is set for a home-and-home with Merrimack, beginning in Chestnut Hill on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. You can watch that game live on NESN.
