BOSTON — Harvard won its first Women’s Beanpot title with a 5-4 defeat of Boston College on Tuesday at Matthews Arena. But there were more honors handed out than just the Beanpot trophy.
Crimson winger Becca Gilmore came through for Harvard in the end, capping the scoring in a back-and-forth, five-goal third period with the championship-clinching goal. That was the star’s first goal of the tournament, but she also tallied a pair of assists in the championship game as well as two other helpers in the team’s semifinal defeat of Boston University.
For her efforts, Gilmore was named Most Valuable Player of the Women’s Beanpot, as voted by media in attendance.
Not lost in Harvard’s hard-fought win is the performance of Boston College goaltender Abigail Levy. She was one of the main reasons the Eagles found themselves in the championship game in the first place, considering they first had to get past then-No. 3 Northeastern in semifinal play.
Levy made 49 saves in that semifinal game and capped her Beanpot performance with a 50-save showing against Harvard. While the Bertagna Award, given to the best goaltender in the tournament, comes down to a media vote rather than statistics alone, that number is a clear indication of why the senior earned the honor.
Harvard now will look to finish out ECAC play with a 3 p.m. ET tilt against Princeton on Friday, while Boston College will return to Hockey East action with a home-and-home against Merrimack beginning Friday at 2 p.m. ET.
