Beanpot Notes: Gunnarwolfe Fontaine Aids In Northeastern’s Legacy Change

BOSTON — Northeastern went 30 years between Beanpot titles before snapping that long drought in 2018.

But ever since then, the Huskies haven’t stopped winning the tournament, keeping their hands on the coveted trophy despite the best efforts from the three other Boston schools to pry it away.

Boston University was the latest to try to dethrone the Huskies, and came close, but couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. The Huskies overcame three one-goal deficits and then Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored with 28.6 seconds left in overtime to lift Northeastern to a thrilling 4-3 victory at TD Garden on Monday night.

The win gave Northeastern its fifth Beanpot title in the last six tournaments, a feat that seemed unfathomable just a decade ago.

“When we got into this tournament over the last six, seven years, we expected to win,” Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe said. “We don’t feel like we’re the underdog. I think our program is at a spot now that when we go out and we feel like we play our game, we should win. It’s important for our guys to feel that way when they’re walking off the bus. … That’s where the leaders over the last six, seven, eight years have helped this program.”

One of those leaders has been Fontaine with the senior forward displaying an incredible knack for delivering heroics on the elevated Beanpot stage. Fontaine, who was named the tournament’s MVP, scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the semifinal matchup against Harvard and then finished off a feed from Justin Hryckowian to once again send the Huskies and their fans into a frenzy.

“Obviously this time of year is when you want to be playing your best hockey and in these games he’s shown up,” Keefe said. “Two game-winners in overtime, I don’t know how many people have done that in the Beanpot. That’s pretty special.”

Fontaine tried to side-step all the personal glory that came his way with another goal coming in a massive spot. He’s more proud of what his performances mean to the Northeastern program as a whole.

Due to Fontaine and others who came before him, Northeastern’s Beanpot legacy has been altered forever.

“Glad to be a two-time Beanpot champion,” Fontaine said. “That will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

Here are more notes from Monday’s championship and consolation games:

— The Terriers and Huskies have faced each other three times this season and each result has been the exact same: 4-3 in overtime with Northeastern coming out on top twice.

— Northeastern freshman netminder Cameron Whitehead earned the Eberly Award, which is given annually to the goalie with the best save percentage in the tournament. Whitehead stopped 54 of 59 shots he faced in the tournament and was immense for the Huskies in overtime against the Terriers, coming up clutch with six saves in the extra frame. He finished with 33 stops overall.

“I’ll tell you what, that kid is dialed in,” Keefe said. “He’s got a lot of confidence in himself and obviously our group has a lot of confidence in him. But to do it on the big stage as a freshman, that’s huge.”

— BU’s loss left coach Jay Pandolfo scratching his head. The Terriers carried play for long stretches and finished with a 36-17 shot advantage.

“Clearly disappointed with the end result,” Pandolfo said. “Taking nothing away from them, they kept fighting, but I thought we were the better team for a majority of the game. I thought we controlled possession, thought we had better scoring chances. But, hey, we ended up on the wrong side of it. We lost. Tough way to go down.”

— Boston College head coach Greg Brown opted to give freshman goalie Jan Korec his first career start in the Beanpot consolation game against Harvard after Jacob Fowler manned the pipes for the first 26 games for the Eagles. Korec rewarded Brown by turning in a 19-save shutout in a 5-0 rout.

“Fowler has had such an amazing season, so it’s been hard to get Jan (playing time),” Brown said. “He looks great in practice, so thought this would be a great time to get him in. And he looked really solid and confident in there, so that’s great to see.”

— BC’s all-freshman line of Gabe Perreault, Will Smith and Ryan Leonard shone bright again. The trio combined for six points and all three registered a goal.

— Harvard coach Ted Donato once again felt senior goalie and Scituate, Mass. native Derek Mullahy deserved a better result. After a 35-save performance in the opening round against Northeastern, Mullahy did his best to withstand a vaunted BC attack. He made 27 saves before Donato turned to Aku Koskenenvuo in the final period. Donato said his decision to switch goalies was to just give Koskenenvuo the experience of playing at TD Garden.