CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men's Ice Hockey will head to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to compete in the 2024 Friendship Four, The Odyssey Trust announced today. The annual tournament in Belfast will play host to the Crimson for the first time in its history as Harvard will be one of four U.S. teams competing for the Belpot Trophy at the SSE Arena next Thanksgiving.
"It is an honor for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey to participate with BU, Merrimack and Notre Dame in the Friendship Four," Erin McDermott, The John. D Nichols '53 Family Director of Athletics, said on Thursday. "Experiencing the city of Belfast and being the first team to represent Harvard in the tournament will be incredible for our players and coaches."
The Crimson will travel overseas with well-known Hockey East programs, Boston University and Merrimack. Notre Dame, the lone Big 10 program, wraps up the four participants. Harvard, which is no stranger to its cross-river rival BU, has played 160 games against the Terriers in program history but isn't as familiar with Notre Dame and Merrimack, having played the Fightin' Irish eight times and the Warriors three times. Last season, Merrimack, Harvard, and Boston University all made the NCAA tournament.
"We are very excited for the opportunity to play in the Friendship Four in Belfast, Ireland," said Ted Donato, The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey, The James Herscot '58 Coach of Excellence. "A first for our program, it's a great opportunity for our student-athletes to represent their university overseas in such a historic part of the world."
Originally started in 2014, the Friendship Four is the only NCAA Division I tournament that is held outside the United States. Growing in popularity after each year, the tournament was created to promote education, social welfare, and community integration in Northern Ireland and leaning upon the sister cities agreements between Belfast and Boston.
The Harvard men's ice hockey program returns after a remarkable 2022-23 campaign that had the Crimson ranked in the top 10 for most of the season. With trips to the Beanpot final, ECAC final, and the NCAA tournament, Harvard finished the season with a 9-1-0 Ivy record and an 18-4-0 ECAC record -- its best since 2016-17. In one of its best seasons in three decades, Harvard hit the 24-win mark for the third time since 1993-94 and made the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in its last seven completed seasons.
Harvard is 0-0-1 in 2023-24 and plays host to Princeton at Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. The ECAC Hockey contest will air on ESPN+.
