CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the first time since 2022, the Harvard women's ice hockey team will compete for the Dunkin' Women's Beanpot Championship. The Crimson (10-10-1, 5-8-1 ECAC) will take on the Boston University Terriers (7-12-3, 5-7-2 HEA) at TD Garden to battle for the Beanpot title in a rematch of the 2026 Friendship Series Championship, which took place earlier this month.
The Battle for Boston
Back in the Beanpot title game for the first time in four seasons, the Harvard Crimson will look to claim its 16
th Beanpot Championship when it takes on the BU Terriers on Tuesday. This will be the Crimson's 31
st appearance in the final round of the Beanpot, which is tied for the most among the four schools.
Last Time Out
Harvard was on the road this past weekend, where it played a pair of ranked opponents in ECAC action. The Crimson battled in both contests against No. 9 Princeton (Jan. 16) and No. 6 Quinnipiac (Jan. 17) but fell narrowly in both contests.
Carla McSweeney scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season against the Tigers and
Ainsley Tuffy made 34 saves in net, but it was not enough to stop the Tigers, who secured a 3-1 win over Harvard. In the Saturday matchup against Quinnipiac,
Elle Sproule tallied a goal, and
Izzy Whynot made a career high 36 stops, but the Bobcats potted two late goals – including an empty net strike – to take a 4-1 win in the matchup.
Series History Against Boston University
- Harvard leads in the all-time series against Boston University with a 28-15-2 record.
- BU has had success in the Crimson of late, owning a 7-2-1 record dating back to 20-16-17, which includes a win in the last outing at the Friendship Series.
- This will be the 27th Beanpot matchup between the squads. Harvard owns a 19-6-1 record against BU in all Beanpot meetings and a 2-1 record against the foe in Championship games.
- The sides last met in the title game in the 2019 Beanpot, where BU defeated the Crimson 3-2 in OT.
- Harvard owns a 15-15 record in Beanpot title games.
Player History in the Beanpot
- Kaley MacDonald owns a goal and an assist in her Beanpot career to lead all active skaters.
- Six active Harvard skaters enter the Beanpot with points.
- Morgan McGathey scored her first Beanpot goal in the semifinal round against Boston College.
- Angelica Megdanis scored a memorable goal in last year's semifinal at BU which went down as the first goal of her career.
- Brooke Manning, Emily Hamann and Gwyn Lapp all own assists in their Beanpot careers.
- Ainsley Tuffy (2.50GAA, .934 SVP) and Emily Davidson (2.12 GAA, .957 SVP) have each played in two Beanpot games. Tuffy made 40 saves and allowed only one goal in the semifinal round win over BC.
Scouting Boston University
- The Boston University Terriers enter the Beanpot Championship with a 7-12-3 record and a 5-7-2 mark in conference play. The Terriers have been on hot streak after starting slow in 2025-26. The team has won four of its past five games (one being a shootout win) after starting the year 1-8-0. It's best results of the season have come in the form of shootout wins against No. 7 UConn and No. 6 Quinnipiac. The group also upset the No. 7 Northeastern Huskies in the Beanpot semifinals to reach the Championship game.
- As a team, the Terriers average 2.0 goals per game and have allowed 2.7 goals per game to its opponents. BU owns 66 assists on its 45 goals this season, four of which have come on the powerplay. The Terriers sport a .059 powerplay clip and are .848 on killing penalties.
- Senior forward Sydney Healy has the team lead in points and goals with 19 and 11, respectively on the season. Healy is one of six Terriers with nine or more points on the season.
- BU has platooned its goalkeepers for a majority of the season, but Junior Mari Pietersen has emerged as the starter with strong play in her last three outings. She was the winning goalie at the Friendship Series, posting 27 saves against the Crimson in the finals. The Ontario native also helped BU upset Northeastern with 35 saves in the semifinal round.
It Takes Everyone
Contributions from the entire lineup has helped the Harvard offense increase its goal production this season. Through 21 games, five skaters are tied for the team lead in points at 11.
Zoe Boosamra and Carla McSweneey are the latest additions to the group after picking up points this past weekend. McSweeney scored her team-leading seventh goal against Princeton on Friday (Jan. 16) and Boosamra added assists in both matchups.
Elle Sproule also scored this weekend in the Saturday matchup against Quinnipiac (Jan. 17) to reach the 11-point mark.
Ella Lucia and
Angelica Megdanis also own 11 points on the year to join the group atop the points list.
Standing Tall
The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 21 games played this season, allowing just 46 goals and holding opponents to just 2.2 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 15th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the week. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of 21 games and has secured three shutouts on the year.
Off to a stellar start in the 2025-26 season, Tuffy ranks second nationally with a .952 save percentage in her nine starts. She has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of her nine starts and ranks 11th in the nation with a 1.765 GAA.
Tuffy put together one of the best goaltending performances in Harvard Women's Ice Hockey history this past Friday (Jan. 2) against the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Duxbury native made 55 saves – the third most in a single game in program history – to stump the national power and lead Harvard to a 3-2 victory in the Friendship Series semifinal. The effort saw her make 23 saves in the third period which is the most saves in a period by a Harvard goaltender since at least the 1981-82 season.
The sophomore netminder finished the weekend with 80 saves, a .941 save percentage and just five goals allowed in the Friendship Series Tournament.
Down a Skater, Up for the Challenge
The Harvard penalty kill has been on an excellent run this season, stopping opponents on 38-of-45 penalties. The team's penalty killing percentage of .844 ranks fourth in the ECAC heading into the week. The Crimson had a season-best 16-kill streak snapped against Brown on Nov. 15.
Youth Movement
The Crimson offensive resurgence has been led by its undergraduate players, who account for 79 of the teams 122 points this season. Harvard's undergraduate points percentage of 65 is the highest in the ECAC.
Nine of the team's 11 points in win over Maine were scored by undergraduate players which was the most points by the group in a game this season.
The Crimson Climb
The Crimson showed rapid improvement from its 2024-25 season in just the first semester of 2025-26. The team posted seven wins, which tied the program's wins total from the last two seasons combined. Harvard also scored 36 goals in the first semester schedule which was more than the team's 2024-25 season total of 35 goals.
Taking Home ECAC Weekly Awards
For her spectacular play in net, sophomore goaltender,
Ainsley Tuffy earned the ECAC's MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week award on Jan. 5. The sixth weekly award for the Crimson this season, Tuffy earned the nomination after posting a 55-save win over No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the Friendship Series Semifinal (Jan. 2). It is the first ECAC weekly honor in Tuffy's career and the first Goaltender of the Week award since
Emily Davidson in the 2024-25 season.
The Crimson dominated the conferences Rookie of the Week award early in the season, taking four awards in a five-week stretch.
Izzy Whynot earned the award in back-to-back weeks, followed by
Elle Sproule and
Morgan McGathey. Carla McSweneey has also earned conference honors, being named the ECAC Rookie of the Month in December.
McClutch
One of the hottest players in the ECAC heading into the weekend,
Carla McSweeney lived up to her "McClutch" nickname in the Friendship Series, scoring the game-winning goal against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal round of the tournament. Already her second game-winner of the season, her first came in the final minutes of the team's contest against New Hampshire (Oct. 18) on opening weekend.
A Chicago native, McSweeney's goal scoring ability has made an immediate impact on the Crimson. She currently leads the team with seven goals on the year and just had a six-game point streak snapped in the contest against Yale (Jan. 10). It was the longest first-year point streak for the Crimson since Kristin Della Rovere '23 in the 2018-19 season.
Biotti Beats the Buzzer
First-year defender
Emi Biotti scored the latest game-winning goal in Harvard Women's Ice Hockey history on Friday night, beating the buzzer and putting the puck in the back of the net with just 0.2 second remaining in overtime against Brown (Jan. 9). It was Biotti's third goal of the season and sent Harvard off with its first win over Brown in four years.
Keeping it Clean
One of the least penalized teams in college hockey, the Crimson is averaging less than five penalty minutes per game this season. At 4.95 penalty minutes per game, Harvard's total is second-fewest in the NCAA and its total of 104 penalty minutes is the tied for the lowest in the nation.
Success at the Friendship Series
Harvard is coming off a stellar run at the 2026 Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland this past weekend. It was the Crimson's first ever appearance in the event that saw four teams compete for the Belpot Trophy at SSE Arena, the home of the Belfast Giants (EIHL).
The Crimson was matched up against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the first-round game on Friday (Jan. 2) that saw over 3,000 fans pour into the arena to cheer on the teams. After memorable goals from
Kate Kasica – her first career goal that came short-handed – and
Ella Lucia, Harvard found itself tied with the national power, Duluth at the end of regulation. Carla McSweeneny broke the tied with under a minute left in overtime to send the Crimson to the finals with one of the biggest upset wins the program has had in the past 10 years.
Ainsley Tuffy posted 55 saves – the third most in a game in program history and the most by a goalie in a winning effort in team history – to stonewall the Bulldogs and earn the ranked win.
In the final against BU, the Crimson battled against its Beanpot rival for 60 minutes, falling just short in a 2-3 defeat.
Carla McSweeney struck again in the championship game and
Elle Sproule also scored a goal in the matchup to aid the Harvard offense.
