BOSTON ― It was a decade in the making.
For the first time since 2016, the Beanpot is heading back to Chestnut Hill.
Boston College cruised to a 6-2 win over Boston University in the archrivals’ 300th all-time meeting on Monday night at TD Garden. The Eagles rallied from an early 1-0 deficit with four straight goals and never looked back.
Senior captain Andre Gasseau and Arlington, Mass., native Will Vote led the Eagles with two goals apiece, while 2025 Boston Bruins first-round draft pick James Hagens dished out a pair of assists to complete a tournament MVP performance.
Here are some takeaways from the title game.
Eagles bounce back big
The Eagles, now 16-9-1, entered the tournament as the only nationally ranked team and shared second place in the Hockey East standings. And they handled their Beanpot business with relative ease, outscoring Harvard and the Terriers, 11-3, across both games.
However, turning the page from a lackluster 6-1 Friday loss to Vermont marked an obstacle to overcome on the way to raising the trophy.
“The kids were really after it tonight,” said BC coach Greg Brown (Southborough, Mass.). “They wanted to have success for the older guys on the team, but also for our student body and the alums. It’s great to see them succeed.”
The Eagles had to overcome adversity within the game as well, climbing out of an early 1-0 deficit with the help of a 3-for-4 performance on the power play and a dominant second period in which they outshot BU, 16-8, and scored twice.
READ MORE: Our latest 2026 NHL Draft rankings
“We’re a resilient group, and belief is the biggest thing,” Gasseau said. “I think everyone was disappointed in that weekend, but you’ve got to put it behind you and move on. That’s exactly what we did.”
BC’s leaders, power play take control
It was a big night for both of BC’s captains. Not only did Gasseau light the lamp twice on the man advantage, but fellow captain Lukas Gustafsson — who also wore the ‘C’ during his prep career at Cushing — had a memorable night with one goal and two assists.
After fellow Bruins prospects Hagens and Dean Letourneau combined for three goals and five points against Harvard last week, Gasseau joined the scoring party with a game-tying goal off Ryan Conmy’s first of four assists with 4:58 left in the first. (Letourneau also scored in the third period.)
The Eagles then seized control with two goals in a 1:58 span late in the second. After Vote tipped in a Gustafsson shot to make it 2-1, Hagens set the table for an insurance marker on another Gustafsson shot from the top of the power-play at 16:52.
“I think our tempo was very good,” Brown said of the power play. “We know BU likes to pressure, and we played them two weekends ago; they were dictating the pace and kind of put our power play on our heels. … I think we got pucks to the net quickly and we were fortunate to cash in on those.”
Gustafsson has been a steady presence on the back end, but the January return of Gasseau from injury is leading to results.
Gasseau, who was Boston’s seventh-round draft choice in 2021, has produced points in seven of his eight games since returning.
“He brings everything to us. He’s first over the boards on the PK, first over the boards on the power play. He plays against the other team’s top players. He wins faceoffs. He really does everything,” Brown said. “Our guys did a really good job fighting and getting through the first half without him, but now that we have him back, it’s like a really good trade (acquisition)."
MVP and top goalie performances
Naturally, the Eagles swept the tournament awards.
Hagens notched two goals, three assists and a plus-4 rating across the two Beanpot games en route to MVP, becoming the first BC skater to earn the honor since Kevin Hayes in 2014. As Brown described it a week ago, it was a strong performance at the sophomore winger’s “future place of employment.”
READ MORE: Our boys prep Elite 8 forecast
“James is always able to create offense…but what we’ve been really impressed with is how he’s rounding out his game,” Brown said. “It’s not only that he’s creating chances and getting his points. We know he can do that. He’s really much more well-rounded now, and credit to him for working hard because that’s not the enjoyable part of the game.”
On this night though, it was all about the win.
“To be able to get the trophy, the Beanpot, with the group of guys we have, it was something that was really special,” Hagens said. “Like Andre (Gasseau) said, this is a moment that none of us will ever forget."
BC freshman goalie Louka Cloutier won the Eberly Award as the tournament’s top goaltender, stopping 57 of the 60 shots he faced. He made 27 saves in Monday’s game, bouncing back from allowing five on 19 shots against Vermont.
“Louka is a cool customer, especially because he didn’t have a great night on Friday,” Brown said. “For him to bounce back, it shows a lot of mental toughness.”
Terriers start fast, but fall again
It was a heck of a start for the defending Beanpot champion Terriers, who took a lead on sophomore Brandon Svoboda’s rebound goal just 2:15 into the game. But despite leading 9-7 in shots after one period, they couldn't sustain that level of play.
Getting traffic in front of Cloutier is what led to Svoboda's goal. Junior defenseman Case McCarthy stepped inside the blue line and fired a wrist shot from the point that handcuffed Cloutier, leaving a rebound for Svoboda to bury from the top of the crease.
“We just didn’t get in there enough. We didn’t have enough chances around the net, second chances. It’s a will to get to the net,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “We have a lot of guys that haven’t probably produced the way they'd like, so you’ve got to start getting it to the net.”
READ MORE: Our latest boys prep rankings
BU played hard until the end of last week’s semifinal against Northeastern and found a shootout winner from star sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson to advance to the final, but Pandolfo’s club will look to put it together more consistently down the stretch. With two more Battle of Comm. Ave. meetings on tap at the end of February, it won’t be easy.
“I cannot get this group to play the same way, period to period, shift to shift,” Pandolfo said. “It’s been all year. It was really nothing new tonight, right? We’ve actually started most of our games this year pretty good, but we just can’t add on.”
