Men’s Hockey: Four unanswered goals and a stellar performance from Yegorov powered the Terriers to secure the Beanpot Championship Title against rivals BC

Featured image by Holly Gustavsen

By Devora Slonim

The Eagles may have bled green last night, but tonight, it was all scarlet.

For the 32nd time in program history, the Beanpot trophy came home.

The No. 9 Boston University Terriers (16-10-1, 10-6-1 HE) scored four unanswered to upset their rivals, the number one nationally-ranked Boston College Eagles (21-5-1, 13-3-1 HE) 4-1 in the 72nd Dunkin’ Beanpot Championship.

“We started playing our game, and started playing the way we need to play to have success,” Coach Jay Pandolfo said post-game. “Our guys, this whole year, it’s been a little inconsistent. We’ve had some ups and downs, but this group is resilient and they respond. They’re a competitive bunch of guys, and I’m just so proud of them, really happy for them.”

It was all Eagles’ in the first.

The silky duo of Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault made the Terriers pay early. Leonard found Perreault wide open in the crease, firing a shot on the virtually open net for the 1-0 lead less than halfway through the opening frame.

BC kept up the momentum, firing a parade of shots on freshman goaltender Mikhail Yegorov, who remained solid in net, boasting a .972 save percentage on the night, the third-highest SV in tournament history.

Yegorov credited his performance to his teammates, saying his confidence “comes from [them].”

The first opportunity for BU came in the form of a Mike Posma slashing call, but turnovers, sloppy passes and the speed of the Eagles severely hurt BU, who played the bulk of their powerplay in their own zone. The Terriers tallied only 9 shots to BC’s 16 to open the stage at TD Garden.

A successful penalty kill after Cole Hutson went to the box early in the second for holding saw BU with their best chances of the night, but they were unable to best netminder Jacob Fowler.

Five minutes into the second, Brandon Svoboda capitalized on a rare BC turnover, streaking down the ice and firing the puck top shelf to beat Fowler.

Just a minute later, C. Hutson, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, sniped a shot into the left shelf of the net, giving the Terriers a 2-1 lead and securing the game-winning goal.

“The first goal really gave us energy, and I think we kind of took over the game after we got that little energy boost and took advantage of it, for sure,” Hutson said of the change in the team.

Discipline issues put a brief stint in BU’s newfound momentum as Tristan Amonte delivered a big hit, but a successfully killed-off penalty, largely in part to Yegorov, got them out on the front foot again.

The Terriers heavily turned the tides, matching BC in shots at 24 with 6:48 remaining in the middle frame.

With the clock winding down, Kamil Bednarik and Matt Copponi had an opportunity to extend the Terriers’ lead by two on a breakaway, but Fowler got both the initial save and rebound.

BU ended the second the same way they started the first, this time, with Ryan Greene in the box for cross-checking, and Jack Hughes for embellishment on a Posma interference call.

Matching roughing minors gave the Terriers an abbreviated power play to start the third, but it was BC with majority puck possession. Yegorov stood tall, making numerous high-danger saves on what would have been a game-changing power play for the Eagles.

“He’s unreal,” Hutson said of Yegorov. “He’s been the backbone of our team since he got here, he’s gonna keep battling for us the rest of the year and we’re gonna need him. Just awesome to have him.”

Back-and-forth action took up most of the final frame until Cole Eiserman went coast-to-coast, intercepted the puck, and tucked it past Fowler for the 3-1 lead.

Fowler was pulled for the extra attacker as a last-ditch effort, but Gavin McCarthy sauced the puck from behind Yegorov, and it trickled into the empty net for one last exclamation point on the commanding victory.

“Our guys just find a way to respond, and they have all year,” Pandolfo said. “They did that in the game tonight, and I thought once we got those two goals, just the energy level on our bench, you could feel it.”

The Terriers improved their Beanpot record to 96-48, winning their first title since 2022.

“I hope it gives us confidence as a team…,” Pandolfo said. “But winning this tournament can certainly, you know, hopefully jumpstart you into the rest of the year and into the playoffs.”