When you hear “The Beanpot,” you might immediately think of your granny’s famous soup or some other food-related item. But fear not, for this particular beanpot is much more thrilling. Initially founded in 1979 and held at the Northeastern campus, the Women’s Beanpot is an annual college hockey tournament in which four women’s teams compete for the ultimate trophy (unsurprisingly, it is shaped like a pot). The tournament consists of the teams from Boston University (BU), Boston College (BC), Northeastern University, and Harvard University. There is also a Men’s Beanpot, first held in 1952, which features the same teams. Consisting of two rounds, each a week apart, the Beanpot has two semifinal games, a consolation round for third place, and a championship game. The semifinal hosts rotate annually between the four schools, and the teams are paired up to play one semifinal. One week later, the two semifinal winners play each other in the championship at TD Garden, and the losers play in the consolation game.
Year after year, these teams from the Boston area bring in not only college students supporting their friends and peers, but large crowds of Boston sports fans. For the 2025 championship, there were 13,279 fans at the beloved Boston arena, setting a New England record for the biggest crowd to attend a women’s hockey game. Of course, many are there to watch a game played by skilled athletes, and ever since 2024, watch the event at the enchanting TD Garden arena, but what makes the competition worth the hype is the extremely intense rivalries. Perhaps one that is most notable is the historical competitiveness between BC and BU, which is often referred to as the “Green Line Rivalry” or “The Battle of Comm Ave.”
Just this past month, on January 20th, I was fortunate enough to go to the 2026 championship. The rink was pretty packed, but my father and I fought our way to get seats behind BU’s band and their mascot, Rhett the Boston Terrier. Students all around were loud and vocal with their cheers, screaming “Let’s Go Terriers!” accompanied by band music. Fighting for the Beanpot trophy this year were Harvard and the host team, BU. Throughout the night, BU was nonstop with their shots on goal, coming in at 46, which outnumbered Harvard's 14. It was definitely a time to be on the edge of one’s seat as the game went into overtime, ending with an overtime penalty shot by Harvard’s Carla McSweeny. This marked Harvard’s 16th Beanpot title, and its first since 2022. As of now, Northeastern holds the women’s title record with 20, followed by Harvard with 15, then BC with eight, and finally BU with two.
Although it is a long way away, next year’s is bound to be a nail-biter and full of anticipation for who will win and for whom CA hockey fans will root.