One of the greatest traditions in college sports returns on Monday (Feb. 4) as the 67th Beanpot Tournament gets underway at TD Garden. Boston University will take on Northeastern in the late semifinal at 8 p.m. in a rematch of last year's title game.
 

Boston University (10-11-3) vs. No. 12 Northeastern (15-8-1)
Date & Time	Monday, Feb. 4 | 8:00 p.m.
Venue	TD Garden | Boston, Mass.
Tickets	Ticketmaster
TV	NESN, TSN2 (BU Beanpot Watch Parties)
Watch	NESNgo | TSN Direct
Listen	TSRN
Live Stats	GoTerriers.com
Game Notes	BU | NU
Twitter	@BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey   #BUBeanpot - Official Hashtag

  

The Terriers, who are attempting to advance to the Beanpot title game for the fifth straight season, fell to the Huskies in last year's championship as Northeastern brought home the Beanpot for the first time in 30 years.

The early game on Monday at 5 p.m. features Harvard and Boston College. Both semifinals will be televised on NESN and TSN2.

BU took three of four points from the Huskies in a home-and-home series back in November, posting a 4-1 win at home following a 5-5 draw at Matthews Arena. Beanpot schools have met on five different occasions thus far this season and BU has been involved with all five, going 1-1-3 with a tie against each of its three rivals.

This is the first time in 34 years that each Beanpot school has won a title in the previous four years (BU - 2015, BC - 2016, Harvard - 2017, NU - 2018). BU's current senior class has been to the title game each season only to fall short against each of the other three Beanpot rivals. In fact, BU and Northeastern are the only schools to finish as runner-up over the past seven tournaments. 

Boston College's Class of 1983 was the last group to fall in the title game in its first three years to each of the other three schools. They ended up hoisting the Beanpot as seniors with an 8-2 win over Northeastern. BC lost four straight title games from 1979-82 and Northeastern dropped three in a row from 2013-15. 

This is the 67th annual Beanpot Tournament, which debuted in the 1952-53 season. The Beanpot spent its inaugural year at Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena), followed by a 42-year stint at the old Boston Garden. It's now in its 24th season at TD Garden. The Terriers have won nearly half (30) of the previous 66 Beanpot tournaments. After winning the Beanpot just once in the '50s, BU has won it 29 times in the last 53 years, including 13 of the past 24. The second-most successful school in the tournament is BC, which has won the coveted trophy 20 times. Next is Harvard with 11 titles, while Northeastern has lifted the Beanpot just five times. 

The Terriers come into this year's tournament with an all-time record of 90-42 (.682). They are 28-16 (.636) against Boston College, 29-17 (.630) against Harvard and 33-9 (.786) versus Northeastern. 

BU won the Beanpot seven times last decade (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) before ending a six-year drought in 2015. The Terriers' most successful decade was the '90s, when it won eight (1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999). Prior to that, BU won it three times in the '80s (1982, 1986, 1987), seven times in the '70s (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979), three times in the '60s (1966, 1967, 1968) and once in the '50s (1958).

A win over the Huskies in this year's first-round match-up would send the Terriers to the Beanpot title game for the 32nd time in the last 36 years. The Terriers hold the record for consecutive finals appearances at 16 (1964-79). Since 1984, the only years BU didn't reach the final were in 1994, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014. Even more amazing is that BU has been in the title game in 47 of the last 55 years and 53 times in the 66-year history of the tournament.

The Terriers have won the title 30 times, have 23 second-place finishes, seven third-place finishes and six fourth-place finishes. Half of BU's six last-place finishes have come in the past eight years.     

Thirteen current BU skaters and one goaltender have played in at least one Beanpot. Sophomore Logan Cockerill (2g, 1a), senior Bobo Carpenter (1g, 2a) and junior Dante Fabbro (3g) each have three points in the tournament. Junior Chad Krys has two Beanpot points (1g, 1a) while five others have exactly one point in the Beanpot. 
 
Albie O'Connell will be making his Beanpot debut as a head coach. O'Connell and his fellow members of the Class of 1999 are one of only four BU classes to win four Beanpots. He also won a Beanpot in 2015 as an assistant coach with the Terriers.

This will be the 237th meeting between the Terriers and Huskies since they first met during the 1930-31 season. The only team BU has played more games against is Boston College (279). BU holds a 165-61-10 (.720) advantage, including wins in 13 of the past 19 meetings (13-4-2). The Terriers are 13-2-0 (.867) in the teams' 15 meetings at TD Garden, which have all come in the Beanpot.

Northeastern has dropped three straight games for the first time since January of 2017. After getting swept by Providence in a home-and-home weekend on Jan. 25-26, the Huskies fell to No. 19 UMass Lowell, 3-1, on Friday.

The Huskies have benefited from impressive balance in their scoring thus far as 17 players have scored at least one goal. Senior Brandon Hawkins has a team-high 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists. Freshman Tyler Madden has been impressive, racking up 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists, while junior Jeremy Davies - a 2018 First Team All-American - has also tallied 20 points (5g, 15a). Junior Grant Jozefek has chipped in with 19 points (10g, 9a) and sophomore Zach Solow has 17 points on the strength of a team-best 11 goals. 

In goal, sophomore Cayden Primeau has started 21 of 24 games and boasts a 2.42 goals-against average and .9211 save percentage.

BU's penalty kill has successfully killed off 23 straight opponent power plays, its longest such streak since a string of 27 straight that ended on March 24, 2017. The run of 23 straight is the third longest current run in the nation, trailing only Bemidji State (29) and Cornell (24). 

Freshman Joel Farabee has 13 points (6g, 7a) over the past nine games and now leads the Terriers in points with 23 (9g 14a). Senior Ryan Cloonan has a point in six of the past eight games while junior Patrick Curry (4g, 2a) and sophomore Ty Amonte (1g, 4a) are on the best runs of their BU careers over the past five games with six and five points, respectively. Sophomore Shane Bowers has recorded 11 points (6g, 5a) over his previous 10 games and Fabbro has nine points (2g, 7a) in the past seven games. Over the past five games, junior Patrick Harper has six points (1g, 5a).  

After 13 games this season, BU was averaging only 2.08 goals per game and shooting just 6.3 percent. In their 11 contests since - spanning two months - the Terriers are averaging 3.82 goals on 12.4-percent shooting. Only two teams have scored at a higher clip during that span - Ohio State (4.20) and Lake Superior State (4.07).