No. 16 Northeastern wins fourth men’s Beanpot title in five tries with shootout victory over No. 9 Harvard

For the first time ever, Northeastern and Harvard met in the Beanpot championship.

For the first time ever, the Beanpot championship was decided in a shootout.

For the fourth time in five tournaments and eighth time ever, Northeastern won the Beanpot.

Captain Aidan McDonough came through in the clutch again with the deciding goal in the bottom of the second round of the shootout, and goaltender Devon Levi stood tall once more when he denied Alex Laferriere, sending the crowd into a frenzy as Huskies skaters flooded the ice in celebration. Levi also saved Matthew Coronato and Sean Farrell’s chances in the Crimson’s first two chances.

.@GoNUmhockey takes the Beanpot in a shootout!!! #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/k4oFWQQxSn

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) February 14, 2023

It was Harvard’s second loss when leading at any point during a game this season (13-2-1).

After a scoreless first period, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine broke the stalemate when he jammed in the rebound off Sam Colangelo’s shot from range just 1:27 into the second.

HISTORY: Click or tap here for everything you need to know about the men’s Beanpot tournament

Harvard (17-6-2, 14-4-0 ECAC) answered just over a minute later when Matthew Coronato capitalized on the power play with a one-timer at the left circle off a smooth tic-tac-toe passing sequence. He added another just before the midway point of the period when he dove for a rebound to the right of the crease for his fourth goal of the tournament and a 2-1 lead.

In the third, Fontaine came through again for the No. 16 Huskies (14-10-5, 11-5-3 HEA) about five minutes in when he backhanded Jayden Struble’s cross-crease feed into the yawning cage.

DAWGS ARE OUT AND THEY ARE HOWLIN’

📺: @NESN #HowlinHuskies pic.twitter.com/i92K4yuTc1

— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) February 14, 2023

Both goaltenders came up big down the stretch as Mitchell Gibson (27 saves) made timely stops in overtime, and Levi (32 saves) matched him at every opportunity.

Levi went on to earn MVP as well as the Eberly Trophy, awarded to the tournament’s best goaltender, marking the fifth straight time an NU goalie earned the award.