Northeastern beats Boston University in overtime to capture 19th Women's Beanpot title

BOSTON -- The Northeastern women's hockey team captured its 19th Beanpot title Tuesday night, beating Boston University 2-1 in overtime on what was a historic evening at TD Garden.

Tuesday marked the first time in the tournament's 45-year history that the Women's Beanpot Championship was played at the Garden. The 10,633 fans that packed the stadium were the largest women's crowd in Boston history.

And they treated to an overtime thriller that featured a last-minute goal in regulation and the game-winner just 27 seconds into the extra frame.

Skylar Irving scored both goals for Northeastern, first giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead with just 35 seconds left in the second period. The Huskies held onto that edge until the final minute of regulation.

With the BU net empty and an extra attacker on the ice, senior forward Catherine Foulem netted the equalizer for the Terriers with 58 seconds remaining, setting up some extra hockey for the large crowd on hand.

But the overtime frame didn't last very long. Katy Knoll found a streaking Irving all alone behind the BU defense, and the junior from Kingston won it for the Huskies when her wrister found the back of the net.

Irving was named tournament MVP after her two-goal performance. On the ice after win, she told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche that she zoned out a bit after her game-winner.

"It was awesome. It was just a nice pass from Katy Knoll and I was just lucky to get there. It was awesome to get our 19th championship with this group," she said. "It's just surreal."

Northeastern has now won back-to-back Beanpot titles. But Tuesday's was all the more special given the setting of the game -- and what it means for the future of women's sports in Boston. All the young women in the crowd Tuesday night now know that they could also end up playing on TD Garden.

"It was amazing," Irving said of the crowd. "I can't even put it into words. Seeing how far the sport has grown, to us being able to play at the Garden was amazing. All these girls can dream of playing here as well."