The Battle of Comm Ave took on a heightened urgency Monday night as Boston University faced off against rival Boston College in the 2026 Dunkin’ Men’s Beanpot Championship. The night saw the two teams squaring off for the 300th time—for bragging rights to one of college hockey’s most storied events. 

Those in TD Garden’s upper bowl wearing scarlet and white headed for the exits early, as BU fell short of claiming its 33rd Beanpot championship, falling 6-2 to BC.

“Our team was having a tough time sustaining the same type of play for the whole game,” Head Coach Jay Pandolfo (CAS’96) said postgame. “It just started getting away from us.”

 It was crucial that BU score early Monday night after losing to BC at Agganis Arena on January 30, and Brandon Svoboda (SHA’28) did just that at 2:15 of the first period.

Gavin McCarthy (SHA’27) sent a shot on goal that Eagles freshman Louka Cloutier couldn’t corral, and Svoboda tucked it home to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.

BU had several chances to extend the lead in the opening frame, but wasn’t able to manage it, despite being awarded two power plays. Cole Eiserman (CAS’28) had the Terriers’ best look—a wide-open wrist shot from the slot—but couldn’t beat Cloutier, who made 27 saves in the contest.

“We had power plays and didn’t capitalize,” Pandolfo said. “You can just tell a little bit that deflates the bench, and then they get the one power play score right away.”

BC senior Andre Gasseau scored on the man advantage at 15:02 of the first period for the Eagles. Junior Ryan Conmy raced down the right side of the ice and found a wide-open Gasseau, who easily slipped the puck past Mikhail Yegorov (CAS’28).

Although the Terriers outplayed the Eagles in the first period, BC settled in to start the second, stretching the BU defense. The Eagles’ best chance came at 10:42, when senior Brady Berard broke in alone on goal. He attempted a forehand-to-backhand deke, but was robbed by Yegorov, who stopped 32 pucks in the loss.

“We really started turning pucks over, and couldn’t get anything going on the forecheck, and they just kept coming back at us, wore us down,” Pandolfo said.

The Eagles took a 2-1 lead at 14:54. From the point, senior Lukas Gustafsson sent a tame shot towards the goal that was redirected in by junior Will Vote.

At 16:39 of the second period, Ryder Ritchie (CAS’29) was called for tripping, giving BC’s lethal power play another opportunity, which the Eagles cashed in on just 13 seconds into the man advantage.

Gustafsson ripped a shot from the point past Yegorov to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead at 16:52. Sophomore James Hagens, named Beanpot Most Valuable Player, recorded an assist on the goal.

In need of a push and down two goals with one period left to play, the Terriers once again hurt themselves when Ritchie whistled for cross-checking at 5:32. This time, it took the Eagles only four seconds to score on the power play, pushing their lead to 4-1.

Gasseau cleaned up a rebound off a Conmy one-timer for his second goal of the game. BC scored three power-play goals in the contest. Sophomore Dean Letourneau scored the Eagles’ fifth goal at 16:03. Vote tacked on his second tally at 18:49 with the Terriers’ net empty to make it 6-2 BC.

Eiserman got one back for BU at 14:51 on the power play. He blasted a one-timer home from the right circle, but the push was too little, too late for the Terriers.

Monday’s performance adds to the long list of frustrations for BU this season, something Pandolfo noted during the postgame presser. “We’ve still got some hockey left to play. Obviously we’re in a very difficult spot. But we’ve got to try to find a way to end the year off right,” he said.

Your Pats, who had won 16 out of 17 and not lost by more than 7 points all season, were shocked and awed Sunday by the Seattle Seahawks, losing Super Bowl LX, 29-13, at Levi’s Stadium. This wasn’t Bears, 46-10, like in New Orleans in 1986, but there were times it felt just as feeble. The Patriots were demolished and became the first team to lose six Super Bowls.

It was Starbucks over Dunks. By a lot.

“We had a really good year, one that I’m proud of,” said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. “This game isn’t a reflection of our year. They [Seattle] are a good football team. I hope we’re able to learn from this. We understand how hard it is to get here.”

The offense in the first three quarters was historically bad. New England punted on its first eight full possessions, then fumbled on the ninth and trailed, 19-0, four plays into the fourth quarter. The Patriots became the first team in 51 years to fail to score in the first three quarters of a Super Bowl.

The dam burst at the end of the third when poor Drake Maye (two interceptions, a lost fumble, six sacks) gave the Seahawks possession on the New England 37. Less then two minutes later, Sam Darnold badly burned Patriots linebacker Jack Gibbens for a 16-yard touchdown pass. The rest of the game was for bettors only, the lowlight coming when a shirtless fan streaked across the field, avoided security, and was chased down by Patriot speedster Kyle Williams.

So much for New England’s Cinderella story. The clock ran out. The slipper wouldn’t fit. The charming narrative of the plucky Patriots, who vaulted from 4-13 all the way to the Super Bowl, can never be diminished. But it ended badly, and there will ever be suspicion that the Fortunate Sons of Vrabel merely took advantage of one of the easiest schedules in league history — the Pats played 11 games against teams who fired their coaches, plus the Jets twice — then got hot in the playoffs and advanced because of their place in the NFL’s weaker conference.

It was certainly a tough Super Bowl week for longtime Patriot owner, Robert Kraft. MAGA-Bob had his name leaked in the Epstein files, was again snubbed in his quest for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Saturday was trolled at the Duke-UNC hoop game by Bill Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson with an Orchids of Asia T-shirt — the Florida spa where Kraft was charged with solicitation of prostitution in 2019. (Charges were dropped.)

And then this dismal game. The only way Kraft’s week could have gotten worse would be a second viewing of “Melania.”

Super Bowl LX was a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona 11 years ago — a game won when Seattle coach Pete Carroll failed to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the 1-yard line. (Thanks, Malcolm Butler!) It was the worst Seattle sports moment since they lost the Sonics.

This time around, the Pats were 4½-point underdogs against a dominant Seattle team that won eight games by at least two touchdowns and compiled the league’s largest point differential. The Seahawks did not commit a single postseason turnover.

Underdog status was nothing new to your 2025-26 Pats, who ran through a raft of Tomato Cans to go 14-3, followed by impressive playoff wins against the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos. It all vaulted the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl, four more than any other NFL team.

Maye had never played in a Super Bowl, nor set foot on Levi’s Stadium’s real grass surface, but he attended Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara with his dad when he was 13 years old in 2016. A Charlotte native, The Drake grew up rooting for the Panthers and his dad brought him to Carolina’s 24-10 loss to the Broncos.

“It’s a full-circle moment,” Maye said after the Pats checked into their Santa Clara hotel last Sunday. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m just so thankful for my dad to be able to take me to a Super Bowl. I don’t take that for granted; not every kid gets to experience that. I was able to watch my favorite team at the time and I got to see Peyton Manning’s last game — what a cool experience that was. And now, to be here and playing in one for myself, I don’t take that for granted.”

Maye was the NFL’s MVP runner-up in 2025, throwing 31 touchdown passes with only eight interceptions, running for 450 yards, and completing a whopping 72 percent of his passes. Playoff Drake was not the same player. Competing against four of the NFL’s top six defenses, Maye’s completion percentage dipped to 58, he was sacked a postseason-record 21 times, intercepted four times, and lost four fumbles.

Don’t let Maye’s Super Bowl stats (27 for 43, 295 yards, two touchdowns) deceive you. The Drake couldn’t do anything when it mattered Sunday and much of it was not his fault. His offensive line couldn’t handle the pressure.

“They played better than us tonight and they beat us,” said Maye. “They brought pressure and got us a few times. There were times I could have made a better throw or a better decision. It comes down to who makes the play and they made more than we did.”

It was 67 degrees and sunny at kickoff in this rare outdoor NFL championship event. San Francisco legend Joe Montana flipped the coin, Seattle lost the toss, and the Patriots — just like in the old days — deferred. Butler was the official ringer of the bell for the Pats before Andy Borregales kicked off.

Seattle allowed the fewest points in the NFL this year and gave a great demonstration of its prowess. New England’s defense played well for most of the night, holding the Seahawks to four field goals in the first three quarters, but it became too hard when Maye started turning the ball over.

The blowout will reinforce the notion that the Seattle-Rams NFC Championship game was the de-facto Super Bowl of 2026. Maybe so, but that shouldn’t take away from the magic ride that got the Patriots to Super Bowl LX.

Remember this team fondly. Just try not to think about the last game.

It was bad.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.