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A crowd of more than 18,000 was on hand to cheer for the Terriers or the Eagles during the 76th Men’s Beanpot championship at TD Garden February 9. Photo by Sheily Melgar
Varsity Sports
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.
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Two people were stabbed following an alleged bar brawl in Southie over the weekend.
According to a police report, officers arrived at Tom English’s around 10:30 p.m., Friday for a report of a fight. When they arrived on the scene, a victim told police that he was sucker punched during a fight and pointed out a person who was the “main aggressor” throughout the incident.
The suspect was pat frisked by police, but the report said they did not find any weapons. “The suspect stated that he was jumped [by the party of the victim,” the report said. “The suspect refused to cooperate any further after repeated attempts by officers to get his version of events.”
Both the suspect and victim declined EMS.
Then about an hour later, three more victims arrived at a nearby police station to report that two of them had been stabbed in the fight at Tom English. One of the unnamed victims said that the fight started after the suspect kept moving coins he put down to play pool. The suspect, according to one of the other victims, told them to meet him outside.
All parties were kicked out by a bouncer and “a large brawl ensued,” the report said. The victims told police that that suspect brandished a knife and the victims said they “fled the scene on foot fearing for their lives.”
In the report, police noted that they saw wounds on two of the victims. EMS was called to treat them.
BPD did not confirm whether the suspect was arrested.
Reports of fireworks led Boston Police to recover a firearm Monday night in Mattapan.
Officers responded to the area around Callender Street at about 10 p.m. for a call of shots fire, but a supervisor alerted them that individuals were shooting off fireworks.
When police got to the scene, they said they saw a group of people standing near a car that had several packages of fireworks. As officers approached, one man started to sprint towards Blue Hill Ave., throwing a jacket off as he ran, according to BPD.
Multiple officers responded to detain the suspect and a pat frisk of the jacket uncovered a ghost gun with 7 rounds in the magazine, police said.
Kahnari White, 24, of Mattapan was charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm without an FID card, and possession of a large capacity feeding device.
While the foot pursuit and arrest of White unfolded, police said the group standing with the fireworks began to become “hostile and threatening to an officer who remained with them on scene.”
One person allegedly continued to threaten an officer and bumped him on the chest as more officers arrived.
“Multiple de-escalation tactics were attempted, but the suspect continued to threaten officers,” Boston police said in a statement.
Eventually, officers were able to detain Sean Galvez, 40, of Quincy. Galvez was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.
Both suspects are expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.
A 22-year-old from Dorchester was arrested on gun charges after police said they approached the suspect for drinking in public Monday night.
Officers saw a group on Draper St. drinking publicly around 8:30 p.m., and when they approached them, one individual started to walk away.
“When officers advised the male that he could not be drinking alcohol in public, he fled on foot,” Boston Police said in a statement. “A foot pursuit ensued, and officers stopped the suspect.”
Police recovered a Smith and Wesson M&P Bodyguard .380 with nine rounds in the magazine during a pat frisk and said that the serial number on the gun was defaced.
Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.
He is expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.
BPD responded to 252 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included one robbery, six aggravated assaults, one residential burglary, seven larcenies from a vehicle, 15 miscellaneous larcenies, and five auto thefts.
All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
— Francis Haugh, 248 Albany St., Boston. Assault with a dangerous weapon.
— Ismann Nuuh, 421 Old Colony Ave., South Boston. Warrant arrest.
— Michael Buckley, 37 Washington St., Newburyport. Warrant arrest.
— Misty Lottmann, 1 Davis Sq., Somerville. Possession of a Class B drug.
— Michael Nicholls, 39 Boylston St., Boston. Threat to commit a crime.
— Yeson Silvestre, 48-52 Glenville Ave., Brighton. Unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
— Galvester Johnson, 123 Hamilton St., Dorchester. Assault with a dangerous weapon on a person 60 or older.
— Nilton Cardoso, 112 George St., Boston. Uninsured motor vehicle.
— Edgar Aguilar, 29 North St., Newtonville. Possession of a Class C drug.
— Jorge Guillermo Cruz Ortiz, 24 Heard St., Chelsea. Unregistered motor vehicle.
— Askia Lelaind, 47 Chestnut St., Springfield. Larceny under $1,200.
— Tewshawn Hector-Coleman, 111 Woodbine Rd., Stoughton. Warrant.
— Frammy Llaveria, 55 Vallar St., East Boston. Unarmed robbery.
— Eric Hale, 780 Albany St., Boston. Unregistered hawker & peddler ordinance.
“I know we’re used to rushing, but this is a mind game. So we want to slow down and think,” Shaheed said. “Don’t move off of impulse.”
It’s a message that extends far beyond the chess board.
Organizers of Boston’s new Chess for Peace program are using one of history’s oldest board games to teach kids important life skills, including strategic thinking and conflict resolution. Their goals are to reduce youth violence and address the negative impacts of technology.
The program offers free chess classes Sunday afternoons in the basement of the Madison Park High School gym in Roxbury. It’s affiliated with a Boston Public Schools initiative that also includes basketball, boxing, yoga, rugby, and more, an effort to support families and keep students engaged throughout the week.
The 6-WON-7 program, which has grown significantly over the past couple years, is about to mark its 100th Sunday, said Cory McCarthy, director of student support at Boston Public Schools. School administrators launched the program partly in response to reports about unruly teenagers causing chaos at the South Bay shopping center and elsewhere on weekends, McCarthy said.
“School should feel like a community,” he said. “It’s the forgotten piece in the academic journey. It’s a safety issue. It’s violence prevention, it’s youth development, it’s all part of student wellness.”
While violent crime has decreased overall, youth violence remains a concern in Boston, largely concentrated among small groups of teenagers and sometimes fueled by gang affiliations. Social media often plays a role, experts say, with kids posting threats or bragging about crimes they’ve committed.
As technology shortens our attention spans, encourages rash decision-making and limits in-person interactions, playing chess can be a robust kind of antidote, said Renee Callender, a retired Boston police detective who spearheaded the program.
“It’s more than just a game. It actually mirrors life,” she said. “In the game of chess, like life, every action comes with consequences.”
During more than three decades on the police force, Callender saw firsthand how cycles of violence start and end. She also founded a nonprofit called Promoting Conflict Resolution, Inc.

She said the idea for the program came from watching a youth chess tournament on TV; she was impressed by how poised and attentive the players looked. Maybe this could help kids in Boston stay out of trouble, she thought.
“It’s not only about how to play but how to lose,” she said. “How to gracefully lose. How to be humble.”
Indeed, it’s all fun and games until your king is in check.
Jacquami eventually lost to his opponent, 7-year-old Filip Rancic, who said his winning strategy involved steadily advancing his pieces toward the middle of the board.
“Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. So that’s good for him,” said Filip’s dad, Milan Rancic.
“They need to learn to be patient enough to develop a strategy, and obviously avoid a tantrum when they lose — pretty much everything we want our kids to learn,” he added.
During the class, three sets of players sat across from each other at classroom desks, with Shaheed monitoring their games and offering instruction. Sometimes the clink of plastic chess pieces was the only sound in the room.
“I think I got checkmate,” exclaimed Henry Lee, 10, bouncing excitedly in his chair.
Shaheed inspected the board and confirmed — checkmate, indeed.
“Good game,” Lee said, reaching out to shake hands with his opponent, 11-year-old Jesus Beltran.
“Can you believe you just lost to a 10-year-old?” he asked, grinning.
Beltran laughed, rolled his eyes and started setting up the board again; he had won the previous match. In addition to chess, the boys play soccer together. They agreed their friendship can easily withstand some light-hearted competition.

A few turns into the next game, Lee made a move he instantly regretted.
“Can I have that turn back?” he asked Beltran, who smiled and shook his head no.
“So often, they’re focused on just one piece,” said Rhodes Pierre, another instructor with the program. “I tell them to examine the entire board.”
Pierre, who grew up in Mattapan, has experienced firsthand the impacts of violence. His older brother was shot and killed in 1994 near their childhood home, about two weeks after he inadvertently witnessed another daytime shooting nearby. The case was later linked to a neighborhood drug gang, according to news reports at the time.
Pierre said he started playing chess in college and quickly came to appreciate the life skills it teaches.
“Giving people another outlet to express themselves without having to revert to violence, that’s a good thing,” he said. “Making people sit down and think. It’s a better avenue than what we have right now.”

While sprinkling in the basics of chess strategy, Shaheed sends a similar message.
“It’s about seeing the moves behind the moves,” he told the class. “It takes paying attention, hearing your own self think. Most games are won or lost because of focus.”
It’s something he personally learned the hard way, Shaheed said.
Now 45, he spent much of his youth caught in a cycle of poverty, crime, incarceration, and mental illness. From foster care and psychiatric institutions to jails and prison, he ended up playing a lot of chess.
The game took on a central role in his life, an overarching metaphor that changed the way he approached decision-making, Shaheed said. Especially when he found himself in a hostile environment, he would think about the moves available to him and their potential consequences. That finally helped him leave the streets behind and forge a new path.
“The easy money, it wasn’t working. It was almost like a setup — nothing made sense anymore,” he said. “I needed a better move.”

He still plays chess regularly with various partners he’s befriended around Boston. He said he hopes younger generations will find some of the same benefits he’s experienced.
“Chess is a game of distress, tribulations, defeat, obstacles, resistance, competition, sorrow, and conquest,” Shaheed wrote in his recently published book, “Games Over: The Real Story About Chess and Life.”
“And that’s what life is all about — overcoming barriers and making progress.”
Lea Skene can be reached at lea.skene@globe.com. Follow her on X @lea_skene.
Boston Marathon
In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon athletes share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston. Looking for more race day content? Sign up for Boston.com’s pop-up Boston Marathon newsletter.
Name: Brian Wishart
Age: 42
City/State: Marblehead, Mass.
I am running as the Chief of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine division at Spaulding Rehab to help support the hospital and adaptive sports programs.
At Spaulding Rehabilitation, we have a full team that is really incredible at what they do. Each staff member, from the physicians, therapists, nurses, case managers, social workers, to the front desk and care assistants, are incredible.
We work everyday in inpatient, in the clinic, in the therapy gym, and doing research to bring these types of outcomes to all our patients. Though we see wonderful outcomes, there is always work to be done.
One of our goals is to really integrate the amazing research being done at Spaulding into clinical care.
Every kid should have access to the best, most cutting edge treatments, and we aim to do that here, regardless of where the kids come from or what resources they have themselves.
We also want to make sure we are thinking about some of those less flashy innovations in terms of how we are educating or empowering our patients, or how we are supporting and helping them cope with a new reality.
Pediatric care is resource intensive, from needing a lot of expertise to just needing multiple sizes of each piece of equipment.
I am working to raise funds and support to really think broadly and expansively about what we are doing and how we provide care everyday for every patient.
That may mean bringing meaningful research to the clinical setting or ensuring there are enough child life specialists available with the resources they need to make these children comfortable in the hospital.
It is a privilege what I get to do every day and I thank you all sincerely for any support!
Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
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