The men’s hockey Friendship Four Series began in 2015 with UMass Lowell, Brown, Northeastern, and Colgate facing off for the first Belpot trophy. The teams play at SSE Arena Belfast, the home of the Belfast Giants professional men’s hockey team. In 2019, women’s ice hockey arrived in Belfast but only between two programs per meeting until 2026. This year, four programs – Harvard University, Minnesota Duluth, Quinnipiac, and Boston University – met in Northern, Ireland. Chosen to cover the trip for Harvard, I was responsible for photo and video from start to finish. The team had a packed itinerary starting in Dublin for a Gaelic games experience learning the local sports. We stopped at a castle, went to a Belfast Giants hockey game, visited the Titanic museum, signed the Peace Walls, went to the Game of Thrones studios, and explored the city. I found a free morning to hike up over the city for a lovely sunrise accompanied by many friendly people enjoying a break from the gloom and snow. We learned so much from our guides about the The Troubles and its lasting effects. Hockey, acts as a neutral ground being unrelated to religion. The Friendship Series’s act as hopeful community building around a sport with a completely clean slate. Unfortunately, the team couldn’t bring home the Belpot; however, they did pull off an awesome overtime upset over 5th nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth. I deeply enjoyed connecting with the staff, players, and those from Belfast that helped make the trip so memorable. Freezing game winning goals is great, thats the job, but my favorite moments occur when I can capture personalities, from the loudest on the team to the quietest. There’s so much more to the game winning goal and the person who scored it.