Men’s Hockey: Eiserman’s hat trick powers Terriers to complete weekend sweep over Vermont

Featured image by Joe Eachus

By Hannah Connors

Something about winning a gold medal really gives a person confidence.

At least, that’s what Cole Eiserman’s motto seems to be.

Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (11-7-1, 7-3-1 HE) swept the weekend series against the University of Vermont Catamounts (8-10-3, 3-6-2 HE) 7-4 on Saturday night at Agganis Arena, powered by Eiserman’s first hat trick as a Terrier.

“You know, really happy with our weekend overall, getting the sweep,” coach Jay Pandolfo said. “It was important for us starting the second half [of the season] this way.”

At the start of the opening frame, the Terriers struggled to maintain offensive possession. While firing more shots on goals than the Catamounts, BU had difficulties finding a consistent rhythm.  

Back-to-back penalties taken by UVM halfway through the period left the Terriers with many goal-scoring opportunities but none they could capitalize on.

With five minutes remaining in the period, the Catamounts seized an opportunity on a breakaway. Goaltender Mathieu Caron made the initial save, but forward Massimo Lombardi quickly passed off the rebound to Will Zapernick, who found the back of the net to give Vermont the lead.

The Terriers quickly responded. Just two minutes after the Catamounts’ goal, Eiserman netted a clean wrist shot from the slot.

BU came out on the front foot in the second. Just over a minute in, Eiserman found Quinn Hutson wide-open in front of the net. Hutson capitalized on this chance, giving the Terriers a 2-1 lead.

Hutson and Eiserman continued their offensive push. Minutes after his goal, Quinn Hutson once again located Eiserman just below the goal line. Eiserman then fired a clean wrist shot, putting the Terriers up 3-1 with his second goal of the night.

“I was just getting open,” Eiserman said of his performance. “I had a really easy job with, you know how we were doing like in the O-zone. We were really getting pucks back.”

While UVM maintained little offensive possession during the second frame, they took advantage of the time they did have in the Terriers’ zone. 

Both teams scrambled for the puck in front of the net after the initial shot from Sebastian Törnqvist did not go through. Lombardi cleaned up, tipping the puck past Caron. 

Towards the end of the period, BU’s defense began to unravel. With about seven minutes left, the Terriers took a penalty for roughing, and with a little under two minutes remaining, they received another penalty for tripping. 

BU opened the final frame a man down, but successfully killed the penalty. 

“I think it’s great when you’re able to make some mistakes, some experiences you can learn from, but still come away with two wins,” Pandolfo said.

A penalty on UVM soon gave the Terriers an opportunity. Bringing the puck through the neutral zone, Jack Harvey found Jack Hughes right outside the blue line, who weaved through two defensemen and found the back of the net, putting BU up 4-2.

Soon after, the Terriers found themselves once again on a power play. Quickly off the face-off, Gavin McCarthy passed to Eiserman, who netted a one-timer slapshot from just outside the circle, marking his third goal of the game and completing his hat trick.

“I thought Cole Eiserman was unbelievable tonight,” Pandolfo said. “You could just tell from the puck drop that he came to play.”

BU quickly used this momentum to find the net again. After an initial shot by Cole Hutson, Harvey collected the rebound, skated through center ice, and netted the Terriers’ sixth goal of the night.

The Catamounts managed to respond with two more goals towards the end of the game as BU’s defense slipped up. The first goal was scored off a rebound by Micheal La Starza, and the second was slipped into the bottom corner of the net by Timofei Spitserov.

Despite UVM’s back-to-back goals, the Terriers found one more opportunity to put a finishing touch on the weekend sweep. After gaining possession in their defensive zone, captain Ryan Greene scored BU’s seventh and final goal of the game from just inside the Terrier offensive zone on an empty net. 

“We can’t be satisfied with two wins in a row…We gotta get back to work,” Jack Hughes said about continuing the team’s positive momentum. 

The Terriers will take on the University of New Hampshire in a weekend series starting next Friday, January 17th in Durham, New Hampshire. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., with streaming available on ESPN+.