Men’s Hockey: Freshmen class leading the charge heading into the HE Semifinals against UConn
Featured image by Holly Gustavsen
By Hannah Connors
With the stage set at TD Garden for the second time this season, the Boston University Terriers (21-12-2, 14-8-2 HE) will take on the University of Connecticut Huskies (21-10-4, 12-8-4 HE) this Thursday in the Hockey East Semifinals.
The Terriers punched their ticket to the Garden with a 3-2 overtime victory against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in their final game of the season at Agganis Arena.
Freshman Cole Eiserman notched the game-winner for BU on a breakaway play just two minutes into overtime.
“He’s got an ability,” Coach Jay Pandolfo said of Eiserman. “He’s a game breaker with the way he can score goals…The bigger the moment, you know he wants to help his team win, and he knows he has the ability to score, and he’s done that.”
Eiserman leads all NCAA rookies with 21 goals and is ninth among all first-year players with 31 points. Eiserman is the fourth Terrier rookie since 1990 to record 20 goals, joining NHL notables Jack Eichel, Macklin Celebrini and Clayton Keller.
The Terriers’ defense was notable against Umass Amherst. BU’s defensemen accounted for 11 of 17 block shots in the game, many of which came in the third period when the Minuteman made a final aggressive stretch to take the lead and force extra time.
Specifically, defenseman Sascha Boumedienne excelled for BU, scoring the second goal of the game for the Terriers and tallying an assist.
“He’s obviously a good two-way defenseman,” Pandolfo said of Boumedienne. “He’s very good defensively, and it seems like now he’s trying to find, or starting to find, more of his offensive game.”
Cole Hutson has also led the Terriers’ defensive charge all year. In the game against UMass Amherst, Hutson recorded three blocks and created multiple offensive opportunities.
Hutson recently earned the Hockey East Rookie of the Year Award. He’s the third consecutive Terrier to receive this award, following his brother Lane Hutson and Celebrini, who both are making impressive campaigns for the Calder trophy.
Junior goaltender Tyler Muszelik will likely start in net for UConn. Muszelik currently holds a .917 save percentage, and in his most recent game against Providence College put up an impressive .970 save percentage.
For the Terriers, freshman netminder Mikhail Yegorov will get the nod in net. Yegorov boasts a .937 save percentage and has proven to be one of BU’s most valuable assets in the second half of the season.
The Terriers have done well against UConn this year, with a clean 4-2 win early in the season, and an overtime shootout win last month.
The Huskies, however, will undoubtedly make a strong push from the opening face-off. In both games against BU this season, they came out strong, netting their first goal within five minutes of the first period.
The winner of this semifinal match-up will take on the winner of the Maine vs. Northeastern game for the Hockey East Championship on Friday.
Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. from TD Garden. Streaming will be available on NESN and ESPN+, and radio coverage for WTBU Sports can be found on Mixlr.