Men’s Hockey: Terriers down rival Eagles 3-1 at Agganis Arena

By Zach Kaplan

The 301st Battle of Commonwealth Avenue went the Terriers’ way Friday, as Boston University Men’s Hockey (15-15-2, 11-11-0 HEA) beat rival Boston College (19-11-1, 13-8-0 HEA) 3-1 in the third iteration of college hockey’s most storied rivalry this season.

“We found a way to get it done,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “It’s a big win for us.”

The Terriers entered Friday’s matchup coming off a 13-day break following a home-and-away series Feb. 13-14 against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.

“I thought a lot of what we worked on translated tonight,” Pandolfo said.

Freshman forward Ryder Ritchie got things started for the Terriers just under 12 minutes into the game, netting his seventh goal of the season and third in his last five games.

The highlight of the first period came on a gorgeous cross-ice feed from sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson, who sent a behind-the-back pass to a ready-and-waiting freshman winger Cole Eiserman. Eiserman slapped it over the right shoulder of BC goalie Louka Cloutier for his fourth goal in a five-game span.

“He’s got a knack for making plays like that,” Pandolfo said of Hutson. “He knows where everyone is at all times, and he knows where guys are going to be.”

The Terriers’ success stemmed largely from that dominant first period, a stretch that saw the Eagles frequently caught flat-footed.

“Great first period — going into the locker room with the lead was huge for our group,” Pandolfo said. “To play like that and get rewarded was huge, too.”

The momentum slowed in the second period as the Eagles got on the board with a power play goal from Dean Letourneau at 7:41. The freshman forward, a 2024 first-round pick of the Bruins, capitalized on a man-advantage for a BC power play that entered with a 28% conversion rate.

For the Terriers, that wasn’t new. Letourneau now has goals in each of the Eagles’ three games against BU this season.

Pandolfo said keeping BC’s high-end talent contained — including Letourneau and Bruins prospects James Hagens and Andre Gasseau — was central to BU’s game plan. Gasseau scored twice in BC’s Beanpot final win over BU earlier this month.

“We did a pretty good job against them,” Pandolfo said. “It’s pretty good to keep that team to that shot amount, even after that second period. It tells me we were playing solid defense all in all.”

The Terriers’ defense held strong down the stretch, maintaining a 2-1 lead through several tense third-period sequences before BC Head Coach Greg Brown pulled Cloutier, who finished with 38 saves on 41 shots.

BU successfully killed off late penalties, and junior forward Kamil Bednarik cleared the puck out of trouble to Eiserman, who circled behind the Eagles’ net to stall the play as BC swarmed. Eiserman found junior forward Jack Harvey, who buried a point-blank empty-netter — his 11th goal of the season — to seal the 3-1 win.

Equally crucial was goaltender Mikhail Yegorov, the reigning Eberly Award winner who debuted for the Terriers against BC earlier this season. While BU outshot the Eagles 41-25, Yegorov came up strong on several Grade A chances.

On Friday night, Yegorov resembled the “brick wall” who helped backstop BU to the 2025 Beanpot title rather than the shakier version seen earlier this year.

“It felt great,” Yegorov said. “I really appreciate Coach trusting me. Beating BC always feels great, and getting the win was huge. The bye week was great for us — we ramped up the chemistry, and I just tried to be in my flow, enjoy the game and help the team as much as I can.”