Men’s Hockey: Terriers sweep Eagles with 5-1 win at Conte Forum

By Ryan Owens

The Boston University Men’s Hockey team (16-15-2, 12-11-0 HEA) wrapped up the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue season series with a 5-1 victory over Boston College (19-12-1, 13-9-0 HEA) at Conte Forum on Saturday.

Four Terriers recorded multiple points on the night, and BU tallied two shorthanded goals — one each from freshman forward Ben Merrill and junior forward Jack Harvey — to take control despite trailing in shots throughout the game.

The win was BU’s third straight and completed a weekend sweep of BC — a much-needed momentum boost with the end of the regular season and the start of the Hockey East tournament approaching.

“It was a huge win for us,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said after the game. “It’s tough to sweep in this league, tough to sweep a really good hockey team. I don’t know if that was the prettiest game we’ve played… I just liked the way we stuck with it.”

The Terriers struck first midway through the opening period — and did so down a man. BU captain and freshman defenseman Gavin McCarthy found Merrill, who beat BC goalie Louka Cloutier to open the scoring and give BU a 1-0 lead. The goal was Merrill’s first of two on the night and marked the first multi-goal effort of his collegiate career.

“We’re an aggressive [penalty] kill,” Pandolfo said of his group’s shorthanded success. “We just got back to doing the things that made it successful — going to our spots, being aggressive at the right time, reading off each other — and it was a little bit more of that tonight.”

BC answered a few minutes later when senior forward Oskar Jellvik scored off a feed from freshman standout James Hagens to tie it 1-1. Despite outshooting BU 13-5 in the opening frame, the Eagles couldn’t break the deadlock before the buzzer.

McCarthy restored BU’s lead less than three minutes into the second period, assisted by sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson and freshman forward Tynan Lawrence, to make it 2-1. The Terriers would not relinquish that advantage.

Harvey extended the lead just over a minute into the final frame with a shorthanded goal, making it 3-1. Merrill and freshman winger Cole Eiserman followed to close out the 5-1 victory — Eiserman’s goal was his fifth in the last six games, a welcome resurgence for the first-round draft pick who had scored in just one game over the previous two months.

Sophomore goaltender Mikhail Yegorov stopped 28 of 29 shots for a .966 save percentage, continuing his strong form. Cloutier stopped 15 of 19 for a .789 save percentage.

“You’ve gotta give [Yegorov] credit,” Pandolfo said. “He was excellent. His best weekend of the year — there’s no doubt about that.”

The win gives BU a chance to climb in the Hockey East standings and potentially secure home ice for the opening round of the conference tournament — a significant boost for a team that has shifted from national title favorite to underdog contender.

“It’s taken us a while to find our game, and we’re still working at it,” Pandolfo said. “Right now we’re trying not even to think of that. We’re just trying to get better every day, better every game… We just want to keep building here and see where it goes.”

The Terriers close their regular season against UMass Lowell (12-20-0, 8-14-0 HEA) on March 7. The game will stream on ESPN+.