Cole Eiserman (CAS’28) celebrating his game-winning overtime goal in the Hockey East quarterfinals at Agganis Arena March 15. The Terriers will face off against UConn at TD Garden on Thursday in the Hockey East semifinals for a chance to advance to the championship game for the third-straight year.

Men's Hockey

Terrier Men in Hockey East Semifinals for Third Year in a Row

It’s BU vs UConn at TD Garden Thursday

Overtime at Agganis last Saturday: Cole Eiserman received the puck and hustled up the ice. It was a 2-2 tie between the Boston University men’s ice hockey team and UMass in the Hockey East quarterfinals and a trip to TD Garden was on the line.

Eiserman (CAS’28) faked a pass to teammate Jack Hughes (COM’25), then rifled a wrister past the UMass goaltender to send BU to the conference semifinals for the third year in a row.

“He’s got an ability. He’s a game-breaker with the way he can score goals,” head coach Jay Pandolfo (CAS’96) said about the freshman during a media call earlier this week. “At any point when that puck is on a stick in the offensive zone and he’s getting to the net, there’s a good chance it’s going to go in.”

The Terriers will match up against the University of Connecticut Thursday at 4 pm at TD Garden for the rights to play for the championship the following evening. The other semifinal matchup, at 7:30 pm, is between Maine and Northeastern, who upset top-seeded Boston College last weekend, also at the Garden.

“It’s just buying into the game plan, and it’s the little details that matter in these playoff games, so you just need to pay attention to those little details and execute well,” Gavin McCarthy (CAS’27) says. “We can get it done,” he adds.

BU and UConn have met twice this season, with the Terriers taking the October matchup 4-2 and winning an extra Hockey East point with a shoot-out victory in February. The Huskies enter the semifinals having won their last four games since playing BU in February.

UConn is led in points by Joey Muldowney, who netted two goals in the quarterfinal win over Providence College. Not too far behind, Hudson Schandor and Jake Richard have recorded 40 and 38 points, respectively. The team is coached by Mike Cavanaugh, who was voted Hockey East Coach of the Year, leading the team to a tie for highest finish in the conference.

In the back stretch of the season, the Terriers have strung together some of their best performances, highlighted by an 8-2 victory over top-10-ranked Providence.

BU has looked like a whole new team since freshman goaltender Mikhail Yegorov (CAS’28) joined the team in January. Yegorov was quickly thrust into the starting job for BU and has delivered gold-standard play in net. 

High-stakes hockey is great, Yegorov says. “It’s all great feelings and an amazing group of guys here. They have supported me the whole time I’ve been here.”

Since arriving, he has played in 13 games, posting a 1.82 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage—the fourth-best mark in the NCAA. He has notched one shutout and has allowed more than two goals only twice this season.

Cole Hutson (CAS’28) has been another standout in the season’s second half, following an underwhelming start to the year. After a 0-4 loss to UMass in December, he shouldered the onus for the team’s struggles, saying he needed to be better.

Since then, Hutson has recorded a point in all but 3 games, with 8 goals and 17 assists in those 18 games. He was voted Hockey East Rookie of the Year, following in the footsteps of his brother, Lane Hutson, in 2023 and Terrier Macklin Celebrini last year.

“It’s been unbelievable. I got to watch Lane my first few years, and that was pretty unbelievable. Then, Cole now, the same type of thing,” cocaptain Ryan Greene (COM’26) says. “He’s just such a skilled player, a great teammate as well. But you know, some of the stuff he can do on the ice, I haven’t seen many people go and do it.”

The Hutsons don’t stop there. Quinn Hutson (SHA’26), the eldest of the brothers, leads BU in points this season with 20 goals and 26 assists. The assistant captain recorded a hat trick against New Hampshire and a four-assist game against Providence earlier this season.

“Quinn is unbelievable. Such a good goal scorer. He can score from pretty much anywhere on the ice,” Greene says. “Playing with him, I just try to get him the puck, and usually he does the finishing touches.”

Eiserman, a goal-scoring phenom, has found his niche on the team, while cocaptains Shane Lachance (SHA’27) and Greene round out the team’s top five point leaders.

One of the biggest issues plaguing BU through its up-and-down start to the season was discipline—the team still leads the NCAA in penalty minutes per game. Twice during the first half of the season, the Terriers recorded more than 45 penalty minutes in a game. 

BU has averaged over 11 penalty minutes per game in the second half of the season, but its penalty kill has improved to 77.4 percent, limiting the damage of these penalties. On the other end of special teams, BU still owns a top-five power play, converting at a 27.6 percent clip.

“We switched it up a little bit, went to more of an aggressive style, so I think that’s been working pretty well for us,” McCarthy says. “Obviously, [Yegorov] has been playing great in the net, so that helps too.”

The Terriers have done especially well in high-pressure situations this season, auguring well for the Hockey East tournament. In elimination games, the Terriers are 5-0, with a Friendship Four championship, a Beanpot championship, and a quarterfinals win under their belts. BU last won the league in 2023 and has a chance to reclaim its title this Thursday and Friday.

“We’re a team that when our backs are against the wall, and we know that we can be done if we lose, that’s when we play our best,” Greene says. “We’re gonna try to make that 6-0 and 7-0.”

The No. 3-seeded Boston University men’s hockey team will play No. 4 University of Connecticut in the first Hockey East semifinal, at 4 pm on Thursday, March 20. The winner will play Friday, March 21, at 7:30 pm against the winner of the No. 2-seeded Maine vs No. 9 Northeastern game at 7:30 pm Thursday. Purchase tickets for all Hockey East tournament games here. All games will air live on NESN, and can be followed here. Follow the BU men’s team @TerrierHockey on X.