TOLEDO, Ohio — Over the past week, Boston University men’s hockey team lamented how the team needed a change in mindset.
The Terriers were coming off a 5-2 loss to UConn in the Hockey East quarterfinals — a game head coach Jay Pandolfo called “a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking.”
That didn’t stop the Terriers from a completely uninspired, lethargic first period in the NCAA regional semifinal, where they were outshot 15-2 — and somehow only trailed 1-0.
“We couldn’t get a shot on net in the first because we never had the puck,” Pandolfo said postgame. “The season’s over if you don’t find a way to show a little bit more effort in that second and third period.”
Cole Eiserman scored. Then, OSU.
Quinn Hutson scored. Then, OSU.
Matt Copponi scored. Then, BU.
Then, BU again.
And again.
Two more times after that.
“I don’t know why we put ourselves in that situation,” Eiserman said. “When we get together as a group, and we really play for each other, somehow that works out in our favor.”
The Terriers (22-13-2) scored six-straight goals to take down Ohio State, 8-3, in the Toledo Regional semifinals at the Huntington Center on Thursday afternoon. After the Buckeyes (24-14-2) pushed early, BU’s skill became too much with Eiserman’s two goals, Jack Hughes’ short-handed goal and goaltender Mikhail Yegorov’s 33 saves.
“Sometimes they need their backs against the wall, but at the end of the day, they always respond,” Pandolfo said. “If you ask me after the first period and told me we’re going to win 8-3, I probably would’ve laughed, but at the end of the day, we got the result we were looking for.”
Neither team beamed with confidence at puck drop, playing hot potato with the puck. BU fired the first shot of the game off the stick of Ryan Greene less than a minute into the game — the team wouldn’t get the puck on net for another 18 minutes.
Ohio State picked up the pace, putting pressure on a frail defense and forcing Yegorov to play at even higher level. Then the dam broke.
OSU defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata fired a shot from just below the blueline that ricocheted off Yegorov’s pads. The puck found the stick of Joe Dunlap streaking in on the other side to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 advantage.
The goal, scored at 9:07, didn’t inspire confidence in the Terriers. Quinn Hutson took a slashing penalty less than a minute later. Just after that, the Buckeyes fired a shot that squeaked through Yegorov’s legs, but Gavin McCarthy swept it off the goal line before it could cross.
The Buckeyes put Yegorov through a hailstorm, and the freshman fended off each attempt.
“It could have been a lot worse, if he didn’t hold the fort there for us,” Pandolfo said. “He was great, because he’s calm in there. He’s got confidence, he’s got a presence.”
At the end of the frame, OSU’s Thomas Weis was called for hooking to give BU a full man-advantage at the start of the second.
“We were lucky to get out of that first period only down one goal,” Pandolfo said. “If you don’t find a way to at least make that competitive, they’re going to regret that for a long time.”
The Terriers didn’t have their best power play, but it was enough to drum up the credence needed. About seven minutes into the frame, BU finally began its push.
The top line of Shane Lachance-Greene-Q. Hutson started the momentum with a handful of chances. Then, the second line continued it.
Kamil Bednarik won a faceoff in the offensive end, kicking it back to Cole Eiserman in the slot. Eiserman, who leads the team in goals, fired a signature wrister past goaltender Logan Terness to even the game 1-1 at 8:09 of the second.
As is the story of the season, a penalty cost the Terriers momentum. Devin Kaplan took an roughing penalty, and Joe Dunlap once again found the back of the net.
The graduate student received the puck just across the blue line and drove past Cole Hutson before beating Yegorov stick side to take the lead back on the power-play goal at 12:53.
Jake Dunlap then took a hooking penalty. The BU power play looked at its top form with crisp, tape-to-tape passing and quality looks. Cole found his brother Quinn with the left side of the goal wide open, and the eldest Hutson evened the game 2-2 at 17:19.
OSU’s Max Montes drove the net on a two-on-one beating Yegorov just 30 seconds later for a 3-2 advantage at 17:19.
Hughes had the puck behind the Buckeyes’ net and slotted a pass perfectly to Matt Copponi in front of the net to tie the game once more at 18:01 — three goals scored in 42 seconds.
“He’s my roommate. I played against him growing up my whole life, so I feel like I know what he’s doing on the ice a lot of the time,” Hughes said.
OSU nearly found another goal after Shane Lachance was sent to the box for interference at 18:26 — the NCAA’s top team in penalty minutes racked up 24 in the game.
The Buckeyes peppered shots, and Joe Dunlap nearly completed his hat trick. The assistant captain found the back of the net just a beat after the period ended — confirmed by video replay.
With an intermission to breathe, the Terriers successfully killed Lachance’s penalty and began to push again. Defenseman Aiden Celebrini drove the puck into the offensive end and found mesh behind Terness. Celebrini’s second goal of the season, scored at 17:42, gave the Terriers their first lead of the game.
On a Buckeyes breakaway, Brandon Svoboda took what could have been a momentum-breaking cross-checking penalty at 5:10.
On the ensuing penalty kill, Ryan Greene jarred the puck free and found Hughes for a short-handed tally to send BU up 5-3 at 14:35.
“We’re out there on our heels, kind of just waiting for something to happen instead of going out and doing it,” Hughes said. “That started to turn a little bit. We just have to have the mindset of starting right away.”
The Terriers seemed to have the Midas touch with their sticks as every shot looked dangerous. Eiserman flashed his skills, dancing into the offensive third and passing the puck through his legs and off the boards. He collected his own pass and fired it through Terness from behind the goal line — four straight goals for the Terriers who now led 6-3 at 11:43.
“I had a one-on-one trying to make a play. I got held up so the puck was in the corner, so I did what I try to do a lot of times, just throw it on net, and it ended up working out,” Eiserman said. “Those are the fun ones.”
BU’s Jack Harvey joined the scoring at 14:16 to go up 7-3.
A flurry of penalties late in the period put Celebrini in the box for interference, while Kaplan took simultaneous interference and 10-minute game misconduct penalties at 17:50.
OSU pulled Terness to give the Buckeyes a 6-on-3 for the game’s final two minutes. Yegorov held strong as the defense Terriers threw their bodies to prevent a tally. Cole Hutson scored the empty-netter to finish off a four-point game.
The Terriers will now face the winner of Michigan State and Cornell on Saturday evening.
“I don’t know if a whole lot needs to be said. Our guys are smart. They saw what happened in the first period. They understand that if you want to win, you’re not going to get away with it every game,” Pandolfo said. “We had another lesson, but we found a way to win in the game.”
i felt like i watched two different games
Two different games but won decisively by the Terriers in the 3rd period with 6 unanswered goals after a back and forth wide open entertaining game which is really what hockey should be. The Hudsons , Green, Harvey, Hughes, all struttin’ their stuff against an Ohio State team which pushed Mich State to double overtime in the big ten championship. Now the Terriers have chance to get to FF for the third consecutive season. Not done by the program since the 1990s when they did it 5 consecutive years. Its an opportunity I’m sure the coaching staff will tell the boys that they’d be fools not to show up again and let it pass by. Sure Cornell will be tough, they always historically are vs BU but with a FF birth on the line the game takes on a much greater magnitude. I expect it will be like 2 years ago where it was low scoring and tight until the end. However the objective now is to qualify to play for the college hockey championship. We cannot disappoint.
GO BU, GO BU, GO BU !!!
I would say we watched three different games. The last one was my favorite! I just can’t believe that there were nineteen NHL teams that passed on Eiserman.