BOSTON — When Cole Eiserman flipped his commitment from Minnesota to Boston University almost 14 months ago, the third period on Friday night was probably what the Newburyport native and the Terriers’ coaching staff envisioned.
A nationally-ranked BU trailed by a goal. The freshman phenom with a shot of almost mythical status was moved to the top line. Two goals followed, stealing a win at Agganis Arena.
“Just gripped it and ripped it,” Eiserman said postgame.
What they would not have envisioned, however, was all of it being necessary against a 3-6-1 Merrimack team.
This was anything but the blueprint, and the idea that Eiserman’s heroics would rescue his head coach’s mood was snuffed real quick in the press room.
When asked what prompted him to move the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to the top line during the second intermission, Jay Pandolfo responded incredulously: “I had to change something.”
He’s been everything from angry to bewildered in that room so far this season, especially on Friday nights, as No. 13 BU has shot itself in the foot with the same bullets over and over again. But on this Friday night, even after a 6-3 victory, he seemed genuinely defeated. When asked for his overall takeaways to open the press conference, Pandolfo took five seconds to gather his thoughts.
“Not sure what I need to do,” he finally muttered, “to get this team going.”
He then listed the problems he diagnosed in the first two periods, which the Terriers (6-5-1, 3-2-1 Hockey East) left trailing the Warriors (3-7-1, 2-4-1 HE), 3-2.
“Uncompetitive,” Pandolfo deadpanned. “Lost probably 85 percent of 50-50 battles. Don’t stop on pucks, don’t play the right way, don’t manage the puck. Do everything you can to try to lose. That’s what it looked like to me.”
The Warriors — who entered averaging 1.9 goals per game, the worst mark in Hockey East and tied for 57th of 65 teams nationally — scored two goals in the first 12 minutes, each of them off completely uncontested shots. Senior netminder Mathieu Caron didn’t have much of a chance, and even though he could’ve done better on Merrimack’s third goal midway through the second period, the chance was born out of BU’s inability to clear the puck from the immediate area around his crease.
“I’m searching for answers, for sure, but obviously, I haven’t come up with any yet,” Pandolfo said. “Because we’ve seen this pretty much every Friday night we’ve played.”
BU’s previous four series were against ranked opponents, and the Terriers lost the Friday opener in every one. But the thinly veiled excuse that those struggles were a product of strong opposition was ripped apart against Merrimack. The Warriors outshot BU, 39-30, a total 17 shots higher than their season average, a threshold they passed less than halfway through the game.
“We’re not ready for puck drop,” senior transfer Matt Copponi said, who played against his former team for the first time. “And that’s on us. That’s within the locker room. We have to address that.”
BU’s defensive core was incompetent for large portions of the first 40 minutes, losing battles against the boards, leaving Warriors wide open in the zone for quality chances, and committing agonizing turnovers. It’s a young group; only one of the six is an upperclassman, but these were problems that had been plaguing them for weeks. Merrimack whiffed on a bevy of one-timers from opportune spots and was slow on the rush. Otherwise, BU’s third-period hole could’ve been a lot deeper, something Pandolfo admitted postgame.
“Disappointing with our effort, more than anything,” Pandolfo said. “And that’s the difficult thing to watch.”
Two impressive solo goals from freshman forward Brandon Svoboda notwithstanding, BU’s attack was starved of life again. Sophomore captain Shane Lachance botched two Grade-A chances early in the first period, but the Terriers’ momentum was neutered after that. In the final 10 minutes of the second, most of it played trailing by a goal, they mustered a single shot on net.
It prompted the line changes for the final frame — Eiserman, who started on the third line with freshman Kamil Bednarik and Svoboda, moved to the top line with junior captain Ryan Greene and sophomore Jack Harvey. He tied the game on a wrister from the circle that jammed through Merrimack goalie Max Lundgren’s five-hole at 4:24, then, off an assist from Copponi, buried the winner from the slot at 11:52.
Copponi scored two more goals in the final six minutes to seal the win.
“Obviously, things change during the game,” Eiserman said. “I ended up going out with Greener and Harvs, and I ended up having a nice goal from them making an unbelievable play. So it felt good to kind of get some chemistry with them early.”
He’s moved up and down the line chart throughout his first season, as has almost every one of BU’s forwards. None of the changes have stuck. When asked if he plans to keep Eiserman on the top line — the Terriers travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a rematch with the Warriors on Friday in the Friendship Four — Pandolfo said “it’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now.”
There are much bigger problems to solve, but he did end up offering a telling response.
“Obviously, they’ve changed a lot up to this point,” Pandolfo said. “That’s somewhat the result of how we’ve played and trying to find chemistry with our group. And I still haven’t really found it.”
The question was about Eiserman and the line charts, but the answer could’ve been about anything else.
Nice job headlining specific players mistakes. It’s a team game and countless turnovers happened.
Nice work headlining a player name and his mistakes. Especially a player that was sick for a month and still getting legs and wind back. Entire team had its issues.
Excellent journalism headlining a specific player and his mistakes. Especially one that was sick for a month and still getting legs and cardio back. The entire team has issues. And turnovers.