Cole Eiserman saved the day, but unease continues for BU men's hockey in 6-3 win over Merrimack

Today at 09:28 PM

BOSTON — When Cole Eiserman flipped his commitment from Minnesota to Boston University in September 2023, the third period on Friday night was probably what the Newburyport native and the Terriers' coaching staff envisioned.

Trailing, 3-2, heading into the third period, head coach Jay Pandolfo moved the phenom freshman forward to the top line. Eiserman proceeded to bury two goals in the final frame, rescuing a victory at Agganis Arena.

What they probably did not envision, however, was the heroism being necessary against a 3-6-1 Merrimack team.

Eiserman rescued what was a brutal effort from No. 13 BU (6-5-1, 3-2-1 Hockey East) for most of the game. The problems that have plagued the Terriers during a disappointing start to the year continued, and they no longer had a slew of ranked opponents to blame.

Despite winning, BU was outshout, 39-30, against the team picked to finish second-to-last in the Hockey East preseason poll.

Three takeaways, plus how it happened, below:

BU was incompetent in the defensive zone.

The Terriers' young defensive core has struggled all year, but against a putrid Merrimack team, it made dumbfounding errors over and over again.

The Warriors (3-7-1, 2-4-1 HE) finished with three goals, but truthfully, they could've had more. They whiffed countless one-timers on good looks and were slow on the rush. Still, after averaging 22 shots on goal per game in their first 10 games, Merrimack finished with 39 on Friday, passing the 22-shot threshold less than halfway through the game.

Brandon Svoboda was awesome in his return from injury.

The freshman forward missed the previous three games, but flashed in his return to the ice, scoring on two impressive solo efforts, first to give BU the lead early in the first and next to equalize for the Terriers early in the second.

The San Jose Sharks' draft pick is up to three goals on the season.

Cole Hutson's turnovers are officially a problem.

The freshman defenseman has dazzled at times this season, but his constant turnovers are becoming harder and harder to swallow. They led to a short-handed Maine goal this past weekend, and while they didn't directly lead to a concession Friday, they neutered BU's momentum in the first period.

The Terriers were dominant in the opening 10 minutes, then Hutson committed two inexplicable turnovers in his own zone. The Warriors fed off those mistakes, taking the lead soon after and grabbing the game by the throat for most of the next period and a half, before Eiserman hurt their feelings in the final frame.

How it happened

Svoboda opened the scoring on an impressive solo effort, winning a chase for the puck down the right wing and burying a wrister behind Warriors' goalie Max Lundgren from a tight angle at 1:27 of the first.

Merrimack responded less than a minute later, when senior defenseman Ivan Zivlak fired an uncontested wrister from the point that found the back of Mathieu Caron's net through a sea of bodies. BU's senior goaltender didn't move.

BU dominated the next several minutes, but sophomore captain Shane Lachance botched two Grade-A chances. Eventually, turnovers in the defensive zone began to plague the Terriers, specifically from Hutson. Merrimack appeared to take the lead at 10:12 after a scrum in the mouth of goal, but after an official review, then a challenge from the Warriors, it was ruled there was no goal.

Merrimack scored a minute and a half later anyway. Svoboda lost a battle on the boards in the corner to sophomore Ty Daneault, who then found a wide-open Michael Citara at the doorstep, who buried an easy goal. Citara waltzed into the middle completely unmarked.

If anything, BU's play further deteriorated after it fell behind, and Merrimack, which was averaging 22 shots per game coming in, finished the opening frame with 15.

Svoboda equalized 2:36 into the second on yet another fantastic solo effort, this time nutmegging a Merrimack defender in the neutral zone before burying a writster from the circle.

BU took it to the Warriors in the minutes that followed, but a tripping penalty on sophomore forward Doug Grimes at 7:39 again killed the Terriers' momentum. At 12:13, when BU was unable to clear the puck from the immediate area around Caron's net, Merrimack's Cranston snuck through a crowd of white jerseys and poked home the winner at the near post.

In the final 10 minutes of the second, BU recorded one shot on goal.

The Terriers were excellent in the third period, as Eiserman tied the game on a wrister from the circle that jammed through Lundgren's five-hole at 4:24, then gave BU the lead on another wrister, this one from the Hockey East logo, at 11:52.

Senior forward Matt Copponi, playing against his former team for the first time, sealed the game with two goals in the final six minutes.

This story will be updated.