BOSTON - Freshman Cole Eiserman notched his second hat trick of the season and junior Quinn Hutson recorded a career-high four assists to help lead the No. 10/9 Boston University men's ice hockey team to an 8-2 win over No. 6 Providence on Thursday night at Agganis Arena.
BU (19-12-2, 13-8-2 HE) celebrated its Class of 2025 in style, taking a 1-0 lead just 1:23 into the contest and never looking back. The Terriers held a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and pushed their advantage to 6-0 before Providence (20-9-5, 10-8-5 HE) finally broke through. Eiserman completed his hat trick to make it 7-1 before freshman Brandon Svoboda's second goal of the night created the 8-2 final.
With the win, BU clinched the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East Tournament and will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 15, at a time to be determined. Fans can purchase tickets to that contest by clicking here.
The Hutson brothers combined for seven points on Friday, as freshman Cole tallied one goal and two assists. He factored on each of the first three goals, with Quinn assisting on four of the Terriers' first five markers of the evening. Junior co-captain Ryan Greene, who will graduate this May and was honored on Thursday, tallied one goal and one assist while senior Jack Hughes also lit the lamp. Sophomore Aiden Celebrini matched his career high with two assists while seniors Jack Page and Matt Copponi, freshmen Nick Roukounakis and Sascha Boumedienne, and sophomores Shane Lachance and Gavin McCarthy each had one helper.
Freshman Mikhail Yegorov was fantastic once again for BU turning aside 34 shots and allowing just one goal. Graduate student Billy Girard IV made four saves in his Terrier debut as he played the final 5:15 of the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Terriers took advantage of two early power plays to grab a 2-0 lead, starting with Eiserman's one-timer at the bottom of the right circle off a slick feed from C. Hutson just 1:23 into the proceedings.
- C. Hutson doubled the lead at 5:07. Lachance corralled a rebound in front and dished it out to Hutson in the left circle. Hutson got Zachary Borgiel (11 saves) to go down just enough to zip a shot over the Friar netminder's shoulder.
- Hughes made it 3-0 just 51 seconds later when he got the puck in the right corner, skated past his defender and drove to the net before slotting it past Borgiel.
- Svoboda extended the lead to 4-0 at the 8:53 mark with a breakaway tally after a great play by Q. Hutson to get him the puck.
- Eiserman started the second stanza much like he started the opening frame, converting a cross-zone feed from Greene just seconds after another power-play chance expired.
- Greene made it 6-0 at the 11:40 mark of the second. Celebrini weaved through the neutral zone and skated all the way below the goal line before dishing it to a wide-open Greene in the slot for an unstoppable one-timer.
- After Hudson Malinoski spoiled Yegorov's shutout bid at 5:36 of the third, Eiserman completed his hat trick midway through the period. Boumedienne pushed the puck ahead to Copponi, who created a 2-on-1 with Eiserman on his left. Copponi dished it over to Eiserman and the Terriers' leading goal scorer made no mistake for his 19th goal of the season.
- Svoboda and Roukounakis combined to score on a 2-on-1 of their own to make it an 8-1 game with 5:15 remaining in regulation. Roukounakis blocked a shot and then used his speed to skate up the right wing. The lone Friar defender with the Terrier duo dove to try and break up a passing attempt, but Roukounakis deftly created enough space to slide the puck to Svoboda for the finish at the left post.
- Providence added a second goal just seconds later but Girard IV shut the door the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES
- This was the Terriers' first eight-goal performance since an 8-2 win at Notre Dame on Oct. 21, 2023.
- Eiserman's first hat trick of the year came in a 7-4 win over Vermont on Jan. 11 at Agganis.
- Q. Hutson had the most recent BU hat trick prior to Thursday, scoring three times in a 7-2 home win over New Hampshire on Jan. 31.
- This was Svoboda's second two-goal night of his BU career, as he also lit the lamp twice in a 6-3 home triumph over Merrimack on Nov. 22.
- The Hutsons are tied for the team lead with 25 assists apiece.
- Quinn became the first Terrier to 40 points this season and ended the night with 43.
- This was the first four-assist night by a Terrier since Jeremy Wilmer had four helpers against UConn on Feb. 24, 2024.
- Greene reached 30 points for the third straight year and will enter Saturday's regular-season finale with 13 goals and 17 assists.
- Yegorov has posted a 1.61 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage in six starts against top-10 teams.
UP NEXT
- BU will close the regular season on Saturday (March 8) at Vermont.
- Puck drop is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., with the game to be streamed on ESPN+.
- Additionally, NESN will host Hockey East Live, which will feature live coverage of each of the final four games of the season, including BU-Vermont.
