TOLEDO, Ohio - The No. 8 Boston University men's ice hockey team overcame a slow start before scoring the final six goals of the game en route to an 8-3 victory over No. 9 Ohio State in the NCAA Toledo Regional semifinals on Thursday afternoon at the Huntington Center.
The Terriers got goals from seven different players with two coming from freshman Cole Eiserman while classmate Cole Hutson had a game-best four points (1g, 3a).
OSU held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but the Terriers erased each one and used the third equalizer to propel them to a dominant third period in which they outscored the Buckeyes 5-0.
BU, now 5-0 in regional play under head coach Jay Pandolfo, advances to Saturday's regional final against the winner of Thursday's second semifinal between No. 1 Michigan State and No. 16 Cornell. The Terriers will be looking to earn a third straight trip to the Frozen Four.
Freshman Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves in goal for BU, stopping the final 12 shots he faced to pick up his 10th win of the season.
Junior Quinn Hutson, senior Matt Copponi, sophomore Aiden Celebrini, senior Jack Hughes and sophomore Jack Harvey each recorded a goal for the Terriers, who improve to 22-13-2 on the season.
Hughes added two assists for a three-point game while Harvey and Copponi each earned a helper to secure two-point performances. Junior Ryan Greene collected two assists while sophomore Tom Willander, freshman Kamil Bednarik, junior Devin Kaplan and freshman Sascha Boumedienne earned one assist each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ohio State controlled play throughout the first period, putting together a 15-2 advantage in shots before taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
- The Buckeyes opened the scoring when Jake Dunlap was left all alone by the left post, where he deposited a rebound 9:06 into the contest.
- BU allowed two OSU power plays later in the first but the penalty kill was up to the task each time to keep it a one-goal game.
- After the Terriers came up empty on a power-play chance to start the second, Eiserman made it 1-1 when he scored in the slot off a faceoff at 8:07 of the middle stanza.
- The Buckeye's third power play of the game produced a goal to give them the lead back at 2-1 as Dunlop once again found the back of the net at 12:53 of the second.
- BU's second and final power-play opportunity of the game came late in the second and Q. Hutson provided the Terriers' second game-tying goal of the period.
- The junior was set up with passes from Greene and C. Hutson, and he buried the chance from the slot edge of the right circle at 17:19 of the second.
- The second equalizer started what would be a wild finish to the season as the Buckeyes once again took the lead 30 seconds later before BU created a 3-3 score moments after.
- Max Montes converted on a 2-on-1 for the Buckeyes in what would be their final goal of the game.
- Copponi grabbed the momentum back when he scored 12 seconds later off a slick backhand pass behind the net from Hughes at 18:01.
- BU gave the Buckeyes yet another power-play chance 25 seconds after the Copponi tally and they potted a chance at the goalmouth as time expired only to have it taken away when it was ruled that it did not cross the goal line in time.
- The third belonged to the Terriers and the eventual game-winner came from the stick of Celebrini as the sophomore snuck a shot past OSU netminder Logan Terness in transition at 2:18 of the period from the right circle.
- Just over three minutes later, Hughes created the first multi-goal lead of the contest at 5-3 when he scored off a shorthanded rush from the left circle to push all the momentum to BU's side.
- Eiserman added an impressive individual effort off a rush, somehow finding space to beat Terness with a near-side backhand while trying to keep possession against an OSU defender.
- Harvey made it 7-3 with 5:44 to play before C. Hutson added the final tally with a shorthanded empty-netter at the 19:30 mark.
GAME NOTES
- The 8-3 final was the exact score the last time BU and OSU met, which was in the 2009 NCAA regional semifinals en route to the Terriers' fifth national title.
- This was C. Hutson's third four-point game of the season and the first time he had three assists.
- Hutson's previous four-point efforts were at UMass on Dec. 11 (2g, 2a) and against Harvard in the Beanpot semifinals on Feb. 3 (2g, 2a).
- Hutson is the only freshman in the country and the only defenseman in the country to have multiple four-point games
- Eiserman is on a five-game point streak, having notched 10 points (7g, 3a) in that span.
- Hughes has recorded a point in four of his last five contests, totaling six points (3g, 3a) in that stretch.
- He also had one goal and two assists on Jan. 11 against Vermont.
- Hughes and C. Hutson each had a plus-4 rating in Thursday's victory.
- Celebrini, who has recorded a point in each of his last two games, scored his first goal since Nov. 29 in Belfast.
- Seven different Terriers scored in a game for the first time since a 9-6 win over Maine on Jan. 21, 2023.
- When BU was given its first power-play chance of the game, it ended a streak of 187:53 without having a man advantage in NCAA tournament play, dating back to last year's regional semifinal against RIT.
- As a player and head coach, Pandolfo is now 9-0 in NCAA regional contests.
UP NEXT
- The Terriers will make their third straight NCAA regional final appearance on Saturday (March 29).
- Start time will be announced following the conclusion Thursday's regional semifinals.
- Saturday's contest will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.
