NEW YORK — For a player so often lauded for his goal-scoring ability, Cole Eiserman hasn’t done a ton of it this season. At least not since the Boston University men’s hockey team’s first three games, where the sophomore forward netted five goals.
In the next seven games he played leading into BU’s clash with Cornell at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Eiserman only scored once — a first-period goal in an 8-4 loss to UConn on Oct. 24.
The 2024 first-round selection, who netted 25 goals last season, suffered a lower-body injury the next night, missed four games, and had not recorded a single point in the three games since returning.
But under the bright lights of MSG, Eiserman was phenomenal, supplying a primary assist and the game-winning goal, lifting the No. 19 Terriers to a much-needed, 2-1 win over No. 17 Cornell in the latest installment of Red Hot Hockey.
“I love these big games. Love the big lights,” said Eiserman.
His head coach, without singling out Eiserman, has called for more from his veteran players and constantly finds himself praising BU’s gritty, non-star forwards.
“We have enough guys that have played a lot of hockey in college, and we need more from them. A lot more,” said Jay Pandolfo after last Friday’s loss to Northeastern at Matthews Arena.
On Saturday night Pandolfo got the production from his biggest star forward as Eiserman provided the heroics in front of 17,478 in attendance — the largest crowd for Red Hot Hockey since 2013, also the last time BU notched a win in the biennial event.
“When you get in these big games, the sticks get tight, and I kind of want to loosen my other guys’ sticks up for them,” said Eiserman. “If I can do it for them, they’re kind of more relaxed, and they don’t have to have that weight on their shoulders. And I’d like it on mine.”
Named as the first star of the game, Eiserman provided the primary assist that got BU on the board early, just 6:17 into the contest and nine seconds into its first power play opportunity.
Sophomore forward Kamil Bednarik won the draw on the man advantage and BU cycled the puck to Eiserman in his patented right circle, where he loves to rip a one-timer.
This time, he instead found Bednarik alone in front of the net, who tipped the puck past freshman netminder Alexis Cournoyer.
“They’ve been on my one-timer a lot this year,” Eiserman said. “If I can kind of slap pass it over to him, just make the other defenders think.”
“And some different looks open up other guys,” he added, “which is good.”
In the third period, when it looked as if BU was on the ropes after conceding its precious one-goal lead late in the second and struggling to generate any consistent offense, the Terriers found Eiserman’s stick.
Freshman defenseman Charlie Trethewey passed from blue line to blue line. Eiserman corralled the bouncing puck, skated to his favorite right circle, and found Courmeyer’s five-hole to give the Terriers a lead they would not relinquish with 14:37 remaining.
After circling the goal, he dropped to a knee, wielded his stick above his head, and stuck his tongue out in celebration.
“Obviously, it’s tough coming back and trying to get back in the swing of things, so when you get one like that, it definitely feels good, and you kind of relax a little bit,” said Eiserman of scoring his first goal since injury.
The importance of Red Hot Hockey to BU’s tournament chances could not be understated. Eiserman knew it. And he delivered.
“It’s huge,” the sophomore forward said of Saturday’s win. “With the new NPI, or whatever, I heard [Cornell is] up there, and we need these big wins.”
The Terriers were 37th in NPI, the metric that determines the 16-team NCAA tournament field, entering Saturday’s contest. Cornell was all the way up in third.
Following the win at MSG, BU vaulted up 10 spots to 27th, still well outside the tournament field, but a significant step in the right direction.
The Big Red dropped to 12th, but for a Terriers team whose previous best regulation victory came against UConn (one spot above BU at 26th), a signature nonconference win was crucial.
And beyond just the numbers, a signature win gives BU belief. That much was clear as Eiserman, sophomore goaltender Mikhail Yegorov and Pandolfo happily sat at the dais in MSG’s crowded press room.
“This helps a lot,” said Eiserman. “Just kind of gives the boys an identity. Now we kind of see what it feels like to win, especially a hard game and a big game.”
“It’s just a big, big, big, overall win for our guys,” added Pandolfo. “They should gain confidence off this. And you know, start believing in themselves a little more.”
Eiserman was everywhere on Saturday. He was clearly BU’s most dangerous forward. He had the puck on his stick, confidently carrying it into the neutral zone. He drew defenders to him before making flashy passes to an open Cole Hutson to escape a crowded area.
And when BU, which only registered 17 shots on goal, needed its star to regain his form, he found the back of the net.
“It was awesome,” Eiserman said of playing at MSG. “It was something I’ll never forget.”