16-03-2025
Cole Eiserman's overtime strike gets BU past game UMass in lively Hockey East quarterfinal
The Terriers came out buzzing, with junior Devin Kaplan's shot nicking the outside of the left post 1:05 into the contest.
BU broke through when Shane Lachance put his own rebound past UMass goalie Michael Hrabal just over five minutes in. The Terriers were on the power play after Ryan Lautenbach went off for hooking. Eiserman sent in a shot that was knocked down in front of the net, where Lachance tracked it down on the doorstep. Hrabal made the initial save, the puck then rolling to the right before Lachance was able to gather it along the goal line and send it back in from his knees off Hrabal's back for the score.
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There was a bit of a scary moment later in the first when BU's Jack Hughes had a breakaway shorthanded bid, but collided with Hrabal, dislodging the net. The 6-foot-7-inch netminder fell to the ice clutching his leg, but was able to continue after a brief stoppage in play.
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Trailing, 1-0, after the first period, UMass drew even 3:32 into the second on a goal by sophomore Jack Musa. The play was set up by junior Cole O'Hara, who circled around the net and carried the puck out front. His bid was denied, but Musa was able to knock it past BU goalie Mikhail Yegorov.
With the assist, O'Hara tied the program's Division 1 record of 51 points in a season, set by James Marcou in 2009-10.
The Terriers reclaimed the lead at 11:26.
Jack Hughes, Tom Willander, and Sascha Boumedienne broke in on a three-on-two. Hughes carried the puck down the left side, with Willander skating down the middle toward the net to draw the defense. That left Boumedienner wide open to bury the pass from Hughes past Hrabal for the 2-1 advantage.
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The goal came moments after UMass muffed a two-on-one chance of its own when sophomore Dans Locmelis attempted a pass that Boumedienne broke up.
UMass nearly tied the game up again with less than five minutes remaining in the second when gradute senior Joey Musa found himself alone in front of the net and deked Yegorov, but his shot clanged off the left post.
BU appeared to double the lead when Quinn Hutson roofed one past Hrabal with 45.6 seconds left in the period, but the goal was overturned after UMass successfully challenged for an offside.
The Minutemen carried that momentum into the third period, during which they outshot the Terriers, 19-9. Only one puck got past Yegorov, though: Aydar Suniev tied the game at 2 with 11:17, assisted by Locmelis and Lautenbach.
And here's Aydar Suneiv's game-tying goal from Locmelis and
OT coming up on
— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey)
Harvard 3, Clarkson 2 (OT)
— Casey Severo scored 9:09 into overtime in Potsdam, N.Y., to extend the season for the Crimson (13-16-3) into a Sunday Game 3 against the Golden Knights (22-11-3) in the ECAC quarterfinals. Down, 2-0, to the conference's No. 2 seed just 56 seconds into the second period, No. 7 Harvard tied it with goals from Zakary Karpa and Mason Langenbrunner in the next 2:54.
Quinnipiac 4, Brown 0
— The ECAC regular-season champion Bobcats (24-10-2) completed a two-game quarterfinal sweep of the Bears (14-15-3), earning a return to the conference semifinals in Lake Placid with their eighth straight playoff victory at home in Hamden, Conn. Tyler Borgula scored twice, including the middle goal of three third-period tallies for Quinnipiac, with Matej Marinov stopping 34 shots for the shutout.
Dartmouth 7, Union 2
— The Big Green (18-12-2) posted their highest scoring game of the season in completing a two-game ECAC quarterfinal sweep of the Garnet Chargers (19-14-3) in Schenectady, N.Y. Luke Haymes and Nate Morgan each scored twice for Dartmouth, the latter's goals the first and last of a four-goal third period.
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Bentley 2, Sacred Heart 0
— A night after needing to erase a two-goal deficit, Ethan Leyh needed just 56 seconds to put the Falcons (22-14-2) ahead in Fairfield, Conn., as the No. 3 seeds in Atlantic Hockey completed a two-game quarterfinal sweep of the No. 2 Pioneers (21-13-5). Oskar Bakkevig and Leyh added empty-net goals as Sacred Heart's Ajeet Gundarah kept his team in it with 33 saves.
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