Sunday, October 05, 2025

UPDATED Terriers double up the Sharks; Wang scores first OHL goal; Grzelcyk earns CHI contract; Women lose to the Gophers

 

Two hockey players in red and white Boston University jerseys with numbers 34 and 14, wearing helmets and holding sticks, skating on ice. A scoreboard shows BU Terriers 4, LIU 2. The jerseys display "Boston A" and the players are in action near a rink board with a Pepsi logo.  

With a crowd of 5,170 on hand, #2 Terriers opened their 103rd season with a 4-2 win over a tenacious LIU Sharks team that offered a stiff challenge for much of the contest.

SCROLL DOWN FOR BU OLDTIMER'S TERRIER TAKEAWAY 

Despite playing what Coach Jay Pandolfo called "an immature game" with "atrocious puck management," BU claimed the victory largely because "The Cole Train" continues to be the locomotive driving the offense. Cole Eiserman scored twice while Cole Hutson potted a goal and added an assist. 

Two much-anticipated additions to the attack, Sacha Boisvert and Ryder Ritchie were impressive in their Terrier debuts--Boisvert with a goal and an assist and Ryder producing a pair of primary assists. Senior transfer Owen McLaughlin, a proven point producer at North Dakota, assisted twice as well.

Sophomore netminder Mikhail Yegorov was sharp in goal, turning aside 34 of 36 attempts, including all nine power-play shots he faced. Double-digit penalty minutes, which plagued BU last season, gave the Sharks five power plays.  

Special teams were a plus as BU killed all those penalties while connecting on two of five power plays and showing quick-strike ability. Pandolfo praised the penalty-kill units who "got the job done there, and when we did have breakdowns, Mike was there.”

It took the Terriers just seven seconds to convert its first man-advantage opportunity on a very familiar play. Hutson skated from the left point and whipped a pass that Eiserman one-timed from his office at the right face off dot. McLaughlin had the second assist. 1-0 after one period.

 

Just 2:30 into the middle period, the Sharks responded. Casey McDonald's wrap-around  attempt was stopped by Yegorov, but BU was unable to clear the loose puck  before McDonald backhanded it home.

The score remained that way until BU went on the power play late in the period and converted in just 27 seconds. McLaughlin took a pass at the left half-wall, drove through the circle and fed Ritchie at the crease. His attempt was defended by Daniel Duris, but Boisvert darted in to flip the rebound into the open side of the net. 2-1 BU after two.       

BU nearly doubled the lead when Jonathan Morello rang a shot off iron early in the final period. They did extend the lead on a sequence beginning at the seven-minute mark. After Duris defended a John McNelis grade A chance, Boisvert recovered the puck, circled out high and sent the puck to Hutson. Last season's NCAA Rookie of the Year deked a defender and fired a shot past the goalie's glove to make the score 3-1.

The visitors weren't going down without a fight. Soon after BU killed a Sharks power play, Sixten Jennersjö got behind the Terrier defense for a breakaway, beating Yegorov to the glove side and slicing the lead to one with 6:22 remaining in the period.

Two minutes later, BU responded on the rush. Charlie Trethewey sent Ritchie racing "down central." Forced a bit wide as he approached the net, the former Medicine Hat Tigers standout threw the puck into the crease where Eiseman outfought a defender to slide the puck home for his second goal.          

BU faced one more LIU power play, a six on four with Duris pulled, and Big Mike defended all three shots on goal.

Terriers have now won their last five season-opening games and eight of the last ten.

Sunday's exhibition game with RPI begins at 5 p.m. 

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Highlights and post-game

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

                    BU Oldtimer's Terrier Takeaway 

1. Goals by Hutson, Boisvert and Eiserman. No surprise, and this season's formula for success.

2. Good stickwork by LIU breaking up BU passes and shots.

3. By and large for the first two periods, BU carried the puck too often inside the offensive zone, too few passes simplifying coverage for LIU,

4. I thought the BU forecheck was too soft during the first half of the game.

5. BU had trouble getting the puck to the front of the LIU net for most of the first two periods.

6. Despite Coach Pandolfo's remarks, the BU breakout was good for significant stretches of the game.

7. Solid debuts for Tretheway, Vass and Amico (in limited action) on defense. Morello and Merrill impressed up front.

8. LIU took a page from the old Snooks Kelley playbook using the "hanger", and scored its second goal using that tactic.

9. PK pairings looked like Boisvert and Bednarik, Svoboda and Harvey, and Morello and Merrill. The BU PK was solid.

 

From the Boston Hockey Blog's annual hockey issue:

Image 

BHB's Eli Clouter spoke with NHL executives about why BU is among the best places for talent to be developed and pointed toward the next level.

● Boston Hockey Blog For BU Men's Hockey, Development Drives Success 

 

Looking ahead

2027 5-⭐️ recruit James Scantlebury scored his second goal in USHL Chicago's 5-4 shootout win over Des Moines.

 

2026 recruit Haoxi Simon Wang scored his first OHL goal on a power play, tying the score for Oshawa at 3-3. He also assisted on the Generals' second goal, but Barrie rallied late for a 5-3 win. It was his second game since returning from San Jose's main training camp. 

Looking back

Shane Lachance, who remains in NJ Devils training camp, had an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers. Trevor Zegas recorded the game-winner in the shootout.


Elliotte Friedman posted that "Chicago will be signing D Matt Grzelcyk, who was in camp on a PTO." The two-time All-American and Terrier captain had a career year last season with Pittsburgh producing 40 points, nearly double his previous best. Grzelcyk gets a one-year contract reportedly for $1,000,000.

Ryan Greene is still battling for a spot on the Blackhawks roster, per CHI Hockey Now.

Blackhawks Studs

Ryan Greene

Greene might not crack the Blackhawks’ opening-night roster, but he sure gave it one heck of a run. The 2022 second-round pick was one of the few standouts for Chicago in the preseason finale, tallying two hits, one shot on goal, and winning 14 of 25 faceoffs. Greene’s 19:30 of ice time led all Blackhawks forwards on the night.

Still only 21 years old, Greene displayed a sturdy two-way game and fared well at the faceoff dot throughout the preseason. There’s still a chance he makes the NHL club, but the more likely outcome is starting the season in Rockford. Regardless of where he ends up to begin the 2025-26 campaign, Greene proved why he’s another promising prospect in the Blackhawks’ pipelines with his performances over the last few weeks.

 UPDATE: Greene was assigned on Sunday to AHL Rockford, where he'll join netminder Drew Commesso. 

Women's Team

Terriers fell to Minnesota, 5-2, as the Gophers swept the two--game series at Walter Brown Arena. BU held a 2-1 lead after two periods on goals by senior Sydney Healy and freshman Anezka Čabelová.  However the Gophers scored four times in the final period to pull away.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score 

● Highlights 

● Coach Tara Watchorn & Healy post-game 

● Boston Hockey Blog Once again BU Women's Hockey Bites Harder Against Minnesota than the scoreline Indicates

 

 

 

 

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