ST. LOUIS — It appeared as if the play was over, with Hampton Slukynsky freezing the puck, but the whistle hadn’t blown. The only player who didn’t let up was Cole Eiserman.
As several Western Michigan players tried to wrestle the freshman forward away from the crease, Eiserman relentlessly jabbed at the puck until it crossed the goal line.
His 25th goal of the season evened the score of Saturday’s national championship game at 7:12 of the first period, but in the end the Broncos were too much for the Boston University men’s hockey team. But that play, where everyone gave up, but Eiserman demonstrated his effort and determination, is emblematic of the season the Terriers had — where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Even head coach Jay Pandolfo admitted that he had some doubts about the makeup of his team.
“At times this year, with the inconsistencies in our game, I don’t know if we had a great feeling that we were going to find our way back here,” he said on Wednesday.
That “feeling” may have escaped Pandolfo at times, but it never left the players.
“I’m not sure anyone thought we would be here,” sophomore co-captain Shane Lachance said postgame Saturday. “We always did.”
From an outside perspective, those inconsistencies were obvious. From the season’s onset in October, Pandolfo would greet the media with “I liked the end result, but…”
Whether it was sloppy first periods, a lack of discipline, or a faulty team defense, it was easy to pick out flaws in BU’s early-season performances. The second half was by no means flawless either, with disappointing performances against Yale, Northeastern and UConn in the Hockey East semifinal. But what Pandolfo never lamented was the leadership group of Lachance and junior forwards Ryan Greene, Quinn Hutson and Devin Kaplan.
“There’s no way we get to this point without them,” Pandolfo said Saturday.
When the Terriers looked their best, it’s because those four were leading the charge. Kaplan willed BU to a win over North Dakota back in October after the Terriers were run out of the rink the night prior. Greene and Lachance saved the Terriers in the Belpot final against Notre Dame in Belfast, and Quinn Hutson punched BU’s ticket to its third consecutive Frozen Four appearance, netting the overtime winner against Cornell in Toledo.
It was Lachance who brought the Terriers within one of the Broncos, giving them a chance to find a way back into the game. Much like Eiserman’s goal to get BU on the board, it appeared as if Slukynsky had frozen the puck. Lachance, like Eiserman, jabbed at the puck until the referee signaled for a goal.
There was no quit in the Terriers, and in this specific instance, for Lachance. But why?
“[BU hockey] means everything [to me],” he said.
Against Western Michigan, it meant everything to everyone.
After Lachance made it a 3-2 at 10:42 of the second period, the Terriers made their best push of the night. BU controlled play, possessing the puck in the offensive zone in search of the tying tally. It seemed as if it were only a matter of time, as Eiserman and freshman defenseman Cole Hutson started to generate high-quality looks in bunches.
But in an instant, the script flipped when sophomore forward Owen Michaels jumped out in transition after Cole Hutson whiffed on a shot. 4-2. The Broncos never looked back.
“They were pushing it when it was 3-2,” Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler said postgame.
The Terriers fought, and they’ve fought all season when the scales tilted against them. In the Beanpot final against Boston College, BU came out as flat as ever and turned in the best 40 minutes of the season in the second and third periods. Against Ohio State in the regional semifinal, after getting blitzed in the first and staying afloat in the second, the Terriers blew the Buckeyes out of the water in the third period. Against the Big Red in the regional final, BU fended off a gritty Cornell squad.
Unlike in those instances, the Terriers were unable to get over the hump on Saturday, and against the Broncos, that hump was the biggest of them all — the program’s sixth national championship.
It still escapes BU, but Pandolfo said he feels the program is in a great spot because “of the type of character players we have and the type of people we have.”
After his third season at the helm of his alma mater came to a disappointing end, what will Pandolfo remember most about this group?
“Just how resilient they were.”
