FINAL SCORE: #13 Boston University 7, Vermont 4
BOSTON – First year forward Cole Eiserman picked up his first career hat trick as the 13th-ranked Terriers (11-7-1) scored four third period goals and topped Vermont (8-10-3) 7-4 in Hockey East action Saturday evening from Agganis Arena.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"We battled tonight," said Head Coach Steve Wiedler. "Very frustrated with the officiating in that game. I'm not an excuse guy, but I think we had a couple additional unwarranted hurdles thrown our way tonight. Credit to BU they made us pay in those situations. Just feel for our guys because they never gave up and to have to overcome the refereeing plus a very good BU team is a tall order."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vermont opened the scoring with 4:45 left in the opening period. Michael La Starza chipped the puck past the BU defense and Massimo Lombardi broke in alone on Mathieu Caron. Lombardi made a move and tried to tuck a backhand home, but Caron made the initial save. UVM co-captain Will Zapernick followed the play and tapped home his third goal of the season between three Terriers skaters.
• Seconds after the go-ahead goal Vermont almost made it 2-0 as Daniel Sambuco fired a shot off the crossbar.
• Eiserman equalized for the Terriers with 2:12 to play in the first period. With a two-on-one opportunity down low Eiserman fired a shot just inside the post for his 10th goal of the season.
• Quinn Hutson gave BU its first lead of the night 1:15 into the middle frame. On a broken play in the Vermont zone, he one-timed home a feed from Eiserman for his third goal of the weekend set.
• At the 5:55 mark of the second Hutson found Eiserman for a one-timer along the goal line to make it 3-1.
• The Catamounts cut the lead in half with Lombardi's seventh goal of the season at the 10:25 mark of the second period. Sebastian Törnqvist fired a wrist shot from the point and it redirected off a series of bodies including La Starza right to Lombardi who tapped it home.
• The Terriers scored two power play goals 2:08 apart early in the third to retake control of the contest. Jack Hughes scored the initial goal at the 3:07 mark and Eiserman completed his first career hat trick at the 5:15 mark.
• 44 seconds after the Eiserman tally Jack Harvey picked up his fifth goal of the season to make it 6-2.
• La Starza made it his first career three-point game with his second goal of the season with 6:33 to play. Xavier Henry fired a shot intentionally wide off the end boards and it came right to La Starza who tapped it home.
• Vermont cut the BU lead back down to two with Timofei Spitserov scoring with 4:12 left in regulation. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Colin Kessler and Sebastian Törnqvist.
• The Terriers iced the contest with an empty net goal from Harvey with 1:43 to play.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• With tonight's 7-4 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $300 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
• Sebastian Törnqvist, Michael La Starza, Will Zapernick and Massimo Lombardi each posted multi-point games Saturday evening.
• The Catamounts power play was 0-for-3 Saturday, the Terriers scored twice with the man advantage.

UP NEXT
The Catamounts return home to Gutterson Fieldhouse next weekend for a two-game series with Northeastern. On Friday, January 17 the teams will faceoff at 7 p.m. on Community Bank Night supporting Special Olympics Vermont. Stop by the Gutterson lobby to grab a free foam puck courtesy of Community Bank and learn about all the amazing work SOVT is doing in our community. Dunkin' will also be tabling in the student section entrance, giving away food and drink samples for students as they arrive.
 
On Saturday the teams will close out the weekend with a 6 p.m. puck drop on Green Out the Gut presented by Casella. Casella will be giving away co-branded neck-warmers, "Camper Mugs" and long sleeve "802" shirts for fans. Fans are encouraged to wear green. As always, both contests will be broadcast live on WVMT (96.3 FM/620 AM) with the voice of the Catamounts Adam Lafleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth. All the action from the Gut will also stream live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call.
 
For news and updates about the Vermont men's hockey program, follow @UVMmhockey on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the UVM men's hockey program