David Butler II-Imagn ImagesNew York Islanders prospects and Boston University forwards Cole Eiserman (No. 20) and Kamil Bednarik (No. 61), both selected in the 2024 NHL Draft, will be competing in the 2025 Frozen Four.
Thursday will feature both semi-final games when the Terriers (23-13-2) take on Penn State University (22-13-4) at 8:30 pm EST at the Enterprise Center. The game follows Western Michigan (32-7-1) and the University of Denver’s (31-11-1) 5:00 pm EST bout.
The winners will square off Saturday evening.
It has been quite the season for the Terriers, who have made the Frozen Four despite notably losing Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson to the NHL.
The emergence of Eiserman, defenseman Cole Hutson – Lane’s brother – and goaltender Mikhail Yegorov has propelled Jay Pandolfo’s squad into national championship contention.
Eiserman, who many consider the Islanders’ top prospect, has had a stellar freshman season with 34 points (23 goals, 11 assists) in 37 games.
His 23 goals are the most among NCAA freshmen and tied for the eighth most in all of college hockey.
These goals have also come at crucial times, including a two-goal performance against Ohio State in the regional semifinals in the 2025 tournament to advance.
Bednarik has also made a significant impact this season as Boston University’s third-line center and a key piece of the penalty kill.
The 18-year-old enters Thursday night with 18 points (two goals, 16 assists) and 261 face-off wins in 38 games. Over his past five outings, he has posted an impressive 68.1% face-off win rate.
He has averaged 16:02 of ice time per game this season – more than Eiserman, who ranks seventh among Terrier forwards.
While Bednarik may not light up the scoresheet, his presence is consistently felt in all areas of the ice.
Eiserman and Bednarik are in their first seasons with Boston, but the Terriers are in the national semifinals for the third straight season, and yet they have yet to finish the job.
Coach Pandolfo – who took over the program just before the first of these three straight Frozen Four appearances and has yet to miss the tournament in seven seasons as either a player or coach – knows his group has what it takes to finish the job.
“When you have success two years in a row and [again] get to the Frozen Four, it’s a big deal,” Pandolfo said following the Terriers’ March 29 win over Cornell University to advance to the Frozen Four.
“We’ve had a lot of lessons as a team on how we need to play, and there are no more lessons. That was really the message to our group. Our guys responded, and they have all year.”
Puck drop between the Terriers and Penn State is set for 8:30 pm EST at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis and will be on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.