Photo by: Eliza Nuestro
Terriers Polish Roles to Prepare for Big Stage
November 28, 2025 | Men's Ice Hockey
by Scott Weighart, GoTerriers.com
BOSTON – When Boston University faces Cornell in the biennial Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden this Saturday, it will mean playing on the biggest stage ever for many young Terriers.
Last Saturday, the cast of characters did a great job of polishing their roles for that big performance.
Coming off perhaps the most disappointing loss of an up-and-down season at Quinnipiac on November 15, BU showed signs of righting the ship last weekend. On Friday, the Terriers outshot Northeastern, 34-25, and generally played well, only to surrender a 2-1 lead and lose on a late goal.
Returning to Agganis Arena on Saturday in the home-and-home series, the Terriers looked as good as they have all season for the better part of the game. Despite several key forwards being out due to injury, the Terriers outshot Northeastern, 20-6, in the first period and 13-6 in the second frame, possessing the puck most of the time. One clear takeaway: When this team moves their feet, they are quite difficult to handle in all three zones.
After being whistled for a five-minute major late in the second, the team responded with an absolutely stirring penalty kill. They didn't allow any hint of a scoring opportunity until junior captain Gavin McCarthy broke his stick in the last 45 seconds of the kill, and then sophomore goalie Mikhail Yegorov rose to the occasion with his biggest saves of the night.
In a year that has featured some real issues on defense, head coach Jay Pandolfo cited sophomore Sascha Boumedienne and junior Mick Frechette for playing their best-ever games as Terriers.
It wasn't perfect. Trailing 3-1 with a little more than seven minutes to play, Northeastern got a pair of goals from Dylan Hryckowian, including an extra-attacker goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Fortunately, sophomore Cole Hutson scored his second goal of the night in overtime to send every BU fan home happy.
"I think we're all determined to win," freshman left wing Jack Murtagh said after the win. "Flipping the page from last night to tonight, we just found our ground and got the feet rolling. The result was great—a great team win and moving on to the next weekend."
"Obviously those last seven minutes were not what we wanted," freshman right wing Ben Merrill said. "But throughout the whole game, I'd say we stuck to the plan, stuck to the structure that we were trying to play, playing the game the right way. It was a good full team effort from up and down the lineup. Everyone's staying connected. Everyone's doing our structures. As a whole, when we're all moving together, connected, we're a very tough team to beat."
Indeed, the team seems to be finding their roles, and some players have successfully auditioned for bigger parts.
One good example of that is sophomore Nick Roukounakis. After missing the first 11 games of this season due to injury, he scored his first two collegiate goals in his first two games, playing smart and simple hockey. Pandolfo promoted him to the second line on Saturday, and he saw time on the penalty kill as well as on the power play due to his big net-front presence and ability to use his size to hold the puck.
Likewise, freshman Jonathan Morello is now not only a key penalty killer: We saw him on the power play on Saturday, too, and he has emerged as a faceoff specialist, even taking the crucial opening draw of overtime before heading right to the bench after winning BU possession.
Frechette has provided versatility, moonlighting as a forward before returning to defense last weekend to shore up issues on the blue line. Sophomore Brandon Svoboda seems to boost any line he plays on with his consistent effort and strong skating.
As for firepower, Hutson makes electrifying rushes and sophomore Cole Eiserman's signature one-timer and nose for the net is starting to re-emerge after an injury kept him sidelined in back-to-back weekend series. Complemented by the steady defensive play of junior Aiden Celebrini, we are starting to see a real identity.
Now the team readies for its biggest stage of the season thus far with its usual odd-year date against Cornell. For quite a few first-year players, it will be their first time playing in an NHL arena as well as the largest crowd they've ever experienced.
This year's team has fewer Terriers than usual who grew up anywhere close to New York City. Freshman Jack Murtagh hails from south of Albany, which makes him the closest of anyone who will be in the lineup. Although he was a Ranger fan, he didn't get to see his favorite team in person very often—at least not in New York.
"My dad and my dad's side of the family lives here in Boston, so we'd come out to the Garden and watch those games—a lot of Ranger-Bruin games, a lot of my Bruin-Leaf games, but my personal favorite team was the Rangers growing up."
Murtagh definitely had a favorite player. "Growing up, I watched JT Miller when he was on the Rangers, years ago, and then obviously he went to Vancouver. He's back with the Rangers now, captain there."
What will it be like for Murtagh to take the ice just hours after Miller plays on Saturday afternoon against the Lightning?
"I think it'll be super surreal, going there, playing in an NHL arena. It'll be a first experience for me, and I'm really excited."
For fellow freshman forward John McNelis, playing at Madison Square Garden will cap off a memorable November. You hear many players saying that they "blacked out" when they scored their first collegiate goal, but how many players aren't aware that they did so until the next day?
That's what happened to McNelis, as a goal originally credited to Frechette was changed overnight when a video review revealed that the puck went off his stick.
"I figured it out this morning when I walked in for breakfast," McNelis said. "[Assistant coach] Kim Brandvold pulled me aside and told me I got credited for it. I definitely felt something hit my stick. I didn't know if it was a defenseman picking me up in front of the net, but obviously a fortuitous bounce, and it goes my way."
Asked about the biggest crowd he's played in front of to date, McNelis had to think it over for a while before recalling his days playing junior hockey in South Dakota.
"My rookie year in Sioux Falls we had Wiener Dog Night and I think it was like 11,000 people," McNelis said.
For those who are understandably preoccupied with the Beanpot in early February, Wiener Dog Night is another annual winter tradition in which fans are encouraged to bring their wiener dogs to the game. During the first intermission, two heats of 20 dogs each race from a goal line to the red line, then the top four finishers battle it out between periods two and three.
That said, McNelis believes that the loudest crowd he has heard to date was at Agganis this season. "When we played Michigan State, the Saturday night game, it was buzzing. The place was rocking; you could barely hear yourself think. It was awesome."
For Merrill, that game was the biggest and the loudest ever for him. "A lot of hype going into that game, and it was really, really loud, so it was a fun game to play."
Merrill, a native of Hingham, Massachusetts, has only limited experience at MSG. "I've watched a Rangers game there before when I was like 10," he said, "so it'll be good to be back for sure."
"I've never been there, so I'm super pumped," McNelis said. "Obviously to play in that arena in those circumstances is something truly special that I don't take for granted. It's honestly just a super-cool opportunity."
Looking over the Cornell schedule and roster this season, this year's edition of the Big Red will seem familiar to BU fans. The roster features plenty of big, tall players. Their defense is typically stingy, and they have given up just 11 goals in their first eight games. They also have a predictably good record, going 6-2-0 so far, and are right around BU in the national polls. And you can always count on them having a big and vocal crowd.
"Cornell is a good team, we have a lot of respect for them in our room," McNelis said. "They've had a lot of success in the postseason just like us, so it'll be a really good battle between the two teams."
"It'll be real cool," agreed Merrill. "Obviously, MSG is a historical spot. Cornell, I've heard they're always a tough team to play against, so we'll have to bring our best like we did tonight—the same kind of mentality."
Murtagh will be facing off against Charlie Major, a former teammate from his Bishop Kearney Selects U14 and U15 teams.
Amidst as much noise and hoopla as you will ever see in a fall semester game, the Terriers will strive to not get too caught up in it.
"Just staying focused, staying on the ice, don't let the noise affect anything, always have fun, never let up," Murtagh said.
"It'll be amazing playing there." Merrill said. "So it's going to be a little different, but we just have to treat it like any other game. It'll be a big crowd for sure, a lot of hype going to this game, so we just have to stick to our normal selves."
Just as they did last Saturday, the key will be understanding their role on that big stage.
"The way I personally approach it is don't get too high, don't get too low," McNelis said. "Every game's kind of the same. Where you play and who you might be playing is a little different, but you try to go into it with the same approach of levelheadedness. It just makes your life easier on you.
"I can focus on what my job is that particular night and oftentimes that helps the team win, and that's the end goal."
BOSTON – When Boston University faces Cornell in the biennial Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden this Saturday, it will mean playing on the biggest stage ever for many young Terriers.
Last Saturday, the cast of characters did a great job of polishing their roles for that big performance.
Coming off perhaps the most disappointing loss of an up-and-down season at Quinnipiac on November 15, BU showed signs of righting the ship last weekend. On Friday, the Terriers outshot Northeastern, 34-25, and generally played well, only to surrender a 2-1 lead and lose on a late goal.
Returning to Agganis Arena on Saturday in the home-and-home series, the Terriers looked as good as they have all season for the better part of the game. Despite several key forwards being out due to injury, the Terriers outshot Northeastern, 20-6, in the first period and 13-6 in the second frame, possessing the puck most of the time. One clear takeaway: When this team moves their feet, they are quite difficult to handle in all three zones.
After being whistled for a five-minute major late in the second, the team responded with an absolutely stirring penalty kill. They didn't allow any hint of a scoring opportunity until junior captain Gavin McCarthy broke his stick in the last 45 seconds of the kill, and then sophomore goalie Mikhail Yegorov rose to the occasion with his biggest saves of the night.
In a year that has featured some real issues on defense, head coach Jay Pandolfo cited sophomore Sascha Boumedienne and junior Mick Frechette for playing their best-ever games as Terriers.
It wasn't perfect. Trailing 3-1 with a little more than seven minutes to play, Northeastern got a pair of goals from Dylan Hryckowian, including an extra-attacker goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Fortunately, sophomore Cole Hutson scored his second goal of the night in overtime to send every BU fan home happy.
"I think we're all determined to win," freshman left wing Jack Murtagh said after the win. "Flipping the page from last night to tonight, we just found our ground and got the feet rolling. The result was great—a great team win and moving on to the next weekend."
"Obviously those last seven minutes were not what we wanted," freshman right wing Ben Merrill said. "But throughout the whole game, I'd say we stuck to the plan, stuck to the structure that we were trying to play, playing the game the right way. It was a good full team effort from up and down the lineup. Everyone's staying connected. Everyone's doing our structures. As a whole, when we're all moving together, connected, we're a very tough team to beat."
Indeed, the team seems to be finding their roles, and some players have successfully auditioned for bigger parts.
One good example of that is sophomore Nick Roukounakis. After missing the first 11 games of this season due to injury, he scored his first two collegiate goals in his first two games, playing smart and simple hockey. Pandolfo promoted him to the second line on Saturday, and he saw time on the penalty kill as well as on the power play due to his big net-front presence and ability to use his size to hold the puck.
Likewise, freshman Jonathan Morello is now not only a key penalty killer: We saw him on the power play on Saturday, too, and he has emerged as a faceoff specialist, even taking the crucial opening draw of overtime before heading right to the bench after winning BU possession.
Frechette has provided versatility, moonlighting as a forward before returning to defense last weekend to shore up issues on the blue line. Sophomore Brandon Svoboda seems to boost any line he plays on with his consistent effort and strong skating.
As for firepower, Hutson makes electrifying rushes and sophomore Cole Eiserman's signature one-timer and nose for the net is starting to re-emerge after an injury kept him sidelined in back-to-back weekend series. Complemented by the steady defensive play of junior Aiden Celebrini, we are starting to see a real identity.
Now the team readies for its biggest stage of the season thus far with its usual odd-year date against Cornell. For quite a few first-year players, it will be their first time playing in an NHL arena as well as the largest crowd they've ever experienced.
This year's team has fewer Terriers than usual who grew up anywhere close to New York City. Freshman Jack Murtagh hails from south of Albany, which makes him the closest of anyone who will be in the lineup. Although he was a Ranger fan, he didn't get to see his favorite team in person very often—at least not in New York.
"My dad and my dad's side of the family lives here in Boston, so we'd come out to the Garden and watch those games—a lot of Ranger-Bruin games, a lot of my Bruin-Leaf games, but my personal favorite team was the Rangers growing up."
Murtagh definitely had a favorite player. "Growing up, I watched JT Miller when he was on the Rangers, years ago, and then obviously he went to Vancouver. He's back with the Rangers now, captain there."
What will it be like for Murtagh to take the ice just hours after Miller plays on Saturday afternoon against the Lightning?
"I think it'll be super surreal, going there, playing in an NHL arena. It'll be a first experience for me, and I'm really excited."
For fellow freshman forward John McNelis, playing at Madison Square Garden will cap off a memorable November. You hear many players saying that they "blacked out" when they scored their first collegiate goal, but how many players aren't aware that they did so until the next day?
That's what happened to McNelis, as a goal originally credited to Frechette was changed overnight when a video review revealed that the puck went off his stick.
"I figured it out this morning when I walked in for breakfast," McNelis said. "[Assistant coach] Kim Brandvold pulled me aside and told me I got credited for it. I definitely felt something hit my stick. I didn't know if it was a defenseman picking me up in front of the net, but obviously a fortuitous bounce, and it goes my way."
Asked about the biggest crowd he's played in front of to date, McNelis had to think it over for a while before recalling his days playing junior hockey in South Dakota.
"My rookie year in Sioux Falls we had Wiener Dog Night and I think it was like 11,000 people," McNelis said.
For those who are understandably preoccupied with the Beanpot in early February, Wiener Dog Night is another annual winter tradition in which fans are encouraged to bring their wiener dogs to the game. During the first intermission, two heats of 20 dogs each race from a goal line to the red line, then the top four finishers battle it out between periods two and three.
That said, McNelis believes that the loudest crowd he has heard to date was at Agganis this season. "When we played Michigan State, the Saturday night game, it was buzzing. The place was rocking; you could barely hear yourself think. It was awesome."
For Merrill, that game was the biggest and the loudest ever for him. "A lot of hype going into that game, and it was really, really loud, so it was a fun game to play."
Merrill, a native of Hingham, Massachusetts, has only limited experience at MSG. "I've watched a Rangers game there before when I was like 10," he said, "so it'll be good to be back for sure."
"I've never been there, so I'm super pumped," McNelis said. "Obviously to play in that arena in those circumstances is something truly special that I don't take for granted. It's honestly just a super-cool opportunity."
Looking over the Cornell schedule and roster this season, this year's edition of the Big Red will seem familiar to BU fans. The roster features plenty of big, tall players. Their defense is typically stingy, and they have given up just 11 goals in their first eight games. They also have a predictably good record, going 6-2-0 so far, and are right around BU in the national polls. And you can always count on them having a big and vocal crowd.
"Cornell is a good team, we have a lot of respect for them in our room," McNelis said. "They've had a lot of success in the postseason just like us, so it'll be a really good battle between the two teams."
"It'll be real cool," agreed Merrill. "Obviously, MSG is a historical spot. Cornell, I've heard they're always a tough team to play against, so we'll have to bring our best like we did tonight—the same kind of mentality."
Murtagh will be facing off against Charlie Major, a former teammate from his Bishop Kearney Selects U14 and U15 teams.
Amidst as much noise and hoopla as you will ever see in a fall semester game, the Terriers will strive to not get too caught up in it.
"Just staying focused, staying on the ice, don't let the noise affect anything, always have fun, never let up," Murtagh said.
"It'll be amazing playing there." Merrill said. "So it's going to be a little different, but we just have to treat it like any other game. It'll be a big crowd for sure, a lot of hype going to this game, so we just have to stick to our normal selves."
Just as they did last Saturday, the key will be understanding their role on that big stage.
"The way I personally approach it is don't get too high, don't get too low," McNelis said. "Every game's kind of the same. Where you play and who you might be playing is a little different, but you try to go into it with the same approach of levelheadedness. It just makes your life easier on you.
"I can focus on what my job is that particular night and oftentimes that helps the team win, and that's the end goal."
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice HockeyHighlights: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Northeastern (11/22/25)
Sunday, November 23
HIGHLIGHTS: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Merrimack (11/7/25)
Saturday, November 08
Highlights: Men's Hockey vs. UConn (10/24/2025)
Saturday, October 25
Highlights: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Michigan State (10/18/25)
Sunday, October 19
