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Photo by Cadey Spencer
BOSTON, Mass. - Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) recorded his third hat-trick of the season en route to a five-point night, Cole Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) added a pair of scores and Kamil Bednarik (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in three assists as the trio of Boston University commits powered the U.S. National Under-18 Team to an 8-2 win over the Terriers Saturday night.
Hutson got the scoring started early as the BU commits combined to put Team USA up 1-0 less than five minutes in. In a quick turnaround from the defensive zone, Bednarik pushed the puck up to Eiserman running the left wing. He sauced a perfect pass to Hutson, who roofed his wrister off the rush for a lead at 4:25.
Video from Boston University Athletics
Eiserman added a pair of scores before the close of the opening period to put the U18s up 3-0 after 20 minutes. He connected at 7:47 off of feeds from Bednarik and John Whipple (Minnetonka, Minn.). He got his second just after the expiration of a Team USA power play late in the frame. James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) set up Eiserman for the first shot which went wide. Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) corralled the puck in the corner and a slid a back-door feed for Eiserman's patented one-timer from the right circle.
Hutson added his second score on a U.S. power play early in the middle period. After a failed Terriers clearing attempt, Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) quickly got the puck to Plante in the slot. He gave the extra pass to Hutson, who picked the top corner for a 4-0 lead.
Less than a minute later, Kristian Epperson (Mequon, Wis.) put his name on the scoresheet when he cleaned up a Christian Humphreys (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rebound untouched in the slot.
Team USA made it six in a row as Eiserman found Plante on the doorstep for a tap-in score just past the midway mark of the game. Bednarik collected his third assist of the night on the score after an aggressive forecheck from the entire forward line.
NTDP alum Luke Tuch put the Terriers on the board late in the second period, but Hagens responded 35 seconds later to make it a 7-1 game. Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) started the breakout with a nice pass to Ziemer, who raced into a 2-on-2 rush. He found Hagens behind the defense and the Boston College commit put one through the five-hole for his sixth score of the season.
Eiserman finished off the hat-trick early in the final period as he finished a wicked passing display on the power play. Hagens played give-and-go with Plante at the bumper position and then went to Eiserman on the far-wing who shot at an empty net for his fifth point of the night.
Boston University's Quinn Hutson found the back of the net late for the 8-2 final.
USA netminder Nick Kempf (Chicago, Ill.) was a brick wall in net as he finished the night with a career-high 47 saves and picked up his third win of the season.
The U18s continue their College Series tomorrow evening at Dartmouth College. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. from Thompson arena in Hanover, New Hampshire. The game will not be streamed.