6’3”, 210 lb. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (EJHL) ’93 goaltender Chris Eiserman took a visit to UMass-Lowell today and came home with a full scholarship.
A 10th grader in high school, Eiserman will arrive at Lowell in ’12. His brother, Bill, a ’92 left-shot D who was a standout at this summer’s USA Hockey Select 17 Festival, will be matriculating at Lowell in the fall of ’11. The two boys are following a family tradition: their father, Bill, was a member of the River Hawks (then known as the Chiefs) in ’86-87, though a broken leg ended his hockey career.
The youngest Eiserman’s commitment to Lowell today came quicker than anyone expected. He had visited UMass-Amherst, but if he had waited a host of schools would have gotten involved. It’s just not common these days for 16-year-old goalies who were playing high school a year ago to commit at the Div. I level. However, Eiserman has excelled at every level he’s been at, and he has always wanted to play college hockey with his brother – and at his father’s alma mater no less.
Eiserman, who shares goaltending duties on the Monarchs with Boston Collegerecruit Brian Billett, is, in our eyes, an exceptional recruit, with more upside than anyone we’ve seen Lowell land in a good long time. He’s huge, quick, athletic, fills up the net, stops pucks, smothers rebounds, and plays the puck like a third defenseman.
In seven games this season with the Monarchs, Eiserman has a 3.01 gaa and a .908 save percentage. He has one shutout and has allowed three or fewer goals in all except one game. Thus far the only glitch to his season came when he gave up seven goals to Apple Core while, with Billett out with an injury, Eiserman was playing his third game in three days -- and just hit the wall. Three games in three days is a lot to ask of any goalie, particularly a 16-year-old playing his first year of juniors. If you take away that one game, Eiserman would today have a 2.18 gaa and a .932 save percentage.
Eiserman put himself on the map last Feb. 7 when he led Div. II Newburyport HS to a stunning 3-2 upset win over then #1-ranked Div. I Malden Catholic at the Valley Forum in Malden, Mass. Most wondered why the two schools would even schedule each other, and Malden Catholic did indeed outshoot Newburyport by a huge margin. The difference, though, was Eiserman, who made 45 saves and came up huge when Malden Catholic poured it on in the third period.
In March, Newburyport High capped the season by winning the Div. II state championship, edging Canton High, 4-3 in OT, at the Garden.
And two months after that, Eiserman, unknown outside the youth hockey ranks a year before, was named to represent Mass at the USA Hockey Select 16 Festival in Rochester in late June.
