The streak that reached a season-high six games Saturday night couldn't have come at a better time for the Fighting Sioux.

UND beat Holy Cross 5-2 in the championship game of the NCAA West Regional in front of a West Region record 11,492 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena, sending the Sioux back to the Frozen Four for the second straight year.

The Sioux got a goal from freshman Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg), named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, on a wraparound just 1:18 into the first period and never trailed the Crusaders, who had upset top-seeded Minnesota 4-3 in overtime Friday night in the semifinals.

With the victory, the Sioux march on to the Frozen Four, beginning April 6 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis., where they won their sixth NCAA title in 1997.

The Sioux (29-15-1) will meet Boston College (25-12-3) in one Frozen Four semifinal, more than likely in the 3 p.m. game on April 6.

UND added the West Region title to the Broadmoor Trophy it won the weekend before by capturing the title in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five tournament.

The Sioux will be making their 16th overall trip to the Frozen Four and will be seeking their eighth NCAA title and first since 2000.

It appears the Sioux are peaking at the most important time of the year.

"It (improvement) is a continual process through the year,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "I don't think you ever get to the point that you say, well, 'that's it,' that's as good as it could possibly be.''

The victory culminated a whirlwind close to the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs for the Sioux.

"We didn't do anything different,'' Hakstol said of UND's late-season surge. "With this team, the chemistry clicked in after the St. Cloud State series (a pair of 2-1 Sioux losses) here at home. Sometimes adversity pushes you one way or the other. For this team, it pushed us in the right direction.''

Toews, who led the West Region in scoring with five points (two goals, three assists), added two assists to his lone goal tonight to lead the Sioux with a three-point game.

With 10 freshmen in the lineup, the Sioux showed no jitters against the Crusaders, who finish with a 27-10-2 record.

"Maybe getting better is just by continuing to build momentum,'' Hakstol said at the post-game press conference. "I think we do have good momentum right now. I think we are playing well. But we want to continue to build on that. Maybe it's as simple as that.''

What was simply outstanding tonight for the Sioux was their power play. The Sioux converted on 3-of-5 chances, a two-goal swing for UND as the Sioux held Holy Cross to a 1-for-5 power-play night.

Toews scored on the first shot on goal by either team, as he came around the net and wrapped his slider in on the far side of the net around Holy Cross goalie Tony Quesada (27 saves).

UND freshman T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.), hit the goal post flush on a drive two minutes later, but the Sioux came back with another goal by a rookie at 15:16 on a power play.

Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alta.) took a feed from Toews in the high slot and drilled a high shot past Quesada on the stick side for a 2-0 Sioux lead. The goal was the 16th of the season for the Sioux rookie who wears No. 16 on his jersey.

Holy Cross chopped the lead in half at 3:03 of the second period when Matt Werry scored his first goal of the season on a sizzling slap shot.

Sioux junior defenseman Matt Smaby (Minneapolis), the UND captain, got that goal back 14 minutes later.

With just 13 seconds left on the power play, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Smaby stationed himself in front of Quesada and banged in a rebound for his fourth goal of the season.

"The power play before the goal, (assistant) coach (Cary) Eades told me to get right in front of the goalie,'' Smaby said. 'Drew Stafford forced the puck down low and I pick-pocketed the guy. I tried to put it on net, and it went in.''

Blair Bartlett trimmed the Sioux lead to 3-2 on a power play at 5:21 of the third period, but the Sioux answered quickly.

Sophomore Travis Zajac (Winnipeg) tipped in a point shot from freshman defenseman Brian Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) at 6:48 on a power play, giving the Sioux a 4-2 lead.

Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Sask.) became the third Sioux rookie to score a goal in the game when he tapped in a rebound off the initial shot by junior Chris Porter (Thunder Bay, Ont.) at 9:03 of the final period. It was the fifth goal of the season for Watkins.

Sioux junior goalie Jordan Parise (Faribault, Minn.), who came into the game with a 1.44 goals-against average in NCAA tournament play, made 17 saves in raising his NCAA tournament won-lost record to 6-2. It's the most tournament wins by any active NCAA goalie. It was his 55th overall win at UND, second most in school history for a goalie.

Parise was one of four Sioux named to the all-West Region tournament team, joined by Smaby, Duncan and Toews.

"Our team has gone on an up-slope and we just keep getting better,'' Parise said. "I just try to keep up with the guys. They've been playing extremely well. I've had to elevate my game in order to keep up with theirs.''

Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl likes the Sioux chances of doing damage in the Frozen Four.

"I think their chance is very good,'' Pearl said. "I don't know if youth will hurt them at all. Those kids are players, they get up and down the sheet really good and they do a great job of going to the net.''

Said Hakstol: "It was a battle out there, right down to the final buzzer. I'm very, very proud of our hockey team. We took another step forward tonight. We're very excited to be headed to Milwaukee. We certainly aren't just happy to be going there.''

Holy Cross left feeling good about themselves. "I don't feel we gave a good effort,'' said Crusader captain Tyler McGregor. "We had a few untimely penalties, myself included. I don't know how they feel their effort was, but I feel pretty confident that the two teams that were on the ice tonight would have been pretty even on another night.''

Not this night, though.

This night belonged to the Sioux.