ST. LOUIS, Mo.?Boston College forward Joe Rooney's empty net goal with 50 seconds left in the third period held up as the winning goal as the Eagles defeated the Fighting Sioux 6-4 tonight in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal.
Boston College advances to Saturday's NCAA Frozen Four championship game for the second straight year, where it will face Michigan State.
Rooney's goal was the difference in a frantic final seven minutes of regulation time that saw the two teams combined for six goals. With UND on the power-play trailing 5-4 and goalie Philippe Lamoureux (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) on the bench for an extra attacker, the Sioux tried frantically for the tying goal. But BC defenseman Brian Boyle gathered the puck in his own zone and fired it the length of the ice, and Rooney won a race to the puck in the Sioux end and tucked it in for the clinching goal.
UND would pull back within one when captain Chris Porter (So., Thunder Bay, Ont.) redirected a T.J. Oshie (So., Warroad, Minn.) shot for his second goal of the game with 16 seconds left, giving the Sioux one last glimmer of hope.
But after a Sioux turnover on the ensuing faceoff, BC's Nathan Gerbe sealed the game with an empy netter of his own with six seconds left. It was Gerbe's second goal and fourth pont.
The late-game scoring outburst by the two teams was in stark contrast to the first half of the final period, in which the two teams had combined for just six shots with under eight minutes remaining.
With the game tied at 2-2, Gerbe hit freshman Ben Smith on a three-on-two and the freshman beat Lamoureux to the short side to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead with exactly seven minutes remaining.
But the Sioux responded just over two minutes later while shorthanded. Oshie created a turnover behind the Boston College net and lifted a backhand over Eagles goalie Cory Schneider to tie the game with 4:38 left.
However, the Eagles answered immediately while still on the power-play after the Oshie goal. BC's Brock Bradford center a pass to Gerbe in the slot, and Gerbe whistled a one-timer past Lamouruex to put the Eagles back on top just 32 seconds after Oshie had tied it.
Gerbe's power-play goal was Boston College's third tally with the man advantage, as the Eagles went 3-for-7 and recorded 17 shots while on the power-play. UND went 2-for-7 on the power-play.
The Sioux opened the scoring midway through the first period when Porter grabbed a loose puck at the left hashmarks and put a wrist shot past Schneider for his 12th goal of the season and first of two on the night. Porter's goal came just as the Sioux had finished killing a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation.
But the Eagles knotted the game five minutes later on the power play on Dan Bertram's first of two goals on the night. The junior forward found the puck during a scramble in front of the Sioux net and slid it past Lamoureix.
UND's Jonathan Toews (So., Winnipeg, Man.) regained the lead for the Sioux with a power-play goal 3:15 into the second period, banging home a centering feed from Oshie for his 18th goal of the season.
The 2-1 UND lead held for the much of the second period, although the Sioux were outshot 20-7 during the period. BC finally found the equalizer with just under five inutes left in the frame, with Bertram picking up his second of the night on a rebound after Lamoureux had made a spectacular, sprawling save on the initial shot.
Lamoureux finished with a personal season-best 39 saves, including 19 in the second period and 17 while shorthanded. Schneider made 25 saves for Boston College.
Notes: It is the second straight season UND's season has ended with a Frozen Four semifinal loss to Boston College. The Eagles edged the Sioux 6-5 last season in Milwaukee ... BC's 20 shots in the second period were the most allowed by UND in a single period this season ... Porter finished his career with 175 games played, all consecutive, a WCHA record for consecutive games played ... Porter's two-goal game marked the third time in his career he scored two goals in an NCAA tournament game ... In his career, Porter scored seven goals and had four assists in 12 NCAA tournament games ... It was the third time in Porter's career he has had a two-goal game against Boston College ... Porter leads all players on all 16 NCAA tournament teams with five goals in this year's NCAA tournament ... Oshie's eight NCAA tournament points (4g, 4a) lead all players ... UND's power play converted on 40 percent (8 of 20) chances in three NCAA tournament games.
