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April 5, 2007

Eagles claw way to Frozen Four final

ST. LOUIS — Nathan Gerbe scored the go-ahead goal with 4:06 to go, leading Boston College to a 6-4 victory over North Dakota in the Frozen Four semifinals Thursday night.

Boston College (29-11-1) will take a 13-game winning streak into the championship game Saturday night against Michigan State (25-13-3). The Eagles are seeking their first title since 2001, while the Spartans haven't won it all since 1986.

Only 32 seconds after North Dakota tied it, Gerbe beat Philippe Lamoureux with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Brock Bradford for his 24th goal and a 4-3 lead. Gerbe, a fifth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2005, is tied for second in the nation with seven game-winners.

Dan Bertram had his first two-goal game of the season for the winners, who also beat North Dakota in the semifinals last year before losing to Wisconsin in the championship game.

Chris Porter scored twice for North Dakota (24-14-5) and T.J. Oshie, the St. Louis Blues' 2005 first-round draft pick playing on the NHL team's home ice, had a goal and an assist.

The teams combined for six goals in the final 7 minutes, including a pair of empty-netters in the final minute by Boston College to put it away. Andrew Orpik's empty-netter put Boston College ahead 5-3 with 50 seconds to go, North Dakota answered with Porter's power-play goal with 16.4 seconds left, and Gerbe added another empty-netter with 5.5 seconds to go.

Boston College has outscored the opposition 61-23 during its winning streak.
Porter opened the scoring at 10:28 of the first period with his 12th goal from the slot after the puck squirted loose. Boston College tied it on a power play at 15:41 when Bertram's deflection attempt dropped at his skates well in front of the net and he converted his own shot.

Oshie's shot off the right side of the net rattled around to the other side and nearly trickled in before Jonathan Toews slapped it in on a North Dakota power play at 3:15 of the second. Bertram's eighth goal was the third shot in a flurry that knotted it at 2 at 15:21 of the second, with only 6 seconds to go on Erik Fabian's hooking penalty.

ASSOCIATED PRESS --

Posted by Thom Cahir  at 11:14 PM to College Sports | Permalink

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