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Frozen Four

Ferris State will play for the NCAA hockey championship for the first time on Saturday night, and goaltender Taylor Nelson is concentrating on the team’s season-long motto.“We can’t be satisfied,” the Regina native said.

Ferris State will make first ever appearace in final on Saturday

TAMPA, Fla. — Ferris State will play for the NCAA hockey championship for the first time on Saturday night, and goaltender Taylor Nelson is concentrating on the team’s season-long motto.

“We can’t be satisfied,” the Regina native said.

“We’ve been saying it all along. We’re happy to advance, but we’re not done yet.”

Aaron Schmit scored two goals, Kyle Bonis of Lindsay, Ont., had the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Ferris State beat Union 3-1 on Thursday to advance to the Frozen Four final.

The Bulldogs got the win in their first Frozen Four appearance and will face Boston College or Minnesota in Saturday night’s championship.

Union College, a 2,133-student liberal arts school that does not offer athletic scholarships, fell to 26-8-7. Ferris State (26-11-5), the Central Collegiate Hockey Association champion, is from Big Rapids, Mich.

The Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 nationally for a two-week stretch early this season. That was the program’s high-water mark — until Thursday.

“It’s almost hard to comprehend right now,” Bonis said. “This is great, but we have to stay in the moment.”

Bonis snapped a tie at the 15:17 mark of the third.

Senior Brett Wysopal’s shot from the left circle was deflected away by goaltender Troy Groesnick, but Bonis was there for the rebound.

Schmit put it out of reach with an empty-netter in the final minute.

“As tough as this is right now, as much as this hurts, this is something our program can build upon,” Union coach Rick Bennett said.

Union opened the scoring on sophomore Daniel Carr’s goal at the 7:56 mark of the second period.

After a clean faceoff win by Union’s Jeremy Welsh, Greg Coburn blasted a one-timer from the centre point position and Carr, from Sherwood Park, Alta., deflected it just over Nelson’s glove.

Schmit answered with a power-play goal at 17:02 of the second. Bonis’ shot was stopped by Grosenick, but Schmit put away the rebound.

Grosenick entered the game ranked second nationally in goals-against-average (1.64) and save percentage (.936).

The sophomore was the first Union player to be among the 10 semifinalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

Grosenick had 34 saves, including 27 in the final two periods. Nelson had 27 stops.


Boston College headed to frozen four final

TAMPA, Fla. — Boston College has one more game left, so coach Jerry York wasn’t in the mood for a big celebration Thursday night.

York and the Eagles have their eyes on something bigger.

“There’s one trophy left and it’s the really shiny one,” he said.

Paul Carey had two goals and Boston College beat Minnesota 6-1 to advance to the NCAA championship game for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

The Eagles (32-10-1) will carry an 18-game winning streak into Saturday night’s Frozen Four final against Ferris State, which beat Union College 3-1 in the first semifinal (see game story on page B5).

Boston College is seeking its fifth hockey title.

Minnesota (28-14-1) made its first Frozen Four appearance since 2005.

Boston College junior Steven Whitney broke a scoreless tie at the 6:03 mark in the first. Whitney came in over the Minnesota blue line, then crashed the net. Barry Almeida found Whitney, who snuck past the defence.

The Eagles were leading 4-0 when Minnesota’s Jake Hansen scored at the 1:26 mark of the third. It was the first goal in 193 minutes, 49 seconds against the Eagles, who have outscored their opponents 12-1 in the NCAA tournament.

Eagles goaltender Parker Milner collected 30 saves.

“He’s on another planet right now,” teammate Chris Kreider said.

Hansen admitted to frustration over his team’s inability to finish on early chances.

“The puck just didn’t want to go in,” he said. “Obviously, Milner has been very hot.”

Kevin Hayes and Brian Dumoulin had power-play goals for Boston College, and Kreider also scored.

The Eagles were 6-9-1 in mid-January, and York said he didn’t expect to be playing for a national championship this season.

“This is the most surprised I’ve been with a team,” York said. “At the start of the year, I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to take this group of guys. They’ve really matured and became a real good team.”