Minnesota-Duluth and Boston College fight for a spot in the Frozen Four

Email to a friend Permalink

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Lily Zhao, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

They wear the colors of the royals, the shades of true majesty. Tonight, maroon and gold will take the ice in a fight for the crown.

It’s the defending national champions against the favorites to win the Frozen Four: Minnesota-Duluth will take on Boston College in the Northeast Regional Finals for a right to earn a spot in the Frozen Four.

It’s a battle between the last two NCAA National Champions, and Minnesota-Duluth and Boston College look eerily similar, with high-flying offenses and stout defenses.

The defending champions erased a two goal deficit, scoring four unanswered goals to defeat Maine in the second Northeast Regional Semifinals, 5-2. Duluth received a pair of goals from center Jake Hendrickson, as well as scores from Jack Connolly, Caleb Herbert and J.T. Brown. Bulldogs goaltender Kenny Reiter was the unsung hero of the game, making 25 saves in the victory.

"He's had a solid year for us, and you need that type of goaltending at this time of year," UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. "You need big saves, you need the timely saves. Hopefully, he can provide us with that tomorrow too."

Top-ranked Boston College found a few more plays than Air Force to win 2-0. Junior Chris Kleider’s two goals, one in the first period, and the other on a power play with time running out in the third period, sealed the game for the Eagles. The team’s high-powered offense was stifled by the Falcons stingy defense for most of the game, but the Eagles capitalized on Kleider’s accuracy to seal the win.

"He's an outstanding athlete. He rises to the level of competition," BC coach Jerry York said. "He's had a tough stretch here as far as points in the past 10 games, but his play has been pretty good.

The Bulldogs’ potent offense averages 3.67 goals a game because of Connolly, Brown and Travis Oleksuk. They’ll have to face Eagles goaltender Parker Milner who has been especially stout near the goal. He forced a shutout against Air Force and has played at a high level in BC’s current 16 game winning streak.

Both BC and Duluth have previously met 15 times, with the Eagles holding a 10-4-1 edge. The last time these two programs met was in 2003, where they tied 2-2.

It’s the day for either the Bulldogs or the Eagles to make a statement and prove that nobility and titles aren’t given. They’re won.