On this Day
More Sports News
Featured Sports Web Guides
Boston College Wins NCAA Hockey Championship
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Boston College beat Notre Dame 4-1 to win the 3rd national championship in school history.
30-Second Summary
After losing the championship game two years in a row, Boston College wouldn’t be denied for a third time.
Hobey Baker finalist Nathan Gerbe scored two goals and two assists to lead the Eagles. With an incredible eight points in two games, Gerbe was named Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
The game’s turning point occurred 4:46 into the third period. Trailing 3-1, Notre Dame appeared to cut the deficit to one, but a video replay review controversially ruled that Notre Dame’s Kyle Lawson had kicked the puck into the net. Just 35 seconds later, BC’s Ben Smith scored to make it 4-1 and effectively end Notre Dame’s chances of a comeback.
The win is the latest chapter in an impressive era for BC hockey. In the past 11 years, the Eagles have made eight Frozen Fours, playing in six championship games and winning two.
The man behind the team’s success is coach Jerry York, who took over a struggling BC program in 1994 and quickly built it into a perennial title contender. This was the third national championship for the NCAA’s second all-time winningest hockey coach.
For Notre Dame, it was a disappointing end to a Cinderella run that saw the school make the Frozen Four for the first time in its history.
Hobey Baker finalist Nathan Gerbe scored two goals and two assists to lead the Eagles. With an incredible eight points in two games, Gerbe was named Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
The game’s turning point occurred 4:46 into the third period. Trailing 3-1, Notre Dame appeared to cut the deficit to one, but a video replay review controversially ruled that Notre Dame’s Kyle Lawson had kicked the puck into the net. Just 35 seconds later, BC’s Ben Smith scored to make it 4-1 and effectively end Notre Dame’s chances of a comeback.
The win is the latest chapter in an impressive era for BC hockey. In the past 11 years, the Eagles have made eight Frozen Fours, playing in six championship games and winning two.
The man behind the team’s success is coach Jerry York, who took over a struggling BC program in 1994 and quickly built it into a perennial title contender. This was the third national championship for the NCAA’s second all-time winningest hockey coach.
For Notre Dame, it was a disappointing end to a Cinderella run that saw the school make the Frozen Four for the first time in its history.
Headline Link: Boston College beats Notre Dame
Boston College jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period and held off Notre Dame in the third to win 4-1. Nathan Gerbe, Joe Whitney and Ben Smith scored for the Eagles, while freshman goalie John Muse made 20 saves.
Source: USCHO
Video: Game highlights
ESPN360 has a replay of the entire game, as well as replays of the two semifinal games. ESPN 360 isn’t available on all Internet Service Providers.
Source: ESPN360
Background: Road to the final
Toward the end of the regular season, the Eagles struggled through a 1-5-1 stretch. In the regular season finale, they won at Northeastern and followed with a dominating postseason run through the conference and national tournaments, winning eight straight games by a combined score of 38-13. College Hockey News looks at the Northeastern game and other pivotal moments during the season.
Source: College Hockey News
Notre Dame barely made the 16-team NCAA tournament, earning the last at-large seed, ironically, with a loss in the final regular-season game. The team pulled off three consecutive upsets—against New Hampshire, defending champion Michigan State and top seeded Michigan—to reach the final.
Source: USA Today
Opinion & Analysis: BC’s heroes and “no goal” controversy
Nathan Gerbe lost the Hobey Baker trophy on Friday, but “if they named the Hobey Baker after this weekend,” says Jeff Jackson, “they may have changed their mind.” The 5’5” Gerbe is a chippy, hard-working player who became a star thanks to his father and his older brothers.
Source: Sports Illustrated
The Boston Globe credits the BC defense, which, after Carl Sneep was lost to first period injury, was forced to play extra ice time in Denver’s thin air.
Source: Boston Globe
At the beginning of the season, the biggest question for the Eagles was whether they could win with a freshman goaltender. Goalie John Muse exceeded all expectations, playing every minute for BC and making the all-tournament first team.
Source: Boston Herald
After the game there was much debate about whether Kyle Lawson’s third period goal for Notre Dame should have been allowed to stand. Players are allowed to deflect the puck off their skates into the net, but cannot score with a “distinct kicking motion.” Adam Wodon voices an opinion shared by most pundits when he writes that the goal should have counted because, though Lawson did try to kick the puck, he didn’t make contact in a distinct kicking motion.
Source: College Hockey News
Key Players: Jerry York and Jeff Jackson
Jerry York, captain of the 1967 Eagles, returned to his alma mater in 1994 to rebuild a program decimated by losing and scandal. He immediately put together strong recruiting classes and restored pride in the program both on and of the ice. This 1996 piece profiles York’s long journey back to the Heights and includes York’s optimistic look at the future: “We want to win national championships. No question, that’s our goal. You do that by making your team a player in the national scene. You’ve got to be knocking on the door. So I want our team to always be in the thick of the race. Then I think we can win a championship.”
Source: USCHO
A two-time national championship winner at Lake Superior State, Jeff Jackson has brought unprecedented success to Notre Dame in just three years at the helm. With an appearance in this year’s final and a new arena on the horizon, Jackson is in a position to turn Notre Dame into a college hockey power.
Source: CSTV
Historical Context: The BC Era
After BC beat Miami to reach this year’s Frozen Four, USCHO writer Dave Hendrickson dubbed the last 11 years the “BC Era.” During that span the Eagles have had more postseason success than any other team in the country, though, “arguably only one thing remains for this postseason success to become a true BC Era: a few more national championships.”
Source: USCHO
This is the second national championship in the “BC Era.” In 2001, after three straight losses in the Frozen Four and 52 years since its last championship, BC defeated North Dakota 3-2 on an overtime goal from Krys Kolanos.
Source: BC Magazine
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
