Luke Mittelstadt’s two goals in a span of 1:49 in the third period lifted the top-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers to a 6-2 win over second-seeded Boston University in the Frozen Four on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.
Logan Cooley had two empty-net goals and an assist, while Mike Koster had a goal and an assist for Minnesota. Rhett Pitlick also scored for the Golden Gophers, with Aaron Huglen collecting two assists.
The Golden Gophers (29-9-1) will face No. 1 seed Michigan (26-11-3) or second-seeded Quinnipiac (32-4-3) in the title game on Saturday.
Minnesota, which will play in the final for the first time since falling to Union (N.Y.) in 2014, is seeking its first national championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2002-2003.
Sam Stevens and Jay O’Brien each scored, while Domenick Fensore finished with two assists for the Terriers (29-11-0).
https://www.ncaa.com/history/icehockey-men/d1
Justen Close made 30 saves for Minnesota, which outshot BU 34-31. Drew Commesso had 28 stops for the Terriers.
Opening the third period on a two-man advantage, the Golden Gophers took the lead for good shortly after their first power-play expired.
After receiving a pass from Bryce Brodzinski, Koster slid the puck into the slot to Mittelstadt, who wristed a shot past Commesso with 18:20 left in the game.
Mittelstadt struck again less than two minutes later, when he scored off assists from Ryan Chesley and Huglen with 16:31 remaining.
Cooley capped the scoring with a pair of empty-net goals in the final 2:41.
Trailing 2-1 after the first period, the Terriers pulled even on the power play. O’Brien deflected Fensore’s shot from a few feet inside the blue line past Close with 11:54 left in the second period. Matt Brown was also credited with an assist.
BU took a 1-0 lead when Stevens scored off assists from Fensore and Jamie Armstrong with 9:22 left in the first period before the Golden Gophers closed the period with two power-play goals.
Koster halved the lead when he scored off assists from Cooley and Jaxon Nelson with 4:51 left before the Golden Gophers struck again on the man-advantage 50 seconds later.
After getting a pass near the left post from Mittelstadt, Huglen slid the puck between his legs — and between those of BU defenseman Cade Webber — to Pitlick, who scored from just a few feet away.
–Field Level Media