TAMPA, Fla. – Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig raised his arms in triumph and bounced on his skates in front of the Bobcats’ net.
The 3-2 victory over Boston College on Thursday night sent the tiny school located at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Connecticut, to the NCAA hockey title game for the second time in four years
And it took every one of Garteig’s 34 saves for the Bobcats to advance.
Kevin McKernan and Andrew Taverner scored in the opening period and Landon Smith added a power-play goal that made it 3-1 in the second period, setting the stage for Garteig to shine when the Bobcats needed him.
Ryan Fitzgerald’s power-play goal trimmed Boston College’s deficit to 3-2 with 4:16 remaining. Garteig had four more saves, including a glove deflection on Ian McCoshen’s shot from the high slot in the closing seconds.
Quinnipiac (32-3-7) will try to win its first national championship Saturday night, facing the winner of Thursday night’s other semifinal between North Dakota and Denver.
The Bobcats lost to Yale in their only previous appearance in the title game in 2013.
Senior Travis St. Denis is the only Quinnipac player remaining from that team.
McKernan gave Quinnipiac some early momentum, scoring from the slot less than three minutes into the game. Taverner made it 2-0, and the Bobcats hardly blinked when Alex Tuch scored for Boston College to trim the Eagles’ deficit to goal in the opening minute of the second period.
Smith countered four minutes later, restoring a two-goal cushion for Garteig, who made it stand. BC got off 14 shots in the third period, most of them in one-man advantage situations, including the final 1:37 when the Eagles pulled goalie Thatcher Demko, who had 27 saves.
North Dakota defeated Denver, 4-2, in the night’s second semifinal with help from a pair of goals from Drake Caggiula.