April 12, 2008
2008 NCAA Frozen Four Championship Game
BC's Charmed Life
Behind the gifted Nathan Gerbe, the Eagles capture their third national title

By Joe Gladziszewski

Boston College 4, Notre Dame 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
No Scoring
Second Period
1-BC	Nathan Gerbe (34)	EV
2:23	B. Gibbons, B. Smith
2-BC	Nathan Gerbe (35)	PP
5:37	B. Smith, D. Bertram
3-BC	Joe Whitney (11)	PP
8:11	N. Gerbe, B. Ferriero
1-ND	Kevin Deeth (11)	EV
9:07	K. Lawson, I. Cole
Third Period
4-BC	Ben Smith (25)	EV
5:31	N. Gerbe, B. Gibbons
Goaltending
ND: Jordan Pearce, 58:31, 19 saves, 4 GA
BC: John Muse, 60:00, 20 saves, 1 GA
Penalties: ND 5/10; BC 8/16
Power Plays: ND 0-8; BC 2-5
Attendance: 18,632 (sellout)
More Coverage
· Comprehensive Title Game Notebook The Boston College defense got even better when one of its best was lost for the game. Plus notes, plus/minus and much more. · INCH Slideshow Larry Radloff's best shots from the title game.
All-Tournament Team
G: John Muse, Boston College D: Mike Brennan, Boston College D: Kyle Lawson, Notre Dame F: Nathan Gerbe, Boston College F: Ben Smith, Boston College F: Kevin Deeth, Notre Dame Most Outstanding Player: Nathan Gerbe Check out the team plus Jeff Sauer's comments on each selection.

DENVER – They say that the third time is a charm, and it was for Boston College. Playing in its third consecutive national championship game, Boston College earned the trophy with a 4-1 win over Notre Dame at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Saturday night. As usual, Boston College forward Nathan Gerbe led the way, scoring twice in the second period to give the Eagles the lead that they never relinquished.

A scoreless first period played to Notre Dame's favor, as they relish the opportunity to play in close games, but BC took control early in the second and never looked back.

Gerbe's first goal 2:23 into the period was the product of great work by his teammates as Brian Gibbons and Ben Smith cycled on the end wall and Tim Kunes kept the puck in at the blueline. Gibbons made the pass from the end boards and Gerbe's classy finish into the top corner of the net set the Eagles in motion.

The lead doubled with Boston College on the power play as Gerbe dove to fire the puck into the net off a rebound from Ben Smith's shot. Gerbe was named as the Frozen Four's most outstanding player and shied away from taking personal credit.

"It's all just numbers to me. The biggest thing is this trophy right next to us," Gerbe said. "We'll do whatever it takes to get that. A lot of guys stepped up. Tonight was just a night where everyone stepped up a notch to get a championship."

Penalties on both sides through the first half of the second period led to special teams opportunities and BC capitalized again with a skating manpower of 4-on-3 when Joe Whitney scored from the high slot.

The three-goal lead lasted less than a minute as Notre Dame's Kevin Deeth answered for the Irish on assists from Kyle Lawson and Ian Cole.

The Eagles played most of the game with five defensemen after Carl Sneep blocked a shot with his leg that forced him out of the game due to injury. Anthony Aiello, Mike Brennan, Tim Kunes, Nick Petrecki and Tim Filangieri came through and kept Notre Dame at bay in front of goalie John Muse. The Eagles blocked 19 shots attempted by Notre Dame.

"I thought they were pretty tough all game long," Notre Dame forward Mark Van Guilder said. "When he went down they had five guys who picked it up, like we have in the past when we had a key player go down. It's really too bad getting hurt in a big game like this, but his teammates picked up the slack and they were really good in their own end tonight."

BC's freshman goaltender stopped 20 shots, and didn't have to get the one that left people talking. Notre Dame attacked on the rush and crossed the blueline, where Ian Cole passed across the crease to Kyle Lawson. The puck hit Lawson's skate and crossed the line. Lawson attempted to play the puck with his stick, but was cleared from the edge of the crease by Filangieri and missed tipping the puck before it went in.

After extensive video review, the goal was disallowed and the ruling from the video official, Greg Shepherd, was "the puck was kicked in the net by the Notre Dame player's right skate."

Lawson said he didn't even see the pass come across before it hit his skate. His coach said it was a crucial moment for his team.

"I thought that was the turning point for us," Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said. "I thought we had something going at that time and I thought we were doing a much better job with the puck."

That goal would have made the score 3-2. Instead, Boston College scored 35 seconds later to make it 4-1. Ben Smith shot from the slot and it deflected off a defenseman and flipped over the shoulder of Notre Dame's Jordan Pearce with 14:29 left in the game.

"It was a huge shift in the game to get that goal. (During the review) Coach told us to be ready either way, to come out hard the next shift," Smith said. He finished with three points in the title game and was named to the all-tournament team.

The Eagles killed off back-to-back penalties in the middle part of the third period to effectively seal the victory. Boston College was 2-for-5 on the power play and Notre Dame was 0-for-8.

Boston College won its third national title, with the others coming in 1949 and 2001. As they say, the third time is a charm.