HAMDEN – Michael Garteig made 34 saves and No. 1 overall seed Quinnipiac held off Boston College 3-2 on Thursday night to reach the NCAA hockey championship game for the second time in four seasons.
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 8 p..m. Saturday night, facing North Dakota.
The Bobcats lost to Yale in their only previous appearance in the title game in 2013.
