 Eagles head coach Jerry York, the winngest active coach in college hockey, hoists the trophy after his third-career championship.
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DENVER, Colo.-To call it easy would be a disservice to an extraordinary group of players and coaches. Really, to categorize it as anything but difficult would be unfair to a program that has come so excruciatingly close in each of the past two seasons.
But it sure looked effortless on the surface. Using the skill of one of the best teams to ever grace the ice in Chestnut Hill, Boston College captured its third-ever title on Saturday night in Denver, defeating rival Notre Dame 4-1 in the national championship game.
Led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Nathan Gerbe, the Eagles were relentless in their pursuit of the championship. The star forward scored two goals and set up two more to help guide a staunch BC attack against the Fighting Irish. Although the two teams skated to a scoreless draw in the first period, it did not take long for Gerbe and company to get on track.
Less than three minutes into the second period, the junior scored his NCAA-leading 34th goal of the season. Line mates Ben Smith and Brian Gibbons, two players whom Gerbe credits for his postseason heroics, helped set up the tally.
Smith, who was named to the All-Tournament team alongside three other Eagles, carried the puck into the offensive zone before passing it to defenseman Tim Kunes. Kunes slid the puck behind the net to Gibbons, who sent a backhanded pass to Gerbe just inside of the left faceoff circle. The junior then lifted a wrist shot over Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce for a 1-0 lead.
Just as they had two days before in the national semifinal against North Dakota, the Eagles scored in another insurmountable wave. At 5:37 of the same period, Gerbe netted his second goal of the game to give BC a 2-0 advantage. His 35th goal came on the power play off of a funky bounce off the boards. Following a near-miss from Smith that went over the net, the rebound skirted off the glass in front of the goal. As he fell, Gerbe swung his stick at the puck, knocking it past Pearce.
