Gerbe's hat trick, Muse's 29 saves propel Boston College past North Dakota

DENVER -- Jerry York is fond of calling his team a meat-and-potatoes squad.

John Muse is a rock for Boston College, stopping 29 shots vs. North Dakota. (Getty Images)

"There's no trickery with our club," the Boston College coach said. "We're not trying to reinvent the wheel at B.C. We just stay with the game plan."

As in, get the puck to Nathan Gerbe and let him work his magic.

Gerbe's hat trick helped Boston College advance to its third straight championship game -- all at North Dakota's expense. The Eagles will face Notre Dame on Saturday night. The Irish beat Michigan 5-4 in overtime in the second semifinal.

John Muse stopped 29 shots and the Eagles rode a four-goal opening period to a 6-1 victory over the Fighting Sioux on Thursday night in the Frozen Four semifinals.

The Eagles have beaten North Dakota the last three years in the semifinal round, but haven't won a national title since 2001, when they beat the Sioux in overtime.

Boston College lost to Michigan State in the final last year and to Wisconsin in 2006.

Yet the Eagles are hoping their third straight visit to the title game is a charm.

"This team is different than in the past," said defenseman Mike Brennan, whose team will play the Michigan-Notre Dame winner in the final Saturday night. "We're so focused on what we want to do."

Not even the nation's top-ranked goalie could slow down high-flying Boston College.

The Eagles (24-11-8) roughed up Jean-Philippe Lamoureux for four goals on just 13 shots in the opening period, setting the tone for the evening.

"I think this certainly is an anomaly. The score is not indicative of the game itself," York said. "There's a great deal of respect from our end as we think about North Dakota. It's going to happen once in a light year that our teams get separated by this many goals. I'm extremely proud of our club."

Andrew Orpik, Dan Bertram and Ben Smith also scored for the Eagles in their eighth straight victory.