ST. PAUL, Minn. – North Dakota goalie Karl Goehring not only stood on his head, as the old hockey saying goes.

He even made a save with his head.

Such creativity in goal helped Goehring lead the Fighting Sioux to the WCHA championship game for the fifth straight season, 2-1 over Colorado College in a Final Five semifinal Friday.

The defending NCAA and WCHA tournament champion Fighting Sioux (27-6-9) will face the winner of a Friday night semifinal game between Minnesota and St. Cloud State in the championship game, at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

Goehring, who is only 5-foot-7, made a spectacular save on a slap shot by the Tigers' Alex Kim less than two minutes into the contest. He wound up stopping 18 of the Tigers' 19 shots, including the one with his head.

"I grew up playing soccer, so when it goes up there I tend to hit it with my head," Goehring said. "I do some goofy stuff. Whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the net."

The Fighting Sioux, who won the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA's regular-season champions for the fourth time in five seasons, took the lead in the second period with goals that didn't come from the usual sources.

Aaron Schneekloth scored his sixth goal and Jason Notermann his 10th. Hobey Baker Award finalist Jeff Panzer, the nation's leading scorer with 75 points, was limited to an assist.

"The first half of the season, we were carried by one line," North Dakota coach Dean Blais said. "Before, if it wasn't the Panzer line scoring, we were in trouble. Now we're getting contributions from other areas."

Schneekloth scored on the power play – three minutes, 27 seconds into the second period – following a shot by Panzer. Notermann scored at 10:57 into the second period following a shot by Wes Dorey.

The Fighting Sioux attempted only 20 shots in the defensive contest.

"We didn't want to get into a shootout with them," Blais said. "We didn't think we could win that kind of game."

Blais said he believes the third-ranked Fighting Sioux will receive a bye in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in the championship game Saturday, but the outcome could be an omen. They went on to win NCAA titles after winning WCHA tournaments in 1997 and 2000. They won neither title in 1998 and 1999.

The Tigers (25-12-1), who took a 1-0 lead on Mark Cullen's goal in the first period, could have used exhaustion as an excuse, after having to bounce back just hours after defeating Wisconsin 4-3 Thursday night to reach the semis.

Coach Scott Owens said he didn't even talk to his players about North Dakota until about an hour before the game.

"I was happy," Owens said. "We had more jump than I thought we'd have today. A couple of guys had more jump than they had (Thursday) night."