| | PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Individual awards will have to wait, because Jeff Farkas, Mike Mottau and Brian Gionta had more important business on Thursday night.
The three Boston College stars -- all finalists for the Hobey Baker Award -- scored in the third period of the NCAA hockey semifinals as the Eagles rallied to beat St. Lawrence 4-2 and advance to the championship game.
|  | | Jeff Farkas and his Boston College teammates crushed the NCAA title hopes of Charlie Daniels and St. Lawrence. |
"Good players play well in pressure situations," Boston College coach Jerry York said. "They thrive in big games."
Scott Clemmensen stopped 26 shots for Boston College, which will play in Saturday night's title game against North Dakota, a 2-0 winner over Maine in the early semifinal. The Eagles haven't won the championship since 1949, the tournament's second year.
The ballots are already in for the Hobey Baker, which is awarded to college hockey's top player on the Frozen Four off day on Friday. But the three candidates showed why they're just the second trio of teammates in the award's 20-year history:
Mottau hit the post on a slap shot, then got the puck back at the middle of the blue line and wristed it between the legs of Saints goalie Derek Gustafson to make it 2-2 with 16:56 left in the game.
Farkas snapped the tie with an unassisted goal with just 1:57 left, skating in on Gustafson and beating him high on the glove side.
Gionta added an empty-netter with no time left.
"We're real proud of each other," Mottau said. "Brian and Jeff have made me the player I am because I have to go against them in practice. ... If one of those guys wins (the Hobey Baker), I'll be super excited for them."
Farkas said that despite competing for the individual award, the three don't compete among themselves. But Gionta, whose 33 goals is two more than Farkas and tops on the team, is due for some ribbing about his empty-netter.
"He's got two cheap ones in a row," Farkas joked. "I'm never going to catch him."
Jason Windle and Charlie Daniels scored for St. Lawrence. Gustafson stopped 28 shots in the loss.
"They've got some big-name players and they've done it all year," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. "It's a great BC team with outstanding talent."
Windle, who scored both of St. Lawrence's goals in the conference finals, opened the scoring 16:15 into the game when he muscled his way around the defense into the slot to flick a rebound past Clemmensen.
Blake Bellefeuile tied it 5:40 into the second, beating Matt Desrosiers to the puck behind the St. Lawrence net and swinging around to the front, then wristing it past Gustafson.
Daniels made it 2-1 for St. Lawrence at 10:38 of the second when he intercepted a pass in the slot and banked it off Clemmensen's back into the goal. The Saints sophomore celebrated by taking his glove off, pretending to drink out of it like it was a cold beverage and then throwing the empty on the ice. | |
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