Boston College moves into final

Chockey Betting Lines

04/10/2008 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Gerbe recorded a hat trick and added an assist, as Boston College reached the championship game by defeating North Dakota, 6-1, in the Frozen Four.

Ben Smith and Dan Bertram each posted a goal and an assist for the Eagles (24-11-8), who will play the winner of the Notre Dame/Michigan game later on Thursday. Boston College will be making its third straight appearance in the title game. Last year, the Eagles lost to Michigan State, 3-1. In 2006, Boston College fell to Wisconsin, 2-1.

Brian Gibbons collected two helpers, while John Muse stopped 29-of-30 shots to pick up the win.

Jake Marto scored the lone goal for the Fighting Sioux (28-11-4), who were making their fourth consecutive trip to the Frozen Four. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux allowed six goals on 27 shots in defeat.

This marks the third straight year that North Dakota was ousted by Boston College in the semifinals.

The Eagles exploded for four goals in the first period.

Boston College grabbed a 1-0 lead when Andrew Orpik scored 7:08 into the first. A North Dakota turnover at its offensive blue line led to a 2-on-1 for the Eagles. Kyle Kucharski slipped the puck to Orpik in the slot and he slid the disc underneath the pads of Lamoureux.

Gerbe made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at the 13:14 mark. Gerbe raced down the left side and snapped a shot from the circle that went between the legs of Lamoureux.

Gerbe lit the lamp again with 4:47 remaining, as his shot squeezed through Lamoureux and trickled across the goal line.

A costly gaffe by the Fighting Sioux behind their own net led to Pat Gannon throwing the puck out to Bertram, who ripped home a shot with 15 seconds left in the opening stanza.

Gerbe completed the hat trick with a power-play goal at the 6:37 mark of the middle stanza and Smith found the back of the net at 11:58 to give the Eagles a commanding 6-0 lead.

Marto broke Muse's shutout bid with 1:16 to play in regulation.

Boston College hasn't won the title since 2001.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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