ON THE CUSP: Terriers punch ticket to national title game with win over North Dakota

The Terriers are just one win away.

Aided by goals from four different players, the No. 2 Boston University men’s hockey team defeated the University of North Dakota, 5-3, in the Frozen Four Semifinal game Thursday night at TD Garden — setting the stage for a showdown against Providence College in the National Championship game on Saturday.

The Terriers (28-7-5) drew first blood in the contest, with freshman center Jack Eichel cashing in on a power-play opportunity after North Dakota forward Luke Johnson was whistled for tripping four minutes in.

Looking to gain an early advantage against North Dakota goaltender Zane McIntyre, BU swarmed the UND (29-10-3) net. Junior forward Ahti Oksanen dished the puck across the crease to junior forward Danny O’Regan, but it was tipped by a UND skater and careened out to the slot.

Thankfully for the scarlet and white, Eichel was there to deposit the puck back into the net to hand BU a 1-0 lead at 4:59.

UND would regroup, generating multiple chances against junior goaltender Matt O’Connor and the Terrier defense, but its efforts were once again undone by another costly penalty.

While pursuing a loose puck in the corner, North Dakota winger Bryn Chyzyk walloped freshman defenseman Brandon Hickey into the end boards, gifting BU with its second opportunity on the man advantage.

In a fitting case of hockey retribution, Hickey would be the one to make North Dakota pay.

The crafty blueliner uncorked a slap shot from the blue line that sailed past McIntyre with 48 seconds left in the first to give BU a two-goal cushion.

A tripping call against BU junior captain Matt Grzelcyk in the winding seconds of the first gave North Dakota a spark in the middle stanza, with Johnson putting UND on the board by way of a wrister 44 seconds into the second.

Johnson’s strike energized UND, who proceeded to put the Terriers on the ropes for the following 10 minutes thanks to sustained zone pressure and a flurry of shot attempts.

It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before North Dakota would once again find Terrier netting, but some of BU’s most unheralded players were ready to bail them out.

Just over 11 minutes into the period, Eichel fired the puck over to freshman forward A.J. Greer, who had lit the lamp just two times on the year. The 6-foot-3 winger did not hesitate, besting McIntyre with a devastating one-timer shot to give the Terriers some breathing room.

Less than two minutes later, BU received another boost from an unlikely source, as sophomore defenseman Doyle Somerby’s odd-angle shot snuck past McIntyre to make it a 4-1 game.

North Dakota would claw back over the final 20 minutes, however, with defenseman Troy Stecher and center Connor Gaarder notching tallies in the third, but that would be all that UND would muster, as Eichel scored an empty-net goal to seal the 5-3 victory for the Terriers.

O’Connor recorded 36 saves in the victory, while McIntyre stopped 23 shots in North Dakota’s season-ending defeat.

This story will be updated soon.