BU, Miami set to meet in NCAA hockey final

The Miami-Ohio RedHawks ended the cinderella dream of Bemidji State in the national semifinal on Thursday with a 4-1 victory, giving the tiny midwestern CCHA school entry to its first-ever hockey title contest.

Boston University, on the other hand, survived a good ol'fashioned fight against Hockey East rival Vermont in the second semi, scoring twice late to steal a 5-4 victory and gain the national final for the first time since 1997.

Hobey Baker finalist Colin Wilson netted the game-winner late in regulation for the Terriers, who seek their first championship since 1995.

Given that BU is the last best team remaining, I wonder if parity has already struck after the tournament field was recently expanded to 16 from 12, eliminating byes for the top two teams in the former two regions.

There were a disproportionate amount of upsets and surprising scores over those three days two weeks ago, and as a result, I don't know even close to as much about Miami-Ohio as I do about my alma mater's mortal enemies.

My guess is, this is Jack Parker's year after his BU teams traditionally were the best in Boston but couldn't stack up against the teams who were built to win on a national stage; I recall a Terriers squad in 2000 poised for success before being derailed in quadruple overtime by St. Lawrence of all schools.

I think that team, with freshman sensation Rick DiPietro in net along with an unspectacular but rock-solid roster, was the best team BU had until this one.

Still, Miami comes from the CCHA, which is a conference that still prizes a more open, fluid game that demands skill at all positions. From what little I saw, it looks like they will have to work harder than BU and keep control of the puck to have success; a hallmark of all recent Hockey East teams who advance to the Frozen Four is their work-ethic, particularly in backchecking.

Therefore, minimizing mistakes, particularly in long passes, is a key for success for the RedHawks. Other than that, I don't see any glaring weaknesses that BU can exploit.