Sunday is for a Star

There is one game left for history.

The No. 1 ranked Boston College women's hockey team will meet No. 3 Minnesota in the 2016 National Championship game on Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center. | PURCHASE TICKETS

The Eagles earned their ticket to their first-ever final on Friday night with a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory over No. 4 Clarkson.

Boston College improved to 40-0-0 on the season with its win over the Golden Knights, but it came with some anxious moments.

"I thought we went up against a real good team in Clarkson yesterday," head coach Katie Crowley said at Saturday's pre-championship press conference. "They're a big, strong physical team and I thought they played a great game against us. I thought our team handled it well. I thought there might have been a few nerves at the very beginning but after that I thought we kind of settled in and got rid of the nerves."

Not only did Clarkson jump out to an early lead – just 2:27 into the game, the earliest an opponent scored all season against BC – but they also held the lead after the first and second periods, also firsts for an Eagles opponent this year. Further, after building a 2-0 lead 5:29 into the second period, the Eagles were facing a two-goal deficit for the first time in 2015-16.

While Clarkson made the game interesting and gave BC some new situations to work out of, the Boston College seniors helped make sure they weren't playing their last game.

Haley Skarupa scored the first of her two goals at 14:32 of the second period, and BC headed to the dressing room down 2-1 after two. But then Kaliya Johnson netted the equalizer with 3:53 to play in regulation to give a new life to BC.

BC wasted no time ending the game, however, with Alex Carpenter connecting with Skarupa :58 into the added session. Skarupa one-timed Carpenter's pass past Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley and sent the Eagles on to the national championship game.

"We've seen that a few times before so it was kind of like déjà vu," Carpenter said. "I'm not really sure what happened before the goal, but I just remember seeing (Skarupa) wide open and knowing that she would hit that one-timer that she always does. It was pretty awesome seeing her score that goal."

Carpenter ended up with assists on all three Eagles goals.

Crowley noted the power of the Eagles' senior class, and wasn't surprised they spurred the team's comeback.

"First of all, these six seniors that we have on this team I think are pretty special," Crowley said. "They've done things with our program and helped our program get to places we've never been. To have the six of them rally their team to want to play for them is pretty cool. I think that's a testament to our younger players and how much they respect these six players that have been through a lot of things through our program. That's a huge thing.

"They're a lot of fun. We laugh pretty much every day. They know how to go from laughing and having a good time to being serious and focused on what we're doing. They're a great group, a lot of fun. They compete harder against each other than probably I've ever seen a team. Hopefully we can bring that tomorrow," Crowley added.

The win also gave BC some new experiences at the Frozen Four. The Eagles had made five previous appearances at the Frozen Four, but never had gotten past the national semifinal. Friday's win meant the Eagles had two more days in Durham, and had the chance to experience a championship Saturday in its entirety for the first time.

You know what this is? Saturday practice at the #FrozenFour!!! (Note the coaches' entrance at the end) pic.twitter.com/ffmyRPIHlE
— BC Women's Hockey (@BC_WHockey) March 19, 2016

First thing Saturday morning, the team was up and attending the Patty Kazmaier Award ceremony as Carpenter was one of three finalists for the award, which Northeastern's Kendall Coyne won.

BC conducted its final practice of the season mid-afternoon at UNH's Whittemore Center, but not before several members of the team had pregame media obligations with CBS, which will televise the game nationally on a tape-delayed basis next Sunday, March 27, at 2 p.m.

Once the full team arrived at the rink, the Eagles hit the ice for their final practice session of the 2015-16 season. Limited to only 75 minutes of ice time per NCAA policies, the Eagles made even quicker work and were off with 10 minutes to spare. One final press conference was then held before the headed to a group dinner in downtown Portsmouth before the players were given the rest of the evening off.

At today's press conference, Lexi Bender noted, "It's huge to be a part of a BC team that's the first one to go to the championship game and, at this point, we just want to bring it home and represent our school well."

And on Sunday, it's for a national championship. For Boston College pride. For a star on the backs of their jerseys.

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Players Mentioned

Lexi Bender

Alex Carpenter

Kaliya Johnson

Haley Skarupa