BOSTON — Jack Eichel scored two goals and Boston University held off North Dakota 5-3 on Thursday night in the Frozen Four to advance to the championship game.
The Terriers (28-7-5) will face Hockey East rival Providence (25-13-2) in the title game Saturday night at TD Garden. The Friars beat Nebraska-Omaha 4-1 in the first semifinal.
Eichel opened the scoring on a power play in the first period, Brandon Hickey also had a power-play score and A.J. Greer and Doyle Somerby had second-period goals.
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Matt O'Connor made 36 saves for the Terriers, seeking their sixth NCAA title. Providence, making its second trip to the championship, is trying to win for the first time in school history.
Luke Johnson, Troy Stecher and Connor Gaarder scored for North Dakota (29-10-3). Zane McIntyre stopped 22 shots.
The Terriers reached the title game for the first time since capturing the crown in 2009. BU is playing about 2 miles from its campus and where it won the Beanpot and league tournaments this year.
BU led 4-1 entering the final period, but Gaarder's power-play goal cut it to 4-3 with 3:43 to play.
North Dakota pulled McIntyre with 1:33 left, and Eichel sealed it with an empty-netter.
BU used its power play to take a 2-0 lead in the first. The Terriers have 33 power-play goals in their last 25 games.
The Terriers opened the scoring 5 minutes into the game when Eichel, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player, shoveled in a backhander from the bottom of the left circle. They made it 2-0 when Hickey fired a slap shot as he was falling to one knee that slipped behind McIntyre.
In a second period filled with wide-open play and numerous scoring opportunities, North Dakota sliced it to 2-1 when Johnson slipped a tough-angle shot by O'Connor from the bottom of the right circle.
After the goal, North Dakota kept the puck in BU's zone for extended stretches, hit a post and had a number of good chances, but couldn't get it past O'Connor.
The Terriers then took control by scoring the next two goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. They tightened up defensively and slowed play.
Greer one-timed Eichel's shot inside the right post, making it 3-1 with 8:40 left in the second.
Less than 2 minutes later, Somerby's first goal of the season and just the second of his collegiate career made it 4-1. The 6-foot-5 sophomore defenseman fired a shot through a maze of players that slipped between the pads of McIntyre, also a Hobey Baker finalist.