PHILADELPHIA — Daniel Ciampini and tiny Union College are thriving on college hockey’s biggest stage.
Ciampini broke a third-period tie with the second of his three goals to help Union beat Boston College 5-4 in the NCAA hockey semifinals Thursday night.
The Dutchmen (31-6-4) advanced to the final for the first time. They will face Minnesota ”“ a 2-1 winner over North Dakota in the second semifinal ”“ in the championship game Saturday night.
“When I came in here as a freshman, there were goals set, but our ultimate goal was not to win the national championship that year,” said Ciampini, now a junior. “It’s just been growing each year.”
Mat Bodie and Mike Vecchione also scored and Colin Stevens made 34 saves for Union, a liberal arts college in Schenectady, N.Y., with only 2,200 students.
Johnny Gaudreau, Steve Santini, Ryan Fitzgerald and Patrick Brown scored for Boston College (28-8-4), trying to make its fifth title game appearance in eight years.
Ciampini broke a 2-2 tie on a power play at 6:31 of the third period, tipping in Shayne Gostisbehere’s one-timer from the point.
“I got very, very lucky,” Ciampini said. “Shayne blasted my stick away there ”“ it broke on the tip. It’s good that I can produce.”
Only 18 seconds later, Union’s Matt Hatch was given a major penalty and game misconduct for checking Scott Savage from behind into the boards, giving Boston College a 5-minute power play.
“We were pretty sure if we kill that, we get the momentum,” Gostisbehere said.
Sure enough, he was right.
The Eagles failed to score and, only seconds after the power play ended, Vecchione gave Union a two-goal advantage off a rebound after goalie Thatcher Demko stopped Kevin Sullivan on a breakaway attempt.
“They’re a great shot-blocking team,” Brown said. “I was in front and I couldn’t even see the puck because they had two or three guys in the lane every time.”
“We just never quite got in sync on that major penalty,” Boston College coach Jerry York said.
With Demko off for an extra attacker, Fitzgerald cut it 4-3 with 1:45 to go. Ciampini restored the two-goal margin with an empty-net goal with 1:09 left, and Brown completed the scoring on a power play with 4.2 seconds to go.
“There was never any give-up in us,” York said. “This particular senior class has done an incredible job for us. I’m very, very proud of them.”
Union is 21-1-1 when it scores at least four goals.
Gaudreau put the Eagles on the board less than 4 minutes into the first period, scoring on a rebound in the crease off Kevin Hayes’ initial shot for his NCAA-leading 36th goal.
Union tied it on Bodie’s slap shot from the top of the right circle 2:39 into the second. Eight minutes later, Ciampini put back a quick rebound off a faceoff win to give Union a 2-1 lead.
Santini countered for Boston College with 4:07 left in the second.
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