Boston College on the path to victory

Boston College and North Dakota could meet for the NCAA hockey championship for the second straight year. First, they'll wait to see which teams will try to derail that matchup.

Both have first-round byes in the East Regional, which starts Friday night when Minnesota meets Maine and Colorado College plays St. Lawrence.

"Our goal is to win a national championship," BC coach Jerry York said. "That should be the goal of all the top teams in the country."

His Eagles nearly achieved that last year when they squandered a 2-1 lead and lost to North Dakota 4-2 in the title game in Providence.

On Saturday night, BC, the top seed in the East, faces the Minnesota-Maine winner while second-seeded North Dakota , plays the Colorado College-St. Lawrence winner.

The other two finalists for the Frozen Four the following weekend in Albany, N.Y., will come from the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., where the teams are Michigan State (seeded first), St. Cloud State (second), Michigan (third), Wisconsin (fourth) Providence (fifth) and Mercyhurst (sixth).

North Dakota is poised for a repeat, having gone 12-2-5 in its last 19 games. The Fighting Sioux are led by Jeff Panzer, tops in the NCAA with 51 assists and 77 points.

They're 2-0 against St. Lawrence and 2-1 against Colorado College already this season.

St. Lawrence takes a four-game winning streak into Friday night's opener at the Worcester Centrum. It reached the Frozen Four last season, where it lost to BC in the semifinals.

The Saints are led by Erik Anderson, like Panzer a finalist for the Hobey Baker award that goes to the nation's top player. He has eight power-play goals, 16 total goals and 34 assists.

Colorado College "is a very good team, one that's fast and can give us a tough game," Anderson said. "We've always been one that plays solid defense first and foremost, with some real good goaltending."

In a consolation game of the WCHA tournament, Colorado College beat Minnesota 5-4. Colorado College has the NCAA's top freshman scorer, Peter Sejna, with 55 points on 28 goals and 27 assists.

Friday's other game matches Minnesota, which made the tournament for the first time in four years, against Maine, which won it in 1999.

Minnesota wants to return to the days when it was a consistent NCAA tournament team, reaching it 13 straight years through 1997.

"We wanted to bring back the tradition and respect for the program," forward Erik Westrum said. "We still have to prove ourselves on a national stage."

Minnesota has lost five of its last eight games after winning nine in a row.

Maine has gone in the opposite direction, with a 9-1-1 record in its last 11 games.

"When we lost two to BC in January, who would have thought at that point we'd be in the NCAA tournament?" Black Bears coach Shawn Walsh said.

A win Friday would give Maine another shot at the hungry Eagles. Their seniors are aiming for their fourth consecutive Frozen Four and BC's first national championship since 1949.

"I feel good about the way we're playing," York said. "We're playing good, solid defense, and I think we have a creative offense. You need both."