NCAA Frozen Four: Confidence and belief guide BU through tense moments

BOSTON – David Quinn’s phone has been buzzing since Thursday night’s 5-3 victory over North Dakota, which put Boston University into the national title game for the first time since 2009.

It’s been buzzing because the texts have been coming non-stop from his buddies at Wannamoisett Country Club in East Providence, where Quinn is a member. The Rhode Island native has been engaging in some friendly jousting with some Friar graduates ahead of Saturday night’s title game.

The last time that Providence played for national title was 1985, Quinn’s freshman year at BU. While this weekend is an historic time for the program from his home state, he’s more concerned with adding to the decorated history of the Terriers.

“I know it’s been a long time coming for Providence,” Quinn said Friday. “It’s been a great program for a long time. Nate’s done a phenomenal job. I’m happy for the team. I’m happy for the school. But I’d be more happy to beat them.”

BU held a 4-1 lead in the third period against North Dakota, but the game nearly unraveled in the final eight minutes. Terriers netminder Matt O’Connor misplayed the puck behind his net, allowing Troy Stencher to pounce for a shorthanded goal with 7:50 to go. Three minutes later, a bench minor was called and Connor Gaarder capitalized for UND to cut the lead to 4-3 and set up a tense final few minutes.

But when Jack Eichel scored his second of the night with 19 seconds to go via an empty net, BU could finally relax and begin to celebrate.

Those hairy moments are something BU has been used to this season, which is a reason they don’t seem to get rattled in those situations.

“Our leadership runs deep through all four classes,” Quinn said. “But I think our confidence in our ability to be composed under difficult situations – a lot of that has to do with each player has a belief in himself, but I think each player has a belief in his teammates.

“And when you're sitting on the bench or in the locker room and you're looking around and you think, oh, he's pretty good, he's pretty good, he's pretty good, I think that's where that calmness maybe comes in. And I think it gives you a sense of -- I don't want to say relief -- but it gives you a sense of confidence that you're going to have to weather storms at this time of year.”

Quinn’s BU squad is heavily on the younger side with 17 freshman and sophomores and only 10 upper classmen. Despite the abundance of youth, he feels there’s a level of maturity within his group that’s help prepare them to this final game.

“Anytime you get a chance to play in a game of this magnitude, you can never take it for granted,” he said. “You need to take advantage of it. We've come too far and put too much into it. And I think our guys feel that way.

“The thing that I liked after our game last night is there was a level of excitement, but it was subdued. And I think there was a feeling in the locker room that we were excited about winning the hockey game, but I got a sense shortly thereafter that our guys were getting ready to win the National Championship against a very good Providence team.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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