Of the 58 NCAA Division I men’s hockey pro­grams in the nation, Ferris State University and Boston College are the only hockey pro­grams left com­pet­ing in the nation.

On April 7 at 7 p.m. each team will take the cen­ter of the ice with one goal in mind: win a national title.

Boston College will be look­ing to cap­ture their fifth national title in the hockey program’s exis­tence, and their third in the past five years.

The Bulldogs have never made it this far into the NCAA Division I tour­na­ment. In fact, this is only the sec­ond time the Bulldogs have made an appear­ance in the NCAA Division I Tournament.

If the Bulldogs can defeat Boston College, Ferris State will be the first school to win the tour­na­ment in their first trip to the finals since the University of Maine did in 1993.

Senior FSU goal­tender Taylor Nelson said that for a win against Boston College it would be imper­a­tive that the Bulldogs main­tain their composure.

“We’re the team that’s not sup­posed to be here. We’re the under­dogs and we embrace that,” Nelson said. “Not being ner­vous, know­ing that we belong here despite what a lot of peo­ple are say­ing; I think that’s enough moti­va­tion for us.”

Nelson said the Bulldogs motto all year has been “We’re not sat­is­fied,” and now the Bulldogs are in the same posi­tion as when they were in the NCAA regional’s of the tournament.

“Winning tomor­row and putting our best foot for­ward will sat­isfy us,” Nelson said. “Our goal [in Tampa], just like it was in Green Bay, is to win two.”

Senior for­ward Jordie Johnston has repeated through­out the tour­na­ment that the team is only 50 per­cent satisfied.

“We have a huge game ahead of us and that’s what is our main focus,” said junior for­ward Kyle Bonis.

The Bulldogs have allowed just one goal in each of their three tour­na­ment wins. Ferris State has yet to give up a power play goal in the tournament.

The Bulldogs defense has blocked 58 shots so far in the tour­na­ment. FSU’s defense will have to slow down a Boston College offense that has scored 12 goals in the NCAA tournament.

Boston College is ranked third in the nation in team offense, aver­ag­ing 3.56 goals a game accord­ing to U.S. College Hockey Online. The Bulldogs defense has allowed an aver­age of 2.14 goals a game this sea­son, earn­ing a nation­ally fifth-ranked team defense (USCHO).

“Boston College has a pow­er­house offense and we’re a team that strives on the defen­sive side of the puck,” Nelson said. “I think if we’re able to slow Boston College down it will ben­e­fit us.”

Ferris is ranked 21^st nation­ally in team offense, aver­ag­ing 2.93 goals a game.

Two Bulldog seniors were rec­og­nized as first and sec­ond team All-America selec­tions for the CCM Hockey All-America teams spon­sored by CCM hockey and selected by the American Hockey Coaches Association.

Nelson was rec­og­nized as a first-team selec­tion for the West Region while senior defense­man Chad Billins earned a second-team selec­tion in the same region.

Nelson is 21−6−3 this sea­son, with a .924 save per­cent­age and a 2.06 goals against aver­age. Boston College’s Parker Milner is 28−5−0 this year, aver­ag­ing 1.68 goals against and Milner holds a .936 save percentage.

The puck will drop at 7 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN2 or lis­tened to on 97.3 FM in the Big Rapids area.

Fans in the Big Rapids area are encour­aged to wel­come the Bulldogs home on Sunday at the Ewigleben Ice Arena. The Bulldogs are expected to arrive around 3:30 p.m and fans should come early.