Last year, the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux ended the University of Maine’s season with a 2-0 triumph in the NCAA Hockey Tournament’s Frozen Four semifinals.

Two weeks ago, Boston College pulled the curtain on Maine’s campaign with a 3-1 victory in the NCAA’s Eastern Regional quarterfinal.

North Dakota and Boston College will meet for the national title for the second year in a row tonight and all five Black Bear players polled about the game said North Dakota will win.

That would make the Fighting Sioux the first repeat national champions since the 1971 and ’72 Boston University teams.

BC won its only NCAA hockey championship in 1949.

In addition to being asked to handicap the game and pick a winner, the Maine players were also quizzed about which team they wanted to win.

Matthias Trattnig (North Dakota 3-1): “I want North Dakota to win. I watched the game Thursday night [BC’s 4-2 semifinal win over Michigan] and I didn’t have a good feeling after the game. It’s our rivalry with BC, I guess. It should be a pretty good game. Each team has great forwards, good goalies and a good defense. It’ll be a really fast game. Defense and work ethic will decide it.”

A.J. Begg (ND 3-2): “I’ve got a couple of good friends at North Dakota. I’d like to see them repeat. [Sioux defenseman] Aaron Schneekloth and I played together my last year of juniors [with Surrey of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League]. I’ve never liked Boston College and I never will. A lot of the guys will say the same thing. They are two really good teams. North Dakota is skilled and BC is very skilled. We’ll see whose top players show up. [BC’s Brian] Gionta and [North Dakota’s Jeff] Panzer can dominate a game. The one who plays better could decide it. It should be a real good game.”

Gray Shaneberger (ND 3-1): “Personally, I’d like to see North Dakota repeat because it hasn’t happened in a long time. That’s a great accomplishment. I think BC will come out hitting hard like they did against Michigan. They were really flying. It’ll come down to a duel between the goaltenders [BC’s Scott Clemmensen and North Dakota’s Karl Goehring]. Goehring made some great saves against Michigan State [2-0 win]. That’s a big part of the game.”

Chris Heisten (ND 3-1): “I want North Dakota to win because I have a good buddy [Schneekloth] who plays for them. I played juniors with him in Surrey. It should be a very fast game with a lot of transitional play. Whoever gets the best goaltending will win. Goehring always plays pretty good in the Frozen Four.”

Niko Dimitrakos (ND 4-2): “I want BC to win but I think North Dakota will. BC deserves it. I wouldn’t want to be in their situation [if they lose]: going to four Frozen Fours [in a row] and losing three times in the championship game. For some reason, I think North Dakota will win its second in a row. BC is on the revenge thing [having beaten two of the three teams who have ended their seasons over the previous three years: Michigan and Maine. North Dakota beat BC 4-2 in last year’s final]. But I think it’s going to backfire on them. It’ll be a real fast, high-tempo game. Both D [sets of defenseman] get involved [in the offense]. It’ll come down to the goalies and Goehring is so focused. He never slips up or lets up an easy goal.”

WUSA starts next weekend

A week from today, the eight-team Women’s United Soccer Association will make its debut.

University of Maine women’s soccer coach Scott Atherley and his standout midfielder, Katie Hodge, will be among the interested on-lookers.

“I think it’s an excellent opportunity for players in this country to have something to aspire to beyond college soccer,” said Atherley. “Right now, with the exception of national teams, college soccer represents the highest level women in this country can compete at.

“So, unless you make the national team, most players’ careers end competitively after their senior year of college,” added Atherley.

“The second thing is that this further increases the exposure of women’s soccer in this country. This will represent the best in women’s soccer. Our national team is arguably the best in the world and has been. It only makes sense that the most competitive country in the world has a competitive professional league,” said Atherley who noted that some of the premier players in the world will play in the league.

He expects college players to become even more focused “because [college soccer] will serve as a stepping stone [to the WUSA].”

Hodge, who is a potential Canadian national team member, said, “It’s great to have something like this starting up. I have something to hope for. Soccer for women is getting so big in the states now. I’m sure there will be a lot of fans. They know they’ll be seeing the best players in the world. I think five of our Canadian national team players are going to be in the league.”

Atherley mentioned that they have assigned some of the U.S. national team members to clubs near their hometowns to help attendance and the fact the players won’t have inflated salaries means much more affordable ticket prices than in other pro sports.

TV exposure will be another plus and TNT [Turner Network Television] is broadcasting several games.