BOSTON – University of Maine senior defenseman Prestin Ryan will always remember the 2002 NCAA championship game in St. Paul, Minn. Maine came less than a minute away from winning the title but Minnesota tied it with 53 seconds left and won it in overtime.

He will use that game as motivation on Thursday when the Black Bears face Hockey East rival Boston College in Thursday’s 6 p.m. Frozen Four semifinal at the FleetCenter.

WCHA rivals Denver, 25-12-5, and Minnesota-Duluth, 28-12-4, will square off in Thursday’s noon game.

The championship game is 7 p.m. Saturday.

“I think back to that game way too much,” said Ryan after Wednesday’s practice. “I didn’t sleep last week.

“I’m going to make sure I do everything I can to lead the team and make sure we’re going in the right direction.”

He said the key to Thursday’s game is simple: hard work.

“It’ll come down to which team has the most passion going after loose pucks and wins the battles in the corners,” said Ryan.

Boston College senior defenseman J.D. Forrest agreed.

“It’ll come down to who wants it more,” said Forrest.

Senior right wing Colin Shields said he still thinks a lot about the 2002 championship game.

“We came so close,” said Shields, who is thankful the Bears have another chance.

“It’s good to be back here. To get to two Frozen Fours in three years is special,” said Shields. “This is a great opportunity. We’ve proven a lot of people wrong by getting here. But we aren’t satisfied just getting here. [We want to win it].”

Playoff games are usually determined by goaltending and Maine sophomore Jimmy Howard, boasting the nation’s lowest goals-against average (1.20) and best save percentage (.954), said he is looking forward to his Frozen Four debut.

“I can’t wait. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Howard. “BC has so much skill. They really like to work the puck down low and pass it out in front. I’m going to have to communicate with our defensemen and weak side forward to make sure they cover the man in front.”

“We’ve got to get pucks and bodies to the net,” said Forrest. “They have tremendous goaltenders in Howard and [Frank] Doyle. Their stats are off the charts. If they see the puck, they’ll stop it.”

Doyle has a 1.81 GAA and a .923 save percentage and he and Howard have teamed up for a school-redcord 11 shutouts.

Howard’s opposite number will be Matti Kaltiainen, who has a 1.75 GAA and a .908 save percentage.

“He’s a flopper. He’s very good at stopping the first shot. We’ve got to get to the net and try to get second and third shots,” said Maine junior center Ben Murphy.

“We’ve got to crash the net and try to get some dirty goals,” said sophomore left winger Greg Moore.

Boston College senior center and captain Ben Eaves said it will be important “to keep our emotions in check and stick to the game plan.”

There are no secrets between the Bears and the Eagles.

They know what to expect. They know it will be important to avoid turning the puck over in the neutral zone because both teams can generate an odd-man rush off a turnover.

“We’ve got to keep things simple,” said Shields.

“We’ve got to commit to defense and get numbers back,” said junior center John Ronan.

Junior right wing Dustin Penner added “we’ve got to block out” to give his defensemen time to make a play with the puck before BC’s forecheckers can get in on them.

Transfer Penner is excited about playing in his first Frozen Four but said it feels a “lot like the Hockey East Tournament” because it’s being played in the same building.

BC coach Jerry York said it will be a game between “two evenly-matched teams.

“We both have strong goaltending, good special teams and we score timely goals,” said York.

“Maine is a great opponent. For the third time in four years, one of us will end the other’s season,” said Eaves.

“It’s quite a rivalry,” said BC senior left winger Ty Hennes. “The last couple of years, it has become much more intense. Each game brings a tempo and style we haven’t seen before.”