MILWAUKEE – The NCAA Frozen Four serves as the ultimate stage for the country’s best Division I college hockey teams. Nobody on the ice is subject to more scrutiny and pressure than the goaltenders.

Thursday night’s Frozen Four national semifinal game at the Bradley Center between the University of Maine and Wisconsin featured two outstanding goaltenders: 19-year-old Black Bears freshman Ben Bishop and Badgers junior Brian Elliott.

It was Elliott who came up with the clutch stops Thursday night, making 32 saves while helping the Badgers end the Bears’ surprising season at 28-12-2 with a 5-2 victory.

“We knew we were going to have to get a lot of shots to score on him, which we did,” said UMaine coach Tim Whitehead. “We just weren’t able to get the puck through on the power play (0-for-7).

Wisconsin plays Boston College for the national title Saturday at 7 p.m.

Bishop, who last year at this time was playing for the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League, had a solid, but unspectacular, 34-save performance and kept the Bears in the contest.

“He was great,” Whitehead offered. “He’s such a tough competitor and he’s in such a tough spot as a freshmen. He hasn’t been in this situation before and I thought he handled it great. He made some big stops at key moments and I was very proud of him.”

Elliott, one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award given to the best Division I player in the nation, made sure the lead held up after the Badgers scored twice in the second period to make it 3-1.

The Bears had a golden opportunity to get within one on the power play with 1:12 left in the second when Greg Moore one-timed a shot from point blank range, but was stoned by Elliott. Derek Damon pounced on the rebound, but Elliott stopped his follow-up with the right pad.

“They’re a good team, getting that many shots on us,” said Elliott, a 6-foot-3, 187-pounder from Newmarket, Ontario. He came into the game leading the nation with an .803 winning percentage (25-5-3), a 1.55 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.

“Our guys were blocking a lot of shots and that was happening all over the ice and that was the key to our success,” Elliott added.

Bishop, unusually tall for a goalie at 6-7 (217 pounds), has been lauded by Whitehead for his ability to handle the puck and move it up quickly to help out the defense. That aspect of his game nearly got him in trouble against Wisconsin.

Twice in the period Bishop played the puck from behind the net into the middle of the ice and nearly set up Wisconsin scoring chances.

The Badgers got the puck past Bishop once in the first period when a centering pass deflected off the hip of Maine defenseman Travis Wight as he tried to tie up his man in front.

They made it 2-1 (shorthanded) at 4:18 of period two when Ross Carlson made a mad dash down the left wing, cut across the middle, eluded a sliding defender, and threw a shot between the pads of Bishop, who had come out to the top of his crease but appeared a bit off-balance.

The Badgers took a 3-1 lead with a power-play tally at the 8:16 mark. This time, Robbie Earl sped down the right side on a 2-on-1 and beat Bishop to the far (stick) side.

“I think I played all right,” Bishop said. “They got a lucky first one and the second one just got by me and the guy on the third one just made a good shot.”

Bishop dueled through January with sophomore Matt Lundin before finally earning the starting nod. He earned Hockey East All-Rookie honors while posting a 19-7-2 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. Thursday marked his 16th consecutive start.

“Ben’s been our backbone down the stretch run,” said UMaine senior defenseman Steve Mullin. “He might be a young guy, but he’s played great for us and it was no different tonight.”

It didn’t seem as though Bishop was overwhelmed by the pressure of playing in his first Frozen Four, and he settled down nicely when UMaine went down 3-1.

“I thought, as he’s done all year, he showed his determination, his resiliency and he was able to make some big stops when we were forging that mini-comeback there,” Whitehead said.

Elliott, who turns 21 Sunday, has been superb in important games. He took a 13-1-1 record with a 1.19 GAA and a .956 save percentage against nationally ranked opponents, into Thursday’s game against No. 10 UMaine.

“In hockey your goaltender is your backbone and you feed off his confidence,” said Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves. “And the only reason that we are where we are is because of Brian.”

Elliott came into the Frozen Four having not allowed a goal in 252 minutes, 15 seconds – a span of more than three games. The Bears ended that streak at 269:52 – with 2:23 left in the first period – when Michel Leveille fought off a defender and ricocheted a low shot off the skate of Badgers defenseman Matt Olinger and through Elliott’s legs.

Elliott, who played in only 15 games over his first two seasons, had posted shutouts in five of his previous eight games.

UMaine got within 3-2 briefly when Mike Lundin took a cross-ice pass from Moore in the high slot and rifled a high shot over Elliott’s glove with 8:31 left. The Bears wouldn’t get any more.

Elliott held the edge in experience against Bishop, who believes the Wisconsin experience will help him in future postseason games.

“To get here, my first year, to the Frozen Four, I think it’s going to help tremendously,” he said. “Their fans were great and so were the Maine fans. It was definitely a nice atmosphere to play in Wisconsin.”

BADGERS 5, BLACK BEARS 2

Maine (28-12-2) 1 0 1 – 2

Wisconsin (29-10-3) 1 2 2 – 5

First period – 1. Wisc, Burish (Pavelski, Earl) 10:11; 2. Maine, Leveille (Duffy) 17:35. Penalties: Wisc., Degenhardt, tripping, 4:01; Wisc., Licari, charging, 11:49; Maine, Shepheard, boarding, 13:53

Second period -. 3. Wisc., Carlson (una.) sh, 4:18; 4. Wisc., Earl (Burish) pp, 8:16; Penalties: Wisc., Gilbert, roughing, 3:53; Maine, Damon, roughing, 7:33; Wisc., Drewiske, hooking, 9:52; Wisc., Olinger, high sticking, 13:32; Wisc., Pavelski, interference, 17:11; Maine, Soares, hooking, 18:48; Maine, Shepheard, high sticking, 19:52

Third period -. 5. Maine, Lundin (Moore, Soares) 11:29; 6. Wisc., Street (Carlson, Skille) 12:27; Wisc., Earl (Engel) eng, 18:16; Penalties: Maine, Leveille, hooking, 5:20; Wisc., Degenhardt, interference, 12:30; Maine, Bellamy, roughing, 19:11; Maine, Jankus, roughing, 19:11

Shots on goal: Maine 8-19-7-34; Wisconsin 9-13-17-39

Goaltenders: Maine, Bishop (38 shots-34 saves); Wisconsin, Elliot (34-32), Earl (0-0)

Power-play opportunities: Maine 0 of 7; Wisconsin 1 of 6

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 5-17-7-29; Wisconsin 5-7-14-26

Attendance: 17,691