COLLEGE HOCKEY : Boston College Surprises No. 1 Minnesota, 3-2

Stephen Heinze had no idea where his quick wrist shot came from Thursday night. Neither did Minnesota goaltender Jeff Stolp, who was beaten twice by Heinze’s quick trigger as fourth-ranked Boston College upset the top-ranked Golden Gophers, 3-2, in the second Great Western Freeze-Out at the Forum.

With the score tied, 1-1, midway through the second period, Heinze took a pass from David Emma, faked Gopher defenseman Luke Johnson with a move to his left then whipped his stick back to his right and unleashed a shot past Stolp, the leading goalie in the Western Collegiate Hockey Assn.

“I don’t know where that came from,” said Heinze, a junior from North Andover, Mass. “That’s the first one I’ve scored that way.”

It was the fourth short-handed goal of the season for the Eagles (11-4) of Hockey East, who meet defending tournament champion Michigan State, a 4-3 winner over Toronto, in the title game today at 7:30 p.m.

“When we kill penalties we try to get off some shots because when the other team is on the power play they have more offensive-minded players on the ice,” Heinze said.

As their power play continued, the “offensive-minded” Gophers tied it 21 seconds later with a series of precision passes, including a feed from defenseman Tom Pederson at the right point to Jason Miller at the left circle to Grant Bischoff, who deposited it into the net from the right slot.

However, Minnesota lost the momentum when Jake Enebak was whistled for checking from behind. “We get a great power-play goal, a five-passer, and then on the very next shift we make a dumb penalty,” said Minnesota Coach Doug Woog, whose team fell to 14-2-3. “That was a telltale sign that we were irresponsible. Instead of getting an emotional lift, we’re back killing a penalty.”

Michigan State (9-8-4) outshot Toronto, 41-8, through two periods, but trailed, 3-2, before tying it 3:22 into the third period and winning it on a goal by Jason Wooley with 8:49 left.

Toronto goaltender Paul Henriques made 48 saves.