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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Grant Potulny was in the right spots for Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers are exactly where they want to be, too.

Potulny scored two goals, Adam Hauser made 27 saves and Minnesota held off Michigan 3-2 on Thursday night in the Frozen Four semifinals.

	Defenseman Mick Komisarek and Michigan failed to convert on any of their six ppower-play opportunities Thursday.

The Gophers (31-8-4), playing in their 17th Frozen Four, will face Maine on Saturday in the championship game. Maine beat New Hampshire 7-2 in the first semifinal.

"Grant's not a flamboyant player, but he's good around the net," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "He's a mucker and a grinder."

An NCAA hockey tournament-record crowd of 19,234 -- most of them rooting for Minnesota -- watched the Gophers advance to their first title game since 1989, also in St. Paul.

Minnesota, seeking its first title since 1979, lost to Harvard in overtime in the 1989 final at the Civic Center.

"To be honest, I was very surprised how many Minnesota fans were here," Lucia said. "When we scored that first goal, it was electric."

Hauser was 6 minutes away from the ninth career shutout when J.J. Swistak scored to pull the Wolverines to 3-1. Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn was pulled with 2 minutes left, and Jed Ortmeyer scored with 1:34 remaining to make it 3-2.

"We've been behind a lot this year, so we knew what it takes to come back," Ortmeyer said.

Jeff Taffe scored his 34th goal and added an assist, and John Pohl had his nation-leading 50th assist for the Gophers, who beat the Wolverines for the first time in four postseason meetings.

"We didn't get the kind of flow we needed," said Michigan coach Red Berenson, pointing to the two-week layoff between the quarterfinals and Frozen Four. "I don't think our team was as sharp."

Blackburn made 23 saves for the Wolverines (28-11-5), who were making their second straight Frozen Four appearance.

"He gave our young team a chance to win all year," Berenson said. "I told him, 'Maybe you didn't win a national championship here, but you're as good a goalie as I've had at Michigan."'

The Wolverines -- 9-2-3 on the road this season -- used their crowd to get to the Final Four, beating St. Cloud State and upsetting Denver in the West regional in Ann Arbor two weeks ago. Thursday, the crowd worked against them.

"We pride ourselves on playing good road hockey," Michigan forward Mike Cammalleri said. "They got a little boost from the crowd."

Hauser made 10 saves in the first period, and Potulny -- a native of Grand Forks, N.D., who's the only non-Minnesotan on the roster -- capitalized on a lucky bounce and gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead.

Michigan defenseman Eric Werner tried to clear the puck from the corner, but it hit off Taffe's skate toward the Wolverines goal. Blackburn blocked it, but Potulny was parked outside the crease and put in the rebound.

"I pride myself on being able to win 1-on-1 battles," Potulny said. "On that one, I got a good bounce and was able to fight the puck away from the other guy."

Potulny made it 2-0 early in the second period on a tip-in of Jordan Leopold's slap shot.

Hauser stayed tough in the second, stonewalling Cammalleri on a breakaway and making a diving glove save of Ortmeyer's shot on a power play.

Michigan failed to score on an extended power play in the second period that included 47 seconds of a two-man advantage. Minnesota killed all six of the Wolverines' penalties.

"The best penalty killing is a hot goaltender," Lucia said. "Adam was very good tonight."