The Minnesota Golden Gophers lost the NCAA title game 7-4 to Union College Saturday night, in a fast-paced game that featured six goals in the first period alone.
Union, a private college in Schenectady, New York, with an enrollment of about 2,200 students, celebrates its first ever national championship in any sport.
After the game, Gophers players hung their heads on the bench, while the Dutchmen skated around the ice.
Minnesota scored first about three minutes into the first period. Union responded with a goal of its own and the Gophers answered again. But late in the period, Union scored three more goals in the space of two minutes, the Minnesota Daily reports.
The Gophers pulled to within one goal in the second and then again in the third period, but could not get any closer.
Hudson Fasching gave the Gophers a glimmer of hope about 16 minutes into the third period with a power-play goal, but Union’s Kevin Sullivan came back to score with less than two minutes to go. An empty-net goal from Mat Bodie sealed the championship.
Gophers goaltender Adam Wilcox had 41 saves, while Union’s goalie, Colin Stevens had 36 saves, according to the Star Tribune.
The Gophers reached the Frozen Four finals by defeating North Dakota 2-1 Thusday night on a last-second goal, but there was no miracle ending Saturday night.
