Gophers’ season ends on goal seconds into OT

The season is over for the Gopher men’s hockey team and so is hockey at the University of Minnesota as the Gophers lost to Yale in the NCAA Quarterfinals, 3-2.

The Gophers were slow out of the gate and looked like they were going to lose the game in regulation before Nate Schmidt and Zach Budish scored two goals late in the third period to tie the game before the final horn.

But Yale would score nine seconds into overtime to send the Gophers packing.

After spending most of the season as the No. 1 team and entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed, the upset loss is stunning and casts a dark shadow on the successes of the past season.

Successes including freshman goalie Adam Wilcox tying the program’s wins for a freshman at 25. Wilcox also set the Minnesota single-season record for goals against average at 1.88.

Surely fans expected more out of Minnesota but giving up the winning goal seconds into overtime was not on anyone’s mind.

Minnesota made it as far as the Frozen Four in 2012 before losing to eventual-champions Boston College.

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