Heartbreak doesn't begin to describe the feelings of Gopher men's hockey coach Bob Motzko following his team's 3-2 overtime loss to Quinnipiac in the NCAA championship game.
"We had it, we had it," said Motzko late Saturday night. "That one's going to sting. That's a crusher."
The Bobcats rallied from a 2-0 deficit to send the game into overtime on a late third-period goal, then scored ten seconds into the extra session for the win in front of a full house at Tampa's Amalie Arena.
"We stuck to our game plan, but it was just a tough game," said forward Rhett Pitlick, who had a difficult time focusing during the postgame media availability.
"It's hard to comment on this right now, I'm sorry," he said, after first asking the reporter to repeat his question.
Jacob Quillan scored the game-winner for Quinnipiac to give the Bobcats their first NCAA hockey title, and first team national championship in any sport.
Quinnipiac (34-4-3) trailed for more than 50 minutes and took its only lead of the game in the extra session.
The Bobcats won the faceoff to open OT and Zach Metsa flipped a pass to a streaking Sam Lipkin, who fed Quillan for the winning goal.
It was the first Frozen Four championship game to go to OT since 2011.
The Gophers' John Mittelstadt of Eden Prairie scored from point-blank range with 14:25 left in the first period.
Former Luverne High School standout Jaxon Nelson gave Minnesota (29-10-1) a 2-0 lead when he re-directed a shot by Maple Grove's Brock Faber that bounced off the wall into the net about five minutes into the second.
Cristophe Tellier’s goal with 12:39 left in the second period trimmed Quinnipiac’s deficit to 2-1.
With 3:28 to play in regulation and the Gophers leading 2-1, Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold went with an empty net.
Just 41 seconds, later Collin Graf — who leads the team with 21 goals this season but had yet to score in three-plus tournament game — squeezed the puck between the pads of Gopher goaltender Justin Close to make it 2-2 and eventually force the extra period.
The Bobcats outshot Minnesota 30-15 and had a 34-23 advantage in faceoffs won.
The Gophers have failed to win a men's hockey national championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003.