Michigan once again challenged the Gophers for the Big Ten men’s hockey tournament title

The words rang out in hushed tones and disappointed voices Saturday night in the makeshift media room at 3M Arena in Mariucci as Gophers players and coach Bob Motzko discussed their 4-3 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the second straight time. year.

“We made some mistakes that cost us,” junior defenseman and captain Brock Faber said.

“We’ve got to be better,” senior defensive end Jackson LaCombe said.

“I’m tired of learning [this way]” Motzko said, ”but maybe it’s the one we need.”

In a back-and-forth matchup between two college hockey bluebloods in front of a sellout crowd of 10,305, fourth-ranked Michigan defeated the top-ranked Gophers by erasing a 3-2 third-period deficit on Seamus Casey’s goals. Dylan Duke.

Brody Lamb, Logan Cooley and Rhett Pitlick scored for the Gophers, who got 27 saves from Justen Close. Rutger McGroarty scored the first two goals for Michigan and Erik Portillo made 22 saves.

Both the Wolverines (24-11-3) and Gophers (26-9-1) are the No. 1 seed in the region when the NCAA announces its tournament field Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN. Minnesota secured the NCAA’s No. 1 seed Friday night when No. 2 Quinnipiac lost in the semifinals of the ECAC tournament. The Gophers will almost certainly be assigned to the Fargo Regional, which will be played Thursday and Saturday. The Gophers’ opponent will likely be Canisius, which beat Holy Cross 3-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association championship game.

Michigan remained No. 4 in the PairWise Ratings, the formula used by the NCAA to populate the 16-team tournament field. According to US College Hockey Online, the Wolverines were ranked just behind No. 3 Denver.

“We’ve been really good this year, both when they scored and when we scored to go up 4-3, talking about the ‘next shift’ mentality, coming back and following through,” Wolverines interim head coach Brandon Naurato said.

The Gophers took a 3-2 lead at the 1:57 mark of the third period on a great play by Pitlick.

After taking a pass from Bryce Brodzinski, Pitlick skated down the ice in front of Michigan defenseman Steven Holtz. Pitlick walked the stick back and forth, spun Holtz to the point where he fell, and finished the play by firing a shot past Portillo.

Then came Michigan’s answer.

The Wolverines tied the game at 3-3 with 5:29 left on Casey’s shot after a Gophers turnover. Motzko challenged for offsides, but the goal was ruled out after review. “They said he made a mark,” Motzko said. “We just looked, and it looks like it [the officials] went right.”

Duke gave the Wolverines a 4-3 lead at 11:46 when the Gophers failed to clear the zone. Duke dropped to the front of the crease and pushed the puck past the sprawling Close zone.

“It was a heavyweight tilt and you can’t make mistakes like that in the third period,” Motzko said.

The Gophers took a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the first period when Cooley blocked a shot, started a breakaway and fed Lamb for the goal as the Mariucci crowd roared.

Michigan responded in the second period as McGroarty scored two goals 34 seconds apart to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead.

The Gophers tied the score at 2-2 when Cooley ended a two-on-no-one rush with Jimmy Snuggerud following a Matthew Knies drive.

After the game, Motzko took comfort that the loss didn’t end the Gophers’ streak:

“This doesn’t help us in defeat, in defeat, but in playing an intense game.”

• Michigan forward Adam Fantilli was selected as the most outstanding player of the tournament. He was joined on the all-tournament team by McGroarty and Cooley in forwards, Casey and Hughes in defense and Close in goal.