The 100th season of Gopher Hockey came to a conclusion on Sunday night as No. 2 Minnesota fell 4-0 to No. 5/6 Minnesota State in the NCAA West Regional final at the Budweiser Events Center.

Minnesota (24-7-0) was unable to find the net for the first time this season and was held scoreless for the first time since a 1-0 loss to Notre Dame on March 6, 2020. 

Minnesota State (22-4-1) scored a pair of goals in just over 2:30 to take a 2-0 lead in the first period with tallies from Sam Morton and Ryan Sandelin. Nathan Smith made it a three-goal game midway through the third period, and Dallas Gerards added an empty-net goal for the Mavericks. 

Hobey Baker Award and Mike Richter Award finalist Jack LaFontaine concluded one of the best seasons in program history – setting new school single-season records for goals against average (1.79) and save percentage (.934). As it stands, his career save percentage of .927 would also set a new University of Minnesota record. LaFontaine (22-7-0) made 23 saves on 26 shots in the final contest of the season. Dryden McKay (22-3-0) made 22 saves in the win. 

Noteworthy
Minnesota moved to 56-39 all-time in the NCAA tournament as the Maroon & Gold earned a berth in an NCAA regional final for the first time since 2014…Brock Faber, who tied the school record and NCAA tournament record for single-game assists with five on Saturday against Omaha, was named to the 2021 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team. 

Quotable
Motzko on the Mavericks' quick start...
"We knew that was going to be their game plan. We had to play the night game last night and they had the extra rest, and they wanted to get on us early -- and they did a tremendous job. We didn't survive it. I give our guys credit. We battled back, and we got in the hunt. We got in the fight the last two periods, but they were blocking shots and sacrificing. We just couldn't make a break. If we could've gotten one, I think we could've made it pretty interesting but it didn't happen."

Motzko on where he was looking for offense...
"We needed to get the puck off quicker. We've got a deep team that can score. We were looking for anyone to get it going. We were playing harder and we were getting on top of things. They had very few chances after the first period. It was just a hard-fought hockey game, but being down 2-0, we just chased the game all night. Give them credit on a good game plan. They defended it out. We got a little frustrated. We started going one-on-one, that's something that hurt us."

Motzko on the senior class...
"We're so darn proud of every guy in there and the seniors, and we really believe we've turned things in a great direction. They were all in. It was a true team, and we showed that all year long. This entire season, there were so many positives by so many players and our staff. It's hard to look at it right now because you're hurting."

Sammy Walker on what Minnesota State did well...
"It was definitely a frustrating game when pucks and bounces aren't going your way. I tip my hat to them. They played a great game. They shut us down. They're a veteran team. They block shots and sacrifice, and you couldn't really get it in there so that's what they did well tonight."

Sammy Walker on the future of Gopher Hockey...
"Especially the last couple years, we haven't been where we want to be. I think after this year, we're definitely taking the steps to getting back where we want to be as a program."