Season ends as Gophers suffer 2-1 overtime loss in Big Ten semifinals

Published Mar. 16, 2019 11:34 p.m. ET

The Minnesota Gophers battled second-seeded Notre Dame for three full periods in the Big Ten semifinals and forced overtime tied at 1, but their season is ending in the Big Ten semifinals.

Thirty-one seconds into the extra period, Minnesota’s Tyler Sheehy was called for hooking after getting tied up with Notre Dame forward Colin Theisen.

Notre Dame scored on the power play, ending the Gophers’ season.

“That was an absolute travesty," head coach Bob Motzko said of the penalty. “Play how you want to play it. They’re crushed in [the locker room].”

The Fighting Irish starting the night’s scoring with a goal two minutes into the game. But Minnesota freshman forward Sampo Ranta was there to tie it a few minutes later, thanks to an an assist from Ben Brinkman.

?If you had one shot, one opportunity ?

Sampo Ranta ties it up on the #Gophers first shot of the game! pic.twitter.com/pIlechvY7W

— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 16, 2019

Minnesota goaltender Mat Robson tallied 35 saves in the loss.

“He’s a great goalie,” Ranta said of Robson. “He’s the backbone for us. He’s the first person we trust.”

Minnesota, which swept Michigan in the quarterfinals last weekend, finishes its first season under Motzko at 18-16-4 overall.

Notre Dame advances to the conference title game and will play the winner of Penn State and Ohio State, the other Big Ten semifinal contest that will be decided Sunday.