ST. CHARLES, MO. – Brad Frost's Gophers women's hockey superpower has found its Kryptonite from a little school in upstate New York.
The Clarkson Golden Knights — the same team that defeated Minnesota in the 2014 NCAA title game — knocked the Gophers from the Women's Frozen Four on Friday night, winning a seesaw game 4-3.
Clarkson grabbed a new lead in each period, and the Gophers answered each of the first three times, getting goals from Kate Schipper, Sarah Potomak and Sophie Skarzynski.
But Rhyen McGill added a rebound goal with 91 seconds remaining, lifting No. 2 Clarkson into Sunday's NCAA championship game against No. 1 Wisconsin.
In the first semifinal, the Badgers got a goal from Melissa Channell with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to pull out a 1-0 victory over Boston College. So both games were decided late in the third period, with the Gophers joining the Eagles in crushing defeat.
"It hurts," said Frost, whose team had won four of the previous five NCAA titles. "Our team came a long way this year. Hoping for a better result, but didn't get it."
The Gophers (26-8-5) battled a slew of injuries this winter and were unseeded heading into the tournament. But they opened with a 1-0 quarterfinal victory at Minnesota Duluth, a team that had defeated its in-state rival three times.
Frost said his team was relishing the underdog role, but the season came to a sudden end when time expired against Clarkson. It happened before a sparse crowd, announced at 2,762, in the 9,600-seat Family Arena, out in the northwestern St. Louis suburb of St. Charles.