Derrick LaPoint made no attempt to sugarcoat what had just happened to his team in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. North Dakota had won the WCHA regular-season title, had captured the WCHA tournament crown and had been the favorite to win its first title since 2000. But after a shocking 2-0 loss to Michigan, the defenseman admitted his senior season couldn't be considered a success.

"I'd have to say, honestly, no," LaPoint said. "We failed at what we were trying to do. We were trying to win a national championship, and we didn't do it. We can look at what we've done and, yeah, it's great. But this is the biggest stage, and you want the biggest trophy. To not do it is a failure, at least in my mind."

LaPoint's brutal honesty came after the Sioux, the only remaining No. 1 seed in the tournament, had outshot the Wolverines 40-20 but failed to get a puck past Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick. The Sioux, which had 178 goals in 43 games entering Thursday, had several quality chances playing before an announced crowd of 19,139 that was definitely pro-North Dakota.

Sioux coach Dave Hakstol was among those trying to get his head around the fact that his team's season had come to an end short of Saturday's title game.

"I don't think anybody in our locker room considered the option of losing down the stretch. Period," Hakstol said. "You heard how one of our leaders and captains, seniors [LaPoint], answered the previous question. I'm very proud of the standards that our leaders had set. Not just this year but throughout their time within our program. So for it to come to a close short of our goal is pretty difficult, and that is not something that was certainly in my mind. I don't believe it was in any one person's mind in our locker room."

LaPoint was one of seven seniors on the North Dakota roster who returned this season with the goal of going out on top. As he sat in nearly full gear in an interview room inside the Xcel Energy Center late Thursday, LaPoint was asked about dealing with the fact that he would never wear the Sioux jersey again.

"Can you even put that into words?" he said. "You never want to lose [in] your senior year, especially the last game. For the group of guys that I'm graduating with, they are some of my best friends, and for them to not win a national championship and not end it the right way, the way we wanted it to is extremely difficult.

"It's been a dream of mine to play for the Fighting Sioux and I just really wanted to add to the tradition of that program, and to not win a national championship is heartbreaking. You just don't want to do it. It will definitely take a long time for me to take this jersey off because it's something I've worn with pride my entire career. ... It's not an easy time right now."