UMD Bulldogs Fall to No. 1 Michigan in NCAA Hockey Regional Final

Down 4-1 midway through the final period, Max Plante and the Bulldogs did what they have done all season: charged back. But Michigan held on, and UMD's bid for the program's first Frozen Four since 2021 ended at 4-2 Sunday at MVP Arena in Albany.

The No. 6 Bulldogs pulled within two on a power-play strike at 8:44 of the third period, outshot the No. 1 Wolverines 16-6 over the final frame and pressed right to the buzzer after Adam Gajan vacated his crease with 90 seconds remaining. Gajan finished with 23 saves against a Michigan team that entered without Michael Hage, the sophomore wing with an NCAA-best 38 assists and 51 points who has been out since suffering an injury in the Big Ten championship win over Ohio State. The story of the night was what UMD couldn't overcome: Michigan's senior forward T.J. Hughes, No. 2 in NCAA scoring at 56 points, powered the offense that built the decisive margin.

Head coach Scott Sandelin identified shorthanded goals as the pivot point. "Obviously, tough to get down three," he said after the loss. "They had a couple opportunities, you know, shorthanded goals, but really, really proud of our guys. They've shown this a lot, they've won those games, but I can't be more proud of this group. They are winners. Unfortunately, it wasn't tonight."

Michigan advances to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas, where T-Mobile Arena hosts the national semifinals April 9 and 11. That destination was UMD's to lose. A Frozen Four run would have poured money into St. Louis County: packed bars along Superior Street, sold-out hotel blocks in the Duluth corridor and campus revenue that the program's four consecutive Frozen Four appearances between 2017 and 2021 once made routine.

The roster argues against despair. Plante, Gajan, Ty Hanson and Harper Bentz are all sophomores who return. Plante's 51-point season, the program's highest since Iafallo matched that total during UMD's run to the national championship game in Chicago, earned him a Top 10 Hobey Baker Award finalist nomination, the first Bulldog named a finalist since defenseman Scott Perunovich in 2019-20 and the program's first NCHC Forward of the Year honoree. His trajectory is the reason Duluth's hockey conversation doesn't pause until next October.

Sandelin, in his 26th year guiding the Bulldogs with three national titles on his résumé, returns with the core intact. The two-year tournament absence that preceded this season already feels like the outlier, not the baseline.