Michigan hockey's national title quest iced by Quinnipiac at Frozen Four

Tampa, Fla. — Down on the Florida coast, the bank is always open.

Quinnipiac made multiple deposits into the Michigan net from behind the goal line Thursday night, scoring twice by banking shots off the backside of Wolverines goaltender Erik Portillo in a Frozen Four semifinal matchup at Amalie Arena.

And for the second straight year, Michigan was forced to make a withdrawal before reaching the national title game. Quinnipiac scored three unanswered goals in the third period as the Wolverines were eliminated in a 5-2 loss.

"Quinnipiac's a great team and we have respect for them. They did a great job tonight, but that could have gone either way," Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato said. "Two goals from behind the net and one from the top of the circles (near) the boards, like, it is what it is.

"That's why it's so hard to win a national championship. It's one game."

And while there was much the Wolverines could have done to avoid elimination, a trio of fluky goals from Quinnipiac was ultimately a death sentence for a team that knew it would be scratching and clawing for every goal against the nation's top defensive team.

As if the pair of goals off Portillo weren't enough of a confidence-shaker, the Bobcats took a two-goal lead with seven minutes left in the third period when Zach Metsa flipped a harmless-looking shot toward the net and over the shoulder of Portillo.

"I mean, it's playoffs. That's how goals are scored. We watch a lot of NHL hockey, every year, you see goals like that in the playoffs," sophomore forward Dylan Duke said. "It's kind of something that you almost expect to see in the playoffs."

BOX SCORE: Quinnipiac 5, Michigan 2

Hobey Baker Award finalist Adam Fantilli and freshman defenseman Seamus Casey scored for the Wolverines (26-12-3). Michigan was sent home in the NCAA semifinal for a second straight year, making it eight Frozen Four appearances since its last national championship in 1998.

Jacob Quillan scored the opening goal for Quinnipiac at 5:18 and added a breakaway goal in the first period. He had two goals and one assist while Sam Lipkin added a goal and an assist.

While Portillo would like to have the fluky goals back, he made save after save in high-leverage situations to keep Michigan afloat in the opening 30 minutes. The Wolverines gave up countless odd-man rushes, but the Bobcats only scored off them once.

Michigan was chasing momentum — and the puck — all night. Casey tied the game at 1 when he pulled off a big-time deke to beat Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets, but the energy on Michigan's bench didn't last long. The defensive coverage lapsed again, and Quillan scored on a breakaway with 8:39 left in the first.

Less than a minute later, Portillo was forced to make a spread-eagle save after the Wolverines' defense allowed a 2-on-0 rush.

"I think it was just about the execution tonight," Fantilli said. "I guess we just didn't have it. … It's discipline with our forwards and discipline with our D-men, trying to stay above to eliminate odd-man rushes and not getting caught a little bit lower, where we can give up breakaways and stuff like that.

"They caught us a couple times there. It bit us in the butt. Like I said, it's a learning experience, and we're gonna come back stronger."

Fantilli scored the 30th goal of his freshman campaign to tie the game at 2. Luke Hughes beat a forward one-on-one at the blue line before sliding the puck over to Fantilli, who blasted a one-timer over the shoulder of Perets at 10:15 in the second. Hughes, according to the ESPN2 broadcast, was dealing with an undisclosed illness and vomited midgame before delivering the assist to Hughes.

Before the second period was over, it felt as though Michigan had an equal or greater grip on the game for the first time. 

Just 1:24 into the third period, Quinnipiac burst Michigan's bubble. After taking a low-percentage shot during a rush, Lipkin corralled the puck below the goal line and banked in a goal off Portillo for the second time.

"Just a bad bounce," Naurato said.

Quinnipiac (33-4-3) will face Minnesota in Saturday's national championship game at 8 p.m. Minnesota defeated Boston University, 6-2, in the first leg of Thursday's doubleheader.

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi