Michigan’s bid for a Frozen Four berth came to an end Saturday night in Cincinnati when the Wolverines ran into the best team they have faced all year, losing 5-2 to a North Dakota squad that could be the national title favorite.

“That’s a really, really good hockey team that we just played,” said junior captain JT Compher, who had both of U-M’s goals. “Give them credit.

“They buried their chances when they got them. We made some mistakes. You’re going to make mistakes in a hockey game, but I think that we stayed in the game, weathered the storm early, and made a good push to come back.

“One bounce the other way and we might have had a different outcome, but don’t take anything away from them.”

Michigan hasn’t seen anyone like the Fighting Hawks all year, a team that in the words of senior Justin Selman was “fast, physical, and disciplined” and it would require the Maize and Blue playing a near-perfect contest to win.

“It was one of those games where it got away from us right from the get go, and we tried to catch up but we were chasing,” said head coach Red Berenson, who is not ready to make a decision on his future. “They were quicker, they were hungrier, they were better.”

A pair of bad turnovers from two of their best defensive forwards – senior Boo Nieves and Compher – led to goals for North Dakota late in the first (18:54 mark) and second (19:15), respectively, staking UND to 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

Both times, Compher rallied the Wolverines back, nasty wrist shots beating North Dakota goalie Cam Johnson to tie the score, making it 2-2 at 8:39 of the third on the first legitimate power play of the weekend for U-M (technically Michigan’s second, its first lasted only 24 seconds).

At that point, it looked like Michigan, which had played better after a disastrous first period in which U-M was outshot 24-8, might pull off the upset, doing just enough, with senior goalie Steve Racine playing lights out (he finished with 44 saves).

“I thought he was terrific,” Berenson said. “There have been question marks the past three years about our goaltending but I don’t think there was any question about it this year. He gave us a chance.”

However, it wasn’t meant to be.

North Dakota scored off a point shot at 12:03 of the third and off a deflection 1:14 later for a two-goal lead that was truly insurmountable in a game in which the Wolverines had to scratch and claw just to stay competitive.

“That was a great hockey team,” Selman said. “They’re well coached, well-disciplined, physical. They did everything right. We played a great game too. A couple chances got away from us and they capitalized on theirs.

“If we played them 10 times, it would be interesting to see what happens, but it’s a one-game series and they were the better team tonight.”

Michigan hasn’t said that often. Even in their seven previous defeats this season, the Wolverines were likely the better team and lost because they didn’t play the way they were capable of. On Saturday, in the NCAA Midwest Regional finals, they didn’t play their best hockey but that had much more to do with their opponent.

And quite often in sports, it’s as simple as that.

“We had a lot going. I like the chemistry of this team. I like this team. We just didn’t have a good enough game tonight,” Berenson said. “I don’t think it came down to X’s and O’s.

“It’s a disappointing end to the season. North Dakota was the better team and we didn’t bring our best game, and that was good enough against a team like that.”