The Air Force Academy showed this season that it can compete with the best college hockey teams in the country.

The Falcons just have not learned how to put those teams away yet.

Air Force’s magical postseason run came to an abrupt and disappointing conclusion on Saturday. The Falcons were less than 9 minutes away from recording the biggest win in the program’s history, as well as one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history, when Minnesota erupted for three goals in less than 4 minutes late in the third period, dooming AFA to a 4-3 loss in the first game of the West Regional at the Pepsi Center.

Minnesota, the region’s top seed and the top overall seed in the tournament, narrowly avoided its second consecutive first-round loss to a fourth-seeded team from the Atlantic Hockey Association while advancing to Sunday’s regional final (4, Altitude).

"I feel so bad for our guys. They were on the brink of doing something that would’ve made history," AFA coach Frank Serratore said. "To have that slip away, there is nothing to feel good about there. I told my guys ‘Don’t torture yourself with this.’ Because we didn’t change anything. Minnesota changed something."

The mostly pro-Falcons crowd of 11,161 was sent into a frenzy early, as AFA showed few signs of nerves in its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Freshman Jeff Hajner put AFA on the board with his 13th goal of the season midway through the first period, but the Falcons’ 1-0 lead evaporated on a goal by Minnesota’s Jay Barriball midway through the second.

Air Force (19-16-5) recaptured the momentum when Andrew Ramsey tallied a rebound goal during a five-on-three power play with 36.7 seconds remaining in the second, and the Falcons appeared poised to become the third No. 4 seed to post a first-round win after freshman Brett Nylander beat Minnesota goalie and Colorado Springs native Kellen Briggs with a wraparound goal early in the third, giving AFA a 3-1 lead.

But Falcons freshman goaltender Andrew Volkening, who stopped 23 of 24 shots during the first two periods, couldn’t turn away the Golden Gophers’ furious assault during the game’s stretch run.

"We went into it knowing a whole lot of people weren’t giving us any credit, but we knew we could compete with Minnesota," AFA captain Billy Devoney said. "To play such a good game and have it come down to the wire like that, those are harder than anything because you’ve got that hope the whole time. It’s a tough way to go out."

The bigger, faster Golden Gophers, who boast 15 NHL draft picks on their roster, finally wore down AFA late in the third. Ryan Stoa began the comeback with 8 minutes, 10 seconds remaining, scoring a power-play goal to cut the Falcons’ lead to 3-2.

Minnesota (31-9-3) tied the game on a goal by Jim O’Brien less than 2 minutes later, and Avalanche draft pick Mike Carman produced the winner on a rebound chance with 4:34 remaining.

The loss was AFA’s fourth narrow defeat this season against some of the nation’s top programs. During the regular season, the Falcons dropped identical 2-1 decisions to Front Range rivals Colorado College and the University of Denver. AFA also suffered a 2-0 loss against Notre Dame, the top seed in the Midwest Region.

"It was really tough (Saturday) because we had the lead," Serratore said. "It’s miserable trying to come from behind against teams like that. The recipe was there."

Air Force 1 1 1—3

Minnesota 0 1 3—4

First period—1, AFA, Hajner 13 (Fairchild 5), 9:55. Penalties—Barriball, Minn (tripping), 3:59; Hajner, AFA (interference), 7:33; Carman, Minn (holding), 18:05.

Second period—2, Minn, Barriball 19 (Vannelli 26), 9:00; 3, AFA, Ramsey 23 (Phillipich 28, Mayra 15), pp, 19:23. Penalties—Schaffer, AFA (holding), 6:00; Charbonneau, AFA (holding the stick), 11:23; Bostrom, Minn (interference), 18:05; Lucia, Minn (interference), 18:37.

Third period—4, AFA, Nylander 3 (Fairchild 6, Schiavone 7), 5:32; 5, Minn, Stoa 12 (Okposo 21, Kaufmann 6), pp, 11:50; 6, Minn, O’Brien 7 (Johnson 20, Peltier 11), 14:05; 7, Minn, Carman 8 (Goligoski 29, Vannelli 27), 15:26. Penalties—Schiavone, AFA (cross checking), 5:32.

Shots—AFA, 11-15-5—31; Minn, 9-15-13—37. Saves—AFA (Voelkening 33); Minn (Briggs 28). Power plays—AFA, 1-for-4; Minn, 1-for-4. A—11,161.