The Chargers couldn’t get over the hump that is Minnesota State to extend their season.
UAH lost 4-1 on Saturday in Mankato, Minn., losing the best-of-three WCHA quarterfinal series in a sweep.
The Chargers finish the 2018-19 season with an 8-28-2 record.
Minnesota State (29-7-2), looking to lock down an NCAA tournament at-large bid, will host the WCHA semifinals next week.
The Chargers simply cannot afford to give the fourth-ranked Mavericks a head start on the scoreboard, but that’s what happened.
Jack Jeffers committed a high sticking penalty at 15 seconds, and Reggie Lutz slams home a goal on the power play at 1:44.
Minnesota State went up 2-0 at the 8:57 mark when Parker Tuomie deflected a Charlie Gerard pass past Mark Sinclair while driving to the net.
Hans Gorowsky, who had a couple of breakaways on Friday, had another late in the first, but once again he was denied by MSU goaltender Dryden McKay.
The Chargers did not help themselves with penalties in the second period, and MSU eventually extended its lead to 3-0 with another power play goal by Lutz, who had a wide open net with 5:35 left.
Minnesota State then pounced again a minute later, as Marc Michaelis, who scored two twice in game one, scored on a drop pass to make it 4-0.
And that basically was the death knell for UAH’s tough 2018-19 season. The Chargers had a rough 1-14-0 start to the campaign, but started to cobble some wins together in the second half to put them in the WCHA postseason.
With 9:44 left in the third, Adam Wilcox nixed the shutout with his third goal of the season, assisted by Connor Wood.
UAH had plenty of opportunities on the power play, but went 0-for-7 Saturday and 0-for-11 in the series. Minnesota State went 4-for-11 on the weekend.
UAH is now winless in the last 30 meetings (0-26-4) against Minnesota State dating back to 2002. MSU is 18-0-2 against UAH since the Chargers joined the WCHA in 2013-14.