As sophomore Louie Caporusso raised his hands in exhilaration after thinking he scored Michigan’s first goal against Air Force, he soon had to come back to reality.

Not only didn’t he score — the puck clearly hit the outside of the net, but Caporusso also realized that the Wolverines were on the brink of elimination, down 2-0 to the Falcons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

And just 14 minutes later, the rest of the Wolverines realized that their dreams of a National Championship, or even a Frozen Four for that matter came to an end.

No. 1 seeded Michigan lost to fourth-seeded Air Force 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

After playing one of its worst periods of the season in last weekend’s 5-2 loss to Notre Dame in the CCHA Championship game, the question heading into the NCAA Tournament was whether the Wolverines could put that game behind them.

But after 20 minutes of action against fourth-seeded Air Force, it was apparent those questions still loomed large around the Michigan hockey team’s bench as it found itself down 1-0 to the Falcons.

The Wolverines had the advantage in shots on goal, 16-3. They had their chances — such as junior Brian Lebler’s wide open chance in front of the net. And they had the power plays, three of them, including a 5-on-3 for 1:19 seconds.

But Michigan still found itself on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

A goal by Air Force’s Derrick Burnett was the lone tally of the period. After receiving the puck from Jeff Hajner, Burnett fired a wrist shot from the left circle that beat sophomore goalie Bryan Hogan top-shelf on his stick side.

Once the Wolverines realized they simply couldn’t impose their will upon the Falcons, their efforts became more desperate and Air Force simply capitalized on its few opportunities.

Sophomore Aaron Palushaj had two of Michigan’s best scoring opportunities of the game in the second period, nearly deflecting a centering pass behind Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening.

Later Palushaj should have capitalized on a juicy rebound given up by Volkening, but shot the puck wide on a virtually empty net.

With Michigan floundering on offense, Air Force once again cashed in on a 2-on-1 chance. After senior defenseman Mark Mitera was tripped up around center ice, the Falcons’ leading goal scorer, Jacques Lamoureux skated toward Hogan with his teammate Matt Fairchild. After Lamoureux received the puck he deked Hogan and slid the puck past his left pad to extend Air Force’s lead to 2-0.

As the Wolverines started to tense up heading into the third period, Air Force simply brought more men back into the defensive zone. While Michigan more than tripled the Falcons in shots, they were poor quality.

Michigan took shots from the side of the net or the point and while Volkening gave up rebounds, the Air Force defense was always there to clear them away.

Still, Michigan had its opportunities even in a desperate situation. Senior Brandon Naurato had an easy goal set up on his stick, but he simply whiffed at an open net from the left side of the crease.

And with five minutes to play, sophomore Matt Rust backhanded a shot off the post with the Wolverines a man down.

While Michigan went into the playoffs on fire, losing just three games in the second half of the season, it will have to wonder what went wrong during those last four periods of the season.