Five months into the season, when you can count the number of competitive lives you have remaining on one hand, it's awfully hard to change who you are.

Soft doesn't become edgy. Plodding doesn't become smooth. Unreliable doesn't become proficient. It just doesn't work that way.

The University of Wisconsin men's hockey team illustrated that point in distressing, excruciating fashion Sunday night at the Kohl Center. Third-seeded UW blew a two-goal lead in the third period and wound up enduring a 3-2 overtime loss to top-seeded North Dakota in the NCAA Midwest Regional championship game.

The Fighting Sioux secured their fourth consecutive trip to the Frozen Four when left winger Andrew Kozek beat junior goaltender Shane Connelly with a low wrister from the slot 1 minute, 47 seconds into the extra session.

''It stings a little bit more tonight because we were so close,'' UW coach Mike Eaves said.

The Badgers were known for their inability to get the job done on consecutive nights during the regular season — they had only a pair of two-win weekends, the last coming Dec. 1 — and they couldn't shake that reality standing at the doorstep of the Frozen Four.

One night after rolling to a convincing 6-2 victory over Denver in the semifinals, UW got goals from sophomore defenseman Jamie McBain and freshman defenseman Cody Goloubef (power play) and carried a ton of momentum into the third.

The Badgers controlled huge chunks of the game, were strong on special teams, had a 2-to-1 advantage in shots early in the third and were inches away from a rout given three shots hit the post or crossbar.

It looked like UW — it began the weekend with a losing record — was going to quiet critics who felt its NCAA berth was undeserved and take an unlikely ride to its 12th Frozen Four.

''We just couldn't finish it off,'' Connelly said.

North Dakota got conversions from right winger and captain Rylan Kaip and reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan in the first 4:20 of the third to stun the rambunctious, but shockingly sparse crowd of 9,816.

''When you get to moments like this, it's our will versus theirs,'' Eaves said. ''In the end, their veteran guys showed their will — they weren't going to settle for anything — and got the job done.''

The Fighting Sioux (28-10-4) can thank goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux for providing the foundation for their comeback. He was credited with 41 saves — more than half from the quality scoring area — and denied sophomore right winger Michael Davies on a breakaway in the second.

''It's a position we've been in before this year and our big-time leaders stepped up and made some big plays for us,'' Lamoureux said. ''We're comfortable in these situations, and the bottom line is that you have to go out and execute plays.''

One night after getting all sorts of fortunate bounces, the Badgers (16-17-7) got a look at the other side.
Sophomore center Aaron Bendickson jammed a rebound past Lamoureux early in the first, but referee Matt Shegoes waved it off, saying he blew his whistle before the puck went in.

The Badgers were on the first power play shortly thereafter when freshman center Kyle Turris nailed the far post with a slapper from the left circle.

''We had chance after chance,'' UW senior defenseman and captain Davis Drewiske said. ''You're clanging the iron; it's just that close. When you don't get rewarded, eventually that can be emotionally draining.''

UW broke through seconds after a power play had expired when Turris made a brilliant play from the left point, zinging a cross-ice feed through a thicket of bodies and sticks to McBain at the far post for the tap-in at 5:38.

The Badgers got a huge jolt in the final minute of the second on the power play. A shot from the high slot by Goloubef ricocheted off the dasher boards, bounced into the crease and hit the back of Lamoureux before finding its way into the net at 19:21.

But the game changed completely in a span of 47 seconds early in the third when Kaip and Duncan scored.

''We couldn't quite find the answer physically with energy at the end there,'' Eaves said. ''They may have wore us down, I'm not sure. But their veteran guys played well at the end and got the job done.''