BOSTON — The locker room door at TD Garden had just closed, and goalie Matt O’Connor, after his final game at Boston University, rose to address his devastated teammates.
His brow and face wet with sweat and tears, O’Connor apologized to everyone in the room. He told his teammates they deserved a better fate than the 4-3 defeat to Providence in the championship game of the 2015 N.C.A.A. Frozen Four. He thanked them for working hard, reminding them of how far they had come in such a short time. He told them how much he had enjoyed them.