Just a few minutes into Game 5 of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Finals between PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, a clear declaration rang through the sold-out crowd of mostly Boston supporters: “We want the Cup.”

It was a fairly simple demand. With two wins a piece for each side in the best-of-five series, whichever team picked up one more victory would hoist the Walter Cup for the first time in league history.

But it was a wish that wouldn’t be granted: Boston fell 3-0, and the visiting Minnesota squad hoisted the cup on the Lowell ice.

If there was one big difference that kept those cup dreams from coming true, it was shooting — or for Boston, the lack thereof.

Minnesota, decked in white and purple, drew first blood just over six minutes into the second period when Liz Schepers found the back of the net for her first playoff goal.

While Boston had seven shots on goal to Minnesota’s nine in the first period, there was an uneven split in the middle frame: Minnesota had 16 shots on goal compared to Boston’s seven.

The third period wasn’t much better for Boston. Minnesota scored a little over 8 minutes in when Michela Cava scored her fourth goal of the postseason. Kendall Coyne Schofield scored on Boston’s empty net later in the period, adding some drizzle to the purple rain.

At the end of the game, Minnesota had 44 shots on goal. Boston had 17, only three of which came in the third. Not even the defensive heroics of goalie Aerin Frankel, who finished the night with 41 saves, could overcome that kind of deficit.

“I thought we came out, actually, and had a good start, had some opportunities to put the puck in the back of the net and we didn’t,” said head coach Courtney Kessel. “And then, to be honest, I think we just — we ran out of steam.”

The game capped off a whirlwind of a first season for both the team and the PWHL. The league went from announcing teams in August to playing games in January. The postseason saw the two lowest playoff seeds playing for the championship. The lowest seed, Minnesota, come out on top as champions.

Boston was a team that many simply didn’t think would be here. But the green and grey got on a hot streak towards the back stretch of the season, winning four of its final five regular season contests. Looking back on the year, Boston captain Hilary Knight talked about how the team persevered.

“This year was a historic year. It was tough, it was something that no player was ever used to, we built it,” she said. “And we’re extremely ecstatic about where [the league] is right now, year one, and where our group is and how we continued to battle and fight for one another. And so, I think, if anything, that reflection point is something that we can celebrate and take away from tonight even though we did lose is our group and how proud of one another we are in that room.”

After the game, as Minnesota celebrated on the ice, the Boston faithful had another chant as their team gathered on the ice one last time: “Thank you, Boston.”

It was a moment that stuck out to forward Jamie Lee Rattray.

“Yeah, it was pretty emotional, I think,” she said. “Obviously, we wanted to win on home ice, but they still stuck with us through the whole game. And they were loud, and they showed up for us today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done. But we’re super grateful for them. And we couldn’t do it without them this year, for sure.”