The Toll Gate boys’ ice hockey team was eliminated from the Division II playoffs Saturday night after a 4-1 loss to No. 3-seeded North Smithfield at Thayer Arena.

The Titans got as close as 2-1 heading into the final period, but an 0-for-5 overall showing on the power play and just 12 shots-on-goal total would lead to a Northmen sweep.

“I think we forced it,” Toll Gate head coach Mike Champagne said of the power play woes. “They’re aggressive, and they have some size and some heady players. I think we just kind of forced it into it.”

Toll Gate, down 1-0 in the series, battled the quick Northmen well in the first nine minutes of the game, but it would eventually be too much. Nine minutes in, Matt Pasquariello found Donte Driscoll for a laser that froze Titans’ freshman goaltender Austin Sequeira.

The Northmen built on that lead later in the first period with some more help from Driscoll. The sophomore forward fired a rocket from just past the blue line that beat Sequeira to give North Smithfield the 2-0 advantage.

The Titans had their chances during the first period, including two power play opportunities, but couldn’t get much going. Max Fields and Sean Egan each had quick shots on net, but netminder Sean Murphy turned them away. Toll Gate only mustered two shots-on-goal in the first.

With their backs against the wall, the Titans needed a spark in the second to get back into it.

Will Fox gave them just that. Connor Sullivan skated into the North Smithfield zone and glided behind the net, where he sent a backhand pass to an unmarked Fox in front. He easily beat Murphy to cut the deficit down to one goal.

There were a number of close calls after that point for the Titans. Fox grabbed a loose puck and split the defense for a 1-on-1, only to be stopped by Murphy. Sequeira stepped up in net as well, making a save on Zach Racine before a blocker stop with six minutes to go.

“Some of it was confidence,” Champagne said of Sequeira’s development this season. “A young kid coming into high school, obviously he’s not a very big kid, and just learning it. He plays at a good level of competition where guys have skill but now you’re talking about size and some of the speed. Shots come off harder. Learning how to give up goals and knowing it’s not the end of the world, and knowing to have the confidence to come out and say ‘Hey, I’ve got the next one.’”

Sequeira stopped 18 of 22 shots on the night, but the second period was perhaps his most impressive. He prevented all 10 attempts he saw from getting past him with some strong defensive help in front from Sean Vittum and Jake Stachurski.

“I think they’ve been good,” Champagne said of the defense. “I think that’s part of their maturity, too, knowing that some of those pucks that were just out of reach for them, they moved their feet, they worked harder at it. They just came together, and I think Austin’s the beneficiary of it.”

The backbreaker for Toll Gate would come early in the third period. With momentum on their side heading into their fifth power play, the Titans set up a play in the Northmen zone. However, a pass at the blue line was intercepted by Nathan Lemoine, who beat Sequeira 1-on-1 for the insurance goal.

Pasquariello iced the win for the Northmen with a power play goal at the 9:42 mark, moments after Noah Menard hit the crossbar with a shot of his own.

The Northmen just edged out Toll Gate in Game 1, nearly losing a three-goal lead in the third period. Fox tallied two in the final 15 minutes for the Titans, but it wouldn’t be enough as they fell 3-2.

North Smithfield awaits the winner of Game 3 between No. 2 East Greenwich and No. 7 PCD/Wheeler/St. Ray’s Co-op to find out its semifinal opponent.

The Titans will return their top three scorers next year along with a steadily developing Sequeira. While the defense will have some recovering to do with the departure of Stachurski, Vittum and Nolan O’Brien, Sullivan (18 points), Fox (18 points) and Fields (12 points) will lead a young, powerful Toll Gate offense next year.

Despite the first-round sweep, Champagne said this season was “huge” for bringing a playoff culture back to the school.

“You have a group of guys who have never had that opportunity and they kind of built it from scratch,” Champagne said. “The guys before them really didn’t have the opportunity. So they had to take their lumps, losing close games that teams that have that experience know how to win. They did it on their own, they got us to where we are. They did a great job.”