Three periods of hockey? Grueling.

Overtime? Heartbreaking.

A furious 3^rd-period comeback by the Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team sent Thursday's game with the University of Utah to overtime, but the rally was thwarted by the Utes' gamewinner just 37 seconds into the extra frame to send the Lopes to their 5^th straight loss, 5-4, at AZ Ice Arcadia in Phoenix. The heartbreaking loss gives the Utes the season sweep of the Lopes, who also dropped their fourth straight overtime decision dating back to last season.

Statistically, the game was lopsided most of the night in GCU's favor, but the Lopes never led during the 60+ minutes of play. The relentless Lopes' offense outshot the Utes on the night, 44-28, including a whopping 18-7 shots-on-goal advantage in the second period alone, but that period proved to be the Lopes' undoing. The Utes started the game bombarding the Lopes with five shots in the first few minutes (cashing in the fifth shot on a power play) before GCU woke up with 17 shots in 14 minutes, including a 5-on-3 power play goal by Dylan Dent with four minutes left in the first period to tie the score. In the second, the Utes again jumped on the puck first, cashing in their first shot of the frame 23 seconds in to take the lead back. GCU took control of the puck throughout the rest of the period, battering Utah goalie Rhett Kimmel with relentless pressure, but couldn't tie the score until the 8:40 mark when Dent struck again on an assist from Anthony Petrotto. The tie lasted exactly 61 seconds, though, as the Lopes lost the puck in their own zone, leading to a 2-on-1 Utah break that the Utes' Bryce Miller cashed in for a 3-2 lead. In similar fashion four minutes later, Utah's Ethan Light stole the puck from Dent near center ice, raced to the other end and slapped it past GCU freshman netminder Jacob DeMoranville for a breakaway insurance goal.

DeMoranville stopped a couple of Utes' breakaway opportunities early in the third period, which allowed the Lopes to storm back. With 7:28 left, the Lopes' second power-play goal of the night came on a bottom-shelf shot from Jacob Cummings that slid past Kimmel. Clearing the goalie for the last two minutes of regulation paid off for GCU as Cummings and Dent set up extra attacker Ty Schafer with 22 seconds left to send it to extras. For the second time in four periods, though, the Utes' first shot of the frame was the payoff – thanks to Light's third goal of the night to end it.

Dent led the GCU attack with a hand in all four goals (two goals, two assists), while the team's top scorer, Cummings, complemented his 6^th goal of the season with two assists. DeMoranville recorded 23 saves in only his second career start between the pipes for GCU.

Thursday's matchup was the only home game in a 10-game stretch for the Lopes (3-5-1 overall), who will have two weeks off before heading to Oklahoma for three games combined against the University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma. The Lopes don't return home to AZ Ice Arcadia until Saturday, December 3, when they host a quick two-game set against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas starting at 6PM.