Crafty work paid off for 60 minutes.

Then overtime happened.

Outshot the entire night but never trailing in the first three periods, the Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team came three minutes short of upsetting perennial powerhouse University of Nevada-Las Vegas for the first time ever, falling to the No. 5 Rebels, 5-4, in overtime Friday night at AZ Ice Peoria. The Rebels then took command early in Saturday's game to finish off the two-game sweep with an 11-0 victory. The weekend results kept the Lopes winless in the four-year-long series against the Rebels and dropped GCU to a 2-2 overall mark.

The Rebels – who are known for their high-energy starts to games – didn't disappoint in the first period Friday, unleashing a 19-shot barrage on Lopes' starting goalie Riley Morgan (42 saves on the night) in the first 20 minutes. Morgan 'blinked' only once during that stretch, allowing a Heath Mensch shot off a rebound to tie the game at 1-1 seven minutes in. In contrast, the Lopes mustered just nine shots in the first frame against the Rebels' defense, but were more accurate, thanks to a quick goal by GCU newcomer Booker Chacalias just 90 seconds into the game, and then one from Gavin Uckele to give the Lopes a 2-1 edge after one period.

It seemed as though the Lopes had a response every time the Rebels struck, getting a Braden Husby goal with 13:38 left in the 2^nd to counter the Rebels' tying goal in the previous minute. UNLV got even again midway through the 2^nd – only to fall behind again with 61 seconds left in the second on Hunter Schmitz's second assist of the night, setting up Dylan Dent and a 3-2 GCU lead. The third period was the only period GCU outshot UNLV, but the Rebels' defense stiffened as UNLV goalie Zach Wickson stopped all 13 GCU shots, which allowed the Rebels to tie it once again and send the game to extras knotted at 3-3. In overtime, the Rebels used the 3-on-3 sudden-death format to their advantage, rarely allowing the Lopes to gain possession of the puck, and ending the game with 1:41 left on Mattias Dal Norte's slapper at close range. Mensch was the only player on either team to score more than one goal, and the Rebels outshot GCU for the game, 47-33 (including all five shots on goal in OT).

The 24^th-ranked Lopes' battle testing continues this coming Friday and Saturday, October 6 and 7, when No. 21 University of Utah comes to the Valley of the Sun for a two-game set. The Lopes will be back at their normal home ice of AZ Ice Arcadia to host the Utes at 7PM Friday and 6PM Saturday.