The month of October for college hockey means focus, consistency and pacing.

And extra conditioning.

After racing all over the ice for 55 minutes of play to build a three-goal lead, the 12^th-ranked Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team suddenly found themselves the slower team in the last five minutes of regulation Saturday night at AZ Ice Arcadia and watched 15^th-ranked University of Utah storm back to send the game to overtime and a shootout, which the Utes won to down the Lopes, 6-5. The loss came on the heels of a 2-1 Utah victory Friday night in the series opener. They were the first two losses of the regular season for the Lopes (2-2 overall, 2-2 WCHL), while the wins kept the Utes undefeated on the year (5-0 overall, 4-0 WCHL).

Friday: Utah 2, GCU 1

The Lopes had spent the previous weekend doing whatever they wanted on the ice in drubbing San Diego State University twice, but received a rude awakening Friday night as the Utes dictated the pace and tempo much of the game. The Utes controlled the puck throughout the first period, cashing in their 2^nd scoring opportunity of the contest on Matt Delany's goal four minutes in. After committing four penalties in the first period, the Lopes finally found their rhythm early in the second period – thanks to Utes' infractions. The Lopes found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play for 90 seconds, which didn't yield a score, but just seconds after the 4^th Utes' player returned to the ice, the Lopes struck gold, with Hunter Schmitz slapping the rebound off a previous shot past Utes' goalie Garrett Fuller to knot the game at 1-1.

The tie lasted all of 74 seconds, though, when the Utes got numbers towards the Lopes' goal and cashed in to take a 2-1 lead. The goal seemed to rejuvenate the Utes, and a nearly penalty-free third period resulted in a defensive struggle, with 10 shots on goal combined and no goals to show for it. Lopes' goalie Dmytro Kubrytskyi recorded 21 saves in the loss.

Saturday: Utah 6, GCU 5 (F/OT/SO (Utah 3-1 SO))

Saturday's game was a complete 180-degree turn for GCU… for all but four minutes of regulation. GCU's offense was relentless through the first two periods, outshooting the Utes, 28-13, in the two frames. After not leading at all Friday, GCU avoided that fate quickly a night later, thanks to Lopes' defender Spencer Lund scoring six minutes into the game on Fuller after both Jack Thomas and Tyler Misialek had peppered the Utes' goalie with shots.

After the Utes tied the game two minutes later on a power play, the Lopes began to take control by wearing down the Utah defense, with Nash Jacobsma giving the Lopes the lead right before the end of the first period. Midway through the second period, the Lopes went 'ramp-and-fire' like they did against SDSU, with Schmitz scoring a power-play goal 12 minutes in, and after seeing the Utes get it right back 35 seconds later, Lopes' freshman Ricky Nelson demoralized UofU by lighting the lamp a half-minute after that.

The Utes came out for the third period much more aggressive, but most of their 16 shots on goal went for naught – until the late stages of the period. Jacob Cummings power-play goal (and beautiful assist passes from Lund and Ben Oakland) with 4:57 left seemed to put the game out of reach. Instead, the Lopes seemed to relax, and the Utes pounced with two goals over the next two minutes to get within one, then sent the game to overtime with the game-tying goal with 85 seconds left. A scoreless overtime sent the game to a shootout, where a rejuvenated Fuller stopped two of the three Lopes' shot attempts, and the Utes were perfect against Kubrytskyi. While the Lopes outshot Utah for the game, 37-32, they mustered just nine shots on goal over the game's final 25 minutes. Lund, Jacobsma, Nelson and Cummings all had a goal and an assist each, while Thomas and Oakland contributed two assists apiece.

The Lopes can still salvage a winning season-opening homestand by knocking off their archrivals, Arizona State University, this Saturday night, October 26. The Sun Devils will make their way across town to AZ Ice Arcadia to face the Lopes in the first of five meetings this season with a 7PM puck drop Saturday. GCU students get in FREE with their student ID, and game tickets are available on the GCU Club Sports website.