After watching the team with the 2^nd-longest winning streak in American Collegiate Hockey League Division 1 extend that streak to 10 games in the team's first-ever game at the national tournament a night ago, some wondered if it would take the defending national champs to take them down. Or the current No. 1 team in the land.

Or both.

Completely taking away the offensive attack of the red-hot Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team all night long, top-seeded Minot State University made its first stride towards a second straight national title, shutting out the 17^th-seeded Lopes, 5-0, in the 2^nd round of the ACHA Division 1 National Championships Friday night in St. Louis, Missouri. The loss not only snapped the Lopes' 10-game winning streak (the longest in team history) but brought GCU's inaugural national tournament run to an end.

Fresh off earning a deserved spot on the Western Collegiate Hockey League's All-Newcomer Team two weeks ago – and a win over #16 Illinois State University in the Lopes' 4-3 1^st-round victory Thursday - GCU goalie Dmytro Zubritskyi was back in net for the 2^nd straight night. The Ukrainian native was not expecting the immediate and endless onslaught of Minot State pressure on him and his fellow defenders, yet through the first period, Zubritskyi was nearly perfect, stopping all but one of the Beavers' 13 shots on goal. MSU's Sheldin Howard broke through against Zubritskyi 11 minutes into the game, but despite managing just two shots on goal themselves in the first 20 minutes, the Lopes had to be encouraged to just be down 1-0 at the end of the first.
It took all of the next 41 seconds of play to dash the Lopes' fortunes.

The Beavers came out roaring to start the second period, getting a Jay Buchholz goal in the first 24 seconds, then a Reece Henry score 17 seconds later to give Minot a 3-0 edge. The deficit wouldn't have seemed so insurmountable if it weren't for the fact that the Lopes simply couldn't solve the Beaver defense, managing just five shots in the first two periods. While Lopes' fans still had optimism since they'd seen GCU battle from behind against several nationally ranked squads during the winning streak, the 3^rd period showed little change. The Lopes managing just three more shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, and the Beavers put the game out of reach with a pair of Colby Joseph goals midway through the frame.

The Beavers – who outshot the Lopes for the game, 37-8 – now advance to the quarterfinal round on Sunday, while the Lopes end the first 20-win campaign in their history with a 20-15 overall mark and a 9-11 record in WCHL play.

"I'm extremely proud of how we finished the year to get us to this point," said Lopes' Head Coach Danny Roy. "We had a goal and we accomplished it – going the extra step of winning a game here at nationals."