Nailbiters? Who needs 'em.

After skating to a last-minute win in last year's inaugural trip to the American Collegiate Hockey League Division 1 National Championships, the 12^th-seeded Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team avoided that fate and then some Thursday morning in its opening-round matchup, scoring the first four goals of the game en route to a 5-1 victory over 21^st-seeded University of Delaware. The Lopes overcame a scoreless first period to put the game out of reach by the early stages of the final frame in advancing to the second round of the tournament in back-to-back seasons. The victory gives the Lopes a day off and sends them to a matchup against 5^th-seeded University of Jamestown Saturday morning in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Lopes had the historic feat of commencing the entire tournament, since the game was the first of 23 games to be played before the national champion is crowned next Tuesday. The bad news for the team was having to play a hockey game at 8:15AM Arizona time. That was likely a factor in the scoreless tie after one period – despite the fact the Lopes fired a dozen shots at Delaware goalie Jacob Snellenburg during the 20 minutes. It wasn't the Lopes' offense that powered them through, though, since their defense held three of the ACHA's top 6 scorers on the season in lockdown mode. The Blue Hens' trio of Ryan Rodriguez, Justin Guelph and Tanner Mahoney scored 67 goals and recorded 95 assists in the regular season but came out of Tuesday's matchup with no points. That allowed the Lopes' offense to get in gear in the 2^nd frame – led by GCU senior Hunter Schmitz, who broke the scoreless tie two minutes in, then was part of a one-two punch with Colton Gerken at the end of the period, scoring power-play goals within a 44-second stretch to give the Lopes a commanding 3-0 edge at the intermission.

"We were able to outwork them in the offensive zone and wear them down as the game went on," said Lopes' Head Coach Danny Roy. "We capitalized on the power play and shut them down on the penalty kill."

Any thoughts of a Blue Hens' comeback were obliterated four minutes into the final frame when GCU's Jack Dolan found the back of the net. Owen Hanson added the Lopes' final score with just over four minutes left, both Ricky Nelson (on both Schmitz goals) and Gavin Uckele had two assists, and Lopes' goalie Dmytro Kubrytskyi casually saved 22 of 23 shots for the win. The Blue Hens were unable to do anything with GCU's five penalties, going 0-for-3 on the power play in suffering an opening-round tournament loss for the second straight season.

The Lopes (16-13 overall) will again play an early-morning affair in Round 2 as their matchup with 5^th-seeded Jamestown is scheduled for 8:15AM (Arizona time) Saturday. The Jimmies – who earned a first-round bye based on their high seed – will begin tournament play Saturday looking for only their 2^nd nationals win in five trips to the tournament (they beat Niagra University in the opening round two years ago). The Jimmies lost their opening-round matchup to the University of Pittsburgh last season. The Lopes and Jimmies have faced each other three times before (never in postseason play), and the Jimmies hold a 2-1 advantage – with each team winning on their home ice. Saturday's winner will advance to the quarterfinal round for the first time ever.