After getting a clutch goal from Owen Hanson in the final minutes of regulation, the 12^th-seeded Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team saw its vision of reaching the quarterfinal round of the American Collegiate Hockey League Division 1 National Championships dashed in a 3-2 loss in overtime to 5^th-seeded University of Jamestown Saturday morning in St. Louis, Missouri. The loss eliminates the Lopes in the same round as their first-ever trip to the tournament a year ago.

While mirroring the fact that the Lopes never led in last year's 2^nd-round loss to Minot State University, this morning's game didn't resemble that matchup in any other fashion. For one thing, there was a question as to whether they would even get the game in today, since heavy storms in the Maryland Heights area throughout the last 24 hours knocked out power to the Centene Community Ice Center (the original venue), forcing ACHA officials to scramble to move to the game to the St. Louis Ice Zone to preserve the starting time.

More importantly, once the teams got on the ice, the Lopes and Jimmies were neck-and-neck for most of the affair, and there was never more than a goal separating the two for 62 minutes of play. The Lopes' offense had trouble finding a rhythm early on, though, and the Jimmies pounced with an unassisted Jordan Baranesky goal just two minutes into the contest. Jamestown's first penalty of the game gave the Lopes a window to get on track, and they took advantage of the power play as Nash Jacobsma and Jack Thomas set up Hanson for the first of his two goals midway through the 1^st period. The 1-1 tie didn't last long, though, as the Jimmies' Jacob Thomas found an opening just 75 seconds later, pushing the puck past Lopes' goalie Dmytro Kubrytskyi to send UJ into the locker room with a 2-1 lead after one period.

Fans freezing in the cold venue had few reasons to get the adrenaline pumping over the next hour, since despite 23 shots fired between the two teams in the second period, the lamps were never lit, and the teams heading to the 3^rd period with the same 2-1 score. Once again, the Lopes' offense had trouble finding lanes to shoot, managing just eight shots on goal in the final 20 minutes of regulation, and even seeing a Jacobsma penalty shot five minutes in get stuffed by UJ goalie Brandon Weare. However, their final shot of the frame found paydirt, with Shawn Spring and Spencer Lund helping Hanson's 3^rd goal of the tournament find the Jimmies' net with 2:34 left to send the game to extras.

The defenses took over in OT, since the teams went 138 seconds into the extra stanza without a shot on goal. The Lopes mounted an attack, but turned the puck over in the neutral zone, giving the Jimmies the break they needed as Brad Fortin slapped it past Kubrytskyi to end the Lopes' season.

"We had the moment, but unfortunately, a turnover led to them getting their chance on net," said Lopes' Head Coach Danny Roy. "We played some of our best all-around hockey this tournament. We probably had the team that should've won it but just didn't get the bounces we needed."

The Lopes' season ends with an overall mark of 16-14.