MANKATO — It was a sobering end of a hockey game Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Center.

For Minnesota State, an overtime penalty proved costly in its 2-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association loss to Nebraska Omaha before a crowd of 3,317.

Omaha defenseman Bryce Aneloski scored the power-play goal at the 1:37 mark of the extra period following Adam Mueller’s slashing penalty at the other end of the ice.

“It was a really tough way to end a pretty good hockey game,” MSU coach Troy Jutting said.

The game-winning goal came 62 seconds of game time and about 15 minutes of real time after a scary collision that knocked Omaha starting goaltender Ryan Massa out of the game.

The freshman, who had been brilliant with 39 saves, lay prone on the ice and was eventually taken out of the rink on a stretcher.

Minnesota State’s Evan Mosey crashed into Massa as the defenseman skated in hard with an Omaha defender toward a loose puck in front of the crease.

Omaha coach Dean Blais was not available after the game but two sources, including WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod, who was in attendance, said that Massa was able to move his limbs. There was speculation that Massa was taken to the Mankato hospital.

Mueller’s penalty came after MSU’s one and only scoring chance against backup goalie Dayn Belfour. The puck went to the other end of the rink, and, quickly, Aneloski’s shot from the high slot deflected off an MSU defender’s stick and past goalie Phil Cook.

That spoiled Cook’s third consecutive outstanding game. He stopped 35 shots, including five in overtime, making a couple of highlight-reel saves along the way.



“He played good for us, just like (Omaha’s) goalie,” Jutting said. “The last five games we’ve played there hasn’t been a poor goaltending night by either team. We expect those guys to play well.”

Minnesota State (7-17-1, 3-13-1 in WCHA) finished with 41 shots on goal, including 16 in the first period.



“That was tough to swallow,” MSU captain Michael Dorr said. “We had so many Grade A chances that we didn’t score on, and we took too many penalties.”

Minnesota State killed off five Omaha power plays before the overtime penalty. Eriah Hayes was called for three penalties, including two that negated MSU power plays and was benched for the final 4 ½ minutes of the second period.

Omaha’s Matt White opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 rush at 7:26 of the first period and held the 1-0 lead until midway through the third period.

That’s when MSU freshman standout Jean-Paul LaFontaine tied the game at with a pretty power-play goal.

Matt Leitner had the initial shot and the rebound went to LaFontaine at the right post, and he shot it straight up over Massa and under the crossbar. Hayes also assisted on the play.

The two teams will play again at 7:07 p.m. tonight.

Nebraska Omaha  1-0-0-1—2

Minnesota State    0-0-1-0—1



First period

Scoring: 1. UNO-White 12 (Walters 11, Smith 2) 7:26

Penalties: Knoll, MSU (holding) 10:24; Hayes, MSU (slashing) 13:55; Searfoss, UNO (roughing) 18:02; Zuck, MSU (roughing) 18:02; Megna, UNO (interfernce) 18:55; Hayes, MSU (hooking) 19:39



Second period

Scoring: None.

Penalties: Walters, UNO (tripping) :40; Palmquist, MSU (hooking); Smith, UNO (interfernce) 11:43; Hayes, MSU (interference) 13:30.



Third period

Scoring: 2. MSU-LaFontaine 12 (Leitner 10, Hayes 8) ppg 8:10

Penalties: Megna, UNO (tripping) 3:17; Broadhurst, UNO (tripping) 7:13

Overtime

Scoring: 3. UNO-Aneloski 2 (White 19, Megna 14) ppg 1:37

Penalties: Mueller, MSU (slashing) :45

Summaries

Shots on goal: UNO 12-12-7-6—37, MSU 16-12-11-2—41. Penalties: UNO 6 for 12 minutes, MSU 7 for 14 minutes. Power plays: UNO 1 for 6; MSU 1 for 4. Goalie saves: UNO Massa 16-12-10-1—39 (1 GA), Belfour x-x-x-1—1 (0 GA); MSU Cook 11-12-7-5—35 (2 GA).

Referees: Matt Ulwelling, Craig Welker. Linesmen Jarod Moen, Brandon Polich

Attendance: 3,317