Bemidji State’s Ross Armor and Minnesota State’s Brendan Furry prepare for a faceoff during a game in the 2020-21 season (photo: BSU Photo Services).
The state of Minnesota already had the Mason Cup in their hands. An hour later, he was preparing to resume overtime in Saturday’s league game against Bemidji State.
A few minutes later, the Mavericks were celebrating again, this time for real.
Josh Groll appeared to hit 3:02 in overtime in the CCHA Championship playoff game in Mankato, Minnesota, but the league later determined the puck went under the net. However, by this time the trophy had already been awarded and the ice had cleared.
55 minutes after the goal was scored, the CCHA released a statement saying that the initial review showed it was a good goal.
“Additional television camera angles provided to officials provided strong evidence that the goal net was up and the puck went under the frame,” the statement said. “The game on ice will be canceled and there will be no goal.”
Players and officials were required to return to the ice with a five-minute warm-up before overtime resumed with 16:58 left. At the start of the extra session, the teams tied 1:1.
Minnesota State still won after the game was restarted, with Jack McNeely scoring the goal, which was confirmed.
Bemidji State needed a win to enter the NCAA Tournament and deny the Northeast an exemption bid. The Beavers took the lead midway through the second period with a goal from Alex Adams.
But Minnesota State responded with a power play goal by Brendan Furry at the end of the period to take the game to Game 3 at 1-1.
The Mavericks landed five shots on goal during the power play in the third period and just 14 shots during the frame, but Bemidji State goaltender Matthias Scholl saved them all. He finished with 30 saves for the Beavers.
Dryden McKay has saved 21 shots for the Mavericks, who will be the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the nets are announced Sunday. Minnesota State has won 15 straight games and 24 of the last 25.