The Aquinas men's hockey team fell in the opening round of the ACHA National Tournament late Saturday night (Apr. 17) in Chesterfield, Missouri, as Iowa State scored a pair of third period goals to pull away with the 5-3 victory. AQ bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to knot the game at 3-3 entering the third period, but the Cyclones notched the only goals in the last period to earn the opening round win.
 
AQ was the 9-seed in the national tournament's 16-team field, while Iowa State was awarded the 8-seed. The loss ends the Saints' season with an 8-7 overall record.
 
Saturday's game was the first for Aquinas since falling in a 2-1 overtime battle in the WHAC Championship against Indiana Tech on Mar. 21. The Cyclones jumped on the board first, scoring a power play goal by Stuart Pearson with 4:50 to play in the opening period. It became a 2-0 game, as Pearson found Andrew Lee less than five minutes into the second period for another Iowa State tally.
 
Aquinas cut the deficit in half barely two minutes later, as Luke Richesin scored the Saints' first goal, off an assist from Tom Davis and Nick Long at the 13:05 mark. Iowa State quickly responded, moving ahead 3-1 only 70 seconds later, as Brooks Mitzel netted the Cyclones' third goal.
 
The Saints bounced back and scored twice in two minutes late in the period. Brandon Rozema made it 3-2 on a goal from Mason Stewart and Trent Kulczyk at the 3:04 mark, then Stewart tied the score at the 1:03 mark, off a feed from Daniel Nelson and Alex Klekotka. 

It was a 3-3 deadlock heading into the third period. The game was still tied halfway through the frame, when the Cyclones netted a Ryan Nelson power play goal with 7:58 remaining for the 4-3 lead. With 2:31 to go, Iowa State added an insurance goal from Matty Moran to move in front 5-3 and essentially seal the victory. 
 
Roman Malkov made 30 saves in the loss, as the Saints were outshot by a 35-28 margin in the contest. Iowa State advances to face top-ranked Adrian in Sunday night's second round.