Box Score Different year, same ending.

For the ninth time in as many tries, the University of Minnesota Duluth prevailed in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and for the third straight season, the Bulldogs required overtime to so so.

Junior right winger Parker Mackay's wrister 2:28 into sudden death lifted UMD to a 3-2 victory over Minnesota State University-Mankato in the NCAA West Regional semifinals Friday night in Sioux Falls, S.D. Mackay's game-winner, which came 92 seconds after freshman right winger Nick Swaney's score was disallowed (following a video review) for goaltender interference, capped off a three-goal comeback for the Bulldogs and sent them into Saturday's West Regional title game against Air Force. The Falcons defeated the tournament's No. 1 seed, St. Cloud State, 4-1 Friday afternoon.

Minnesota State, the reigning Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season champion and the No. 2 seed in the West Regional, jumped out to a 2-0 early first-period lead, getting a goal from Zeb Knutson (on the Mavericks' first shot on net) 2:21 in and then tacking on a power play tally four minutes later. Senior team captain Karson Kuhlman got No. 3 seed UMD on the board at the 6:38 mark of the second period when he stole the puck from a Minnesota State defenseman, broke in alone, and went five hole on Maverick goaltender Connor LaCouvee. That gave Kuhlman 12 goals on the season, which equals his career high. On its third -- and final power play opportunity of the night and with 4:08 to go in regulation, Swaney took a cross ice feed from senior center Jared Thomas and one-timed in a shot.

That set the stage for Mackay, who collected his only other collegiate overtime goal in the 2017-18 opener against the University of Minnesota.

"They had been doing a good job of blocking shots all night so I was just trying to maybe fake it out and see if there was a shot lane," said the assistant team captain. "Sure enough, I just tried to get the puck on net and it went in."

UMD (22-16-3 overall), outshot Minnesota State (29-10-0) 22-21 on the night and 8-0 in the second period. Sophomore goaltender Hunter Shepard, making his 36th start in a row, picked up the win in his first NCAA postseason appearance.

Prior to tonight, Minnesota State was 25-0-0 when taking a lead into the third period this season.

"I can't say enough about the resiliency and the ability of this team to come back not only just from the two goal deficit but to stay composed and go back out there and get the winning goal," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, who is now 14-6 in NCAA Tournament play. "All the credit goes to our guys, I thought they really battled."

The Bulldogs have now reeled off seven consecutive NCAA tournament overtime victories going back to the 1985 Frozen Four and since the NCAA went to a regional format in 1987-88 are a perfect 8-0 in first-round games. With a victory tomorrow, the Bulldogs would punch their ticket to the program's sixth NCAA Frozen Four berth -- and second in as many years.

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