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College hockey team celebrates with trophy, gets winning goal overturned 40 minutes later

Minnesota State had to win the Mason Cup twice on Saturday.
Minnesota State had to win the Mason Cup twice on Saturday.

The Minnesota State hockey team thought they won the CCHA championship in overtime. They were deep in their celebration, had their picture taken with the Mason Cup and took a victory lap around the rink.

But several minutes after the final whistle, they had to suit up again and resume the game.

Roughly 40 minutes after the end of the game, officials walked back an on-ice decision that qualified the Mavericks for the upcoming NCAA Men's National Championship. What was originally called as the winning goal in a brief review following the play became a no-goal after more camera angles were made available to the refs.

As a result, the game clock was reset and both teams had to return to the ice to play the remaining 16:58 minutes of overtime.

As mentioned in the statement that the CCHA released, the additional camera angles “provided conclusive evidence that the goal net was elevated and the puck entered underneath the frame.” Both Minnesota State and Bemidji State were back on the ice for a five-minute warm-up to resume overtime.

Fortunately for Mavericks fans, they were able to follow up their disallowed celebration with a real one, as Minnesota State went on to still win the game and earn that national qualification.

"It was an unfortunate situation, and I had to make some difficult decisions," CCHA commissioner Don Lucia said after the game. "Without question it was the most difficult decision I've made in this role. But ultimately, we decided it was important to get it right. If Bemidji's season ends on that, it's difficult to stomach.

"It wasn't ideal, let's be honest, it wasn't what anybody wanted. But for me, and everybody involved, we wanted to make the right call. There's so much at stake. I didn't want to end anyone's career on something that wasn't a good goal."

In the end, the right thing was done and the result was the same. Now, the Mavericks set their sights on securing that national championship.

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