GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence hockey team defeated Utah State in one of the most thrilling games the team has had in program history Thursday evening. The Argos (3-2) defeated the Aggies (9-5-1) 6-5 via a shootout that lasted six rounds.

"There's still some adrenaline," head coach Jeff Heimel said following the win. "That was more action than a coach wants. I'm glad we ended up on the right side of it."

The Argos got behind early, conceding a goal to the Aggies in just the second minute. Stanislav Struthers evened the score for the Argos, scoring with nine minutes left in the first. Both teams scored twice more in the first period, causing a 3-3 stalemate entering the second.

Things slowed down in the second period, with Ty Alger scoring the lone goal in the period to give the Argos a 4-3 lead going into the third. In the final period, Levi Anderson scored a fifth goal to give the squad a two-goal lead with a little under ten minutes remaining. Though the Argos let in a goal two minutes later, the team seemed to be in control and ready to end the game on top. However, the Aggies Alec Moser slipped in a goal with seven seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.

"At the start of the third, we opened things up," Heimel said. "I thought we played well. Them fighting back there at the end was less than desired but I thought we played a pretty good third period. At least 15-18 minutes of it."

Neither team scored during the five-minute overtime period, so the two teams headed to a shootout.  Moser scored the first goal for the Aggies, and the Argos couldn't match the second. Goalie Jacob Fry stopped the next two Aggie attempts, but Anderson missed Argos's second attempt, meaning the game came down to Leo Felt, who converted the goal to continue the shootout.

Things heated up, as the fourth round would be decided by sudden death. Fry did his part, notching a save to give the Argos a chance to prevail. However Aggie goalie Ethan Wiese made the save off the attempt from Jakob Stevenson, sending the game to a fifth round. This time the Aggies converted, putting the pressure on Will Wright to even the score, which he did to send the match into the sixth round. 

Fry made the save on the next Aggie attempt, giving Liam Carvalho a chance to seal the game. He scored the goal, winning the game for the Argos as the team rushed onto the ice to celebrate.

"When the shootout was happening sometimes I'd put my head down and listen and not watch," Heimel said. "It's thrilling. If I was a fan I'd probably be super excited that I watched that game. As a coach, not so much. There was a lot of ups and down. That's hockey, it's a fast-paced game. I was proud of our guys. I thought we played pretty well. We've far from arrived at where we need to be from a system perspective and from a team perspective. But It's certainly a step in the right direction."

The Argos will unfortunately have to put the thrilling win behind them quickly, as they prepare for a stout Weber State that's coming into town tomorrow night. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Falls Ice Plex.

"You've got to have a short-term memory," Heimel said. "It was good to talk to the guys in the room. We talked about the positives from tonight but also that we're far from done. It's important that we continue to win and play well. It's really about peaking at the right time and learning some lessons along the way."