NEWARK, Del. - The buzzer sounded at the Fred Rust Ice Complex Saturday.

And the Ohio club ice hockey team skated to center ice and carried away the trophy, the third place trophy, that is, from the ACHA National Tournament.

The Bobcats defeated Michigan-Dearborn 2-1 in the consolation game, but everyone involved felt Ohio had been robbed.

"Ohio's in a dogfight, 1-1, then gets a controversial goal scored against them," Michigan-Dearborn head coach Joe Aho said. "It's a goal that probably shouldn't have counted."

Aho was referring to Friday's semifinal game between Ohio and top-seeded Iowa State.

Both teams came into Friday 2-0, and both knew the stakes - a win for a shot at the Murdoch Cup.

The Bobcats stormed out on a Duke Alviano goal just one minute into the game.

Ohio appeared to add to the lead minutes later, but the officials waived the goal off, saying Alviano intentionally directed the puck with his chest.

The Cyclones took advantage and recovered to tie the game by the end of the first period.

The game remained knotted at one until midway through the third period when controversy struck.

Cyclones forward Jessie Monell picked up the puck in his own end, skated down the middle of the ice and beat Ohio goaltender Scott Walls.

The complex exploded as the Cyclones grabbed the lead and the Cats looked to the officials for help.

No help came as the goal stood and the Cyclones skated to the national title game, 2-1 winners over the Bobcats.

"We just had our hearts taken out," Ohio head coach Craig McCarthy said. "On the second goal, a guy ran interference on our defenseman, and the play was offside. They were basically given a break away from the far blue line. It's an unbelievable non-call, just really disappointing.

"In my 14 years of coaching, and another 15 of playing, I've never been involved in a game like that; especially the magnitude of the game."

The loss dropped the Bobcats into the consolation game against Michigan-Dearborn.

Penn State wrote its ticket to the title game with a 5-2 win over the Michigan-Dearborn in the other semifinal.

"We gave up a short-handed goal down 3-1, and that broke our backs," Aho said.

For the Bobcats, McCarthy knew how tough it would be for his team.

"You don't prepare," McCarthy said. "There's nothing you can do after a loss this emotional. We gave what we had, and I don't know if they'll be anything left of us by tomorrow."

Bobcat players tried to find the positives to build on for Saturday.

"You can't look at a 2-1 loss to the top-seeded team in the semi-finals as a bad season," forward Chad Fournier said. "It's disappointing to not make it to the finals, but just making the tournament after a 0-8 start was a big effort for us."

Aho hoped for the best.

"There's one positive; it's Ohio and Dearborn," he said. "For the seniors, this game will be against an opponent they've probably played 20-25 times. About a period in, both teams will realize it's Ohio and Dearborn, and you'll see the intensity pick up."

The intensity did pick up as Ohio scored first for the fourth-straight game, this time on a Matt McConville goal.

But much like Friday, Dearborn hung around and tied the score at one after the first period.

The score remained the same until early in the third period, when senior Ryan Shelien beat Dearborn goaltender Chuck Schervish top shelf to give Ohio the lead and the eventual 2-1 win.

"We had lots of guys playing in their last game and lots of young guys who needed this experience, so we tried to use it as a motivational tool," McCarthy said. "It showed the young guys what to do, so we would play at 7 (p.m.) and not at 4 (p.m.) on Saturday."

While Dearborn will graduate only three players, Ohio will lose eight seniors.

McCarthy reflected on those players' contributions to Ohio.

"The seniors came in the middle of some national championships," McCarthy said. "They're good players and good people, and they provided a lot to the program. It's been an honor to coach those guys. They're great people, and I know they'll do really well with themselves."NEWARK, Del. - The buzzer sounded at the Fred Rust Ice Complex Saturday.

And the Ohio club ice hockey team skated to center ice and carried away the trophy, the third place trophy, that is, from the ACHA National Tournament.

The Bobcats defeated Michigan-Dearborn 2-1 in the consolation game, but everyone involved felt Ohio had been robbed.

"Ohio's in a dogfight, 1-1, then gets a controversial goal scored against them," Michigan-Dearborn head coach Joe Aho said. "It's a goal that probably shouldn't have counted."

Aho was referring to Friday's semifinal game between Ohio and top-seeded Iowa State.

Both teams came into Friday 2-0, and both knew the stakes - a win for a shot at the Murdoch Cup.

The Bobcats stormed out on a Duke Alviano goal just one minute into the game.

Ohio appeared to add to the lead minutes later, but the officials waived the goal off, saying Alviano intentionally directed the puck with his chest.

The Cyclones took advantage and recovered to tie the game by the end of the first period.

The game remained knotted at one until midway through the third period when controversy struck.

Cyclones forward Jessie Monell picked up the puck in his own end, skated down the middle of the ice and beat Ohio goaltender Scott Walls.

The complex exploded as the Cyclones grabbed the lead and the Cats looked to the officials for help.

No help came as the goal stood and the Cyclones skated to the national title game, 2-1 winners over the Bobcats.

"We just had our hearts taken out," Ohio head coach Craig McCarthy said. "On the second goal, a guy ran interference on our defenseman, and the play was offside. They were basically given a break away from the far blue line. It's an unbelievable non-call, just really disappointing.

"In my 14 years of coaching, and another 15 of playing, I've never been involved in a game like that; especially the magnitude of the game."

The loss dropped the Bobcats into the consolation game against Michigan-Dearborn.

Penn State wrote its ticket to the title game with a 5-2 win over the Michigan-Dearborn in the other semifinal.

"We gave up a short-handed goal down 3-1, and that broke our backs," Aho said.

For the Bobcats, McCarthy knew how tough it would be for his team.

"You don't prepare," McCarthy said. "There's nothing you can do after a loss this emotional. We gave what we had, and I don't know if they'll be anything left of us by tomorrow."

Bobcat players tried to find the positives to build on for Saturday.

"You can't look at a 2-1 loss to the top-seeded team in the semi-finals as a bad season," forward Chad Fournier said. "It's disappointing to not make it to the finals, but just making the tournament after a 0-8 start was a big effort for us."

Aho hoped for the best.

"There's one positive; it's Ohio and Dearborn," he said. "For the seniors, this game will be against an opponent they've probably played 20-25 times. About a period in, both teams will realize it's Ohio and Dearborn, and you'll see the intensity pick up."

The intensity did pick up as Ohio scored first for the fourth-straight game, this time on a Matt McConville goal.

But much like Friday, Dearborn hung around and tied the score at one after the first period.

The score remained the same until early in the third period, when senior Ryan Shelien beat Dearborn goaltender Chuck Schervish top shelf to give Ohio the lead and the eventual 2-1 win.

"We had lots of guys playing in their last game and lots of young guys who needed this experience, so we tried to use it as a motivational tool," McCarthy said. "It showed the young guys what to do, so we would play at 7 (p.m.) and not at 4 (p.m.) on Saturday."

While Dearborn will graduate only three players, Ohio will lose eight seniors.

McCarthy reflected on those players' contributions to Ohio.

"The seniors came in the middle of some national championships," McCarthy said. "They're good players and good people, and they provided a lot to the program. It's been an honor to coach those guys. They're great people, and I know they'll do really well with themselves."

And who won the Murdoch Cup?

Iowa State used Friday's controversial win as a springboard into Saturday. The Cyclones jumped out early and held off defending national champion Penn State 6-4. It is the Cyclones' first national title since 1992. And who won the Murdoch Cup? Iowa State used Friday's controversial win as a springboard into Saturday. The Cyclones jumped out early and held off defending national champion Penn State 6-4. It is the Cyclones' first national title since 1992.