An electric atmosphere greeted the Chargers in their home opener, but Minnesota State continued its dominance over UAH on Friday night at the Von Braun Center with a 5-1 decision.

“I like the way our guys battled,” Corbett said. “This is the difference between a young group and an older group like they do coming down the stretch. We kind of run out of gas.”

“They don’t want me to tell them about moral victories right now. They don’t want to hear that and neither do I, but this is the (No. 2) team in the country for a reason, and they do a lot of really good things that we can learn from. And our guys have to accept that.

“They know how to win, they know how to score, they know how to finish, and those are things we’re trying to teach our guys right now.”

UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair made 45 saves, one short of his career high, on 50 MSU shots. The Chargers finished with 15 shots on goal.

“We know we have a good goaltender,” Corbett said. “He got a little tired towards the end there, too.”

Minnesota State asserted themselves early, taking a 2-0 lead on two short-range goals by Charlie Gerard at 8:32 and 10:56 of the first period.

UAH cut the Mavericks’ lead to 2-1 as Jack Jeffers roofed the puck over Dryden McKay’s right shoulder. His first goal of the season was assisted by Bauer Neudecker.

Sinclair made 17 saves in the first period as the Mavericks started getting plenty of open looks late in the frame.

“I thought in the first period we were playing good and moving the puck,” UAH senior forward Austin Beaulieu said. “We weren’t getting to rattled and putting the puck behind their D.

“We were in the right spots and we were making them pay when we made mistakes.”

It was more of the same in the second period, as MSU outshot UAH 19-3. One of those shots went in off the stick of Walker Duehr to make it 3-1 Mavericks at the 9:44 mark.

The Chargers entered the third period within striking distance, but a opening flurry gave Chris Van Os-Shaw a wide open net to put MSU up three just 34 seconds in.

Parker Tuomie scored with 11:11 remaining for the final 5-1 score.

With 8:58 remaining, the Chargers took exception with Connor Mackey charging into Sinclair. The result was numerous roughing penalties and Mackey getting a five-minute major.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7 p.m., with Homecoming festivities. Corbett says the Chargers will look at video before their next attempt at the Mavericks.

“It’s never as good as you think it is and it’s never as bad as you think it is. We’re going to focus on those fundamental things that we can quickly improve. The effort’s there, the compete level is there, now we’ve got to work a little smarter.”

“We have to show that we can be consistent,” Beaulieu said. “And we proved it in the first and second period, but we’ve got to do it for all 60.”

UAH implemented some measures for more fan engagement, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“The crowd was awesome,” Beaulieu said. “We appreciate them coming out and hopefully we can get a win for them tomorrow.”

Omaha scored five power play goals — four in one major power play — to roll over UAH 6-1 on Friday at Baxter Arena in Omaha.

The Chargers (0-3) continued to struggle on offensive, getting only one goal for the third straight game to start the season. They had 15 shots on goal, most of them coming in the second half of the third period.

Omaha (1-0) went 5-for-8 on the power play.

Game two is Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

UAH put themselves in a hole early on a costly error at the 4:32 mark in the first.

Goaltender Mark Sinclair’s pass from behind the net led to a turnover to Tristan Keck. Keck sent the puck in front to Josh Boyer in the slot, who beat Sinclair getting back into position.

Tanner Hickey was called for tripping 18 seconds later, and UNO capitalized on the power play for a 2-0 lead. Teemu Pulkkinen deflected a pass from Taylor Ward on Sinclair’s left doorstep at 6:31.

The game fell apart late in the second. Jack Jeffers was called for a five-minute boarding penalty, and UNO responded with four goals on the major power play: two in the final minute of the period, then two more in the first 3:30 of the third.

UAH got its own major power play halfway through the third period after Tyler Weiss made head contact with Christian Rajic. Weiss got five minutes and a game misconduct.

Tanner Hickey broke UNO’s shutout bid in that power play with a one-timer from the left point for this first UAH goal. Connor James and Bauer Neudecker got the assists.

Sinclair finished with 29 saves and allowed all six goals. UNO freshman goaltender Isaiah Saville made 14 saves.

UAH could not avoid another slow start to the season.

The Chargers managed only 13 shots on goal in their 3-1 loss at UMass Lowell on Sunday.

UAH (0-2), trying to be more aggressive offensively this season, could only score two goals and get 32 shots on goal on the weekend. The young Chargers will take the experience back to Huntsville and prepare for next week’s non-conference series at Omaha.

BOX SCORE

The Chargers did get solid performance from David Fessenden, making his collegiate debut in goal. He made 37 saves on 40 UML shots, displaying strong use of the glove.

The River Hawks (2-0) drew first blood in the first two minutes, just like in their 5-1 victory Saturday, this time at the 1:39 mark. Carl Berglund poked in a rebound in the crease with Fessenden unaware of the puck’s location.

The player who centered the puck from the behind the net, Zach Kaiser, was held by Tanner Hickey, prompting a bonus power play for UML.

The River Hawks did not score with the advantage but began a stretch of continuous pressure on UAH and Fessenden, who would make 12 saves in the opening frame.

UAH had the benefit of two power plays in the first period, but could not get anything set up, resulting in no shots on goal. The Chargers only had three shots for the first period, and were fortunate to only trail 1-0 at the first intermission.

UML made it 2-0 with 5:46 left in the second period when Andre Lee’s shot was saved by Fessenden, but the puck deflected off of UAH defenseman Drew Lennon’s knee and in.

The Chargers struggled on their first four power plays, mustering only one shot on goal, but found a little life on their fifth advantage to finally get on the scoreboard.

Tyr Thompson found the net from the right circle with 12:40 remaining in the third. He was assisted by Josh Latta (his first collegiate point) and Jack Jeffers, who had the helper in UAH’s lone goal on Saturday.

That life was squashed just 57 seconds later. Kenny Hausinger took a turnover and a breakaway, then beat Fessenden for the final 3-1 score.

The Chargers have things to shore up following their 5-1 loss Saturday against UMass Lowell.

The River Hawks outshot UAH 34-19 and pulled away from a tight contest with three third-period goals.

UAH will take lessons learned into Sunday’s game two, which starts at 3 p.m. CDT.

UAH (0-1) struggled in the special teams battle, going 0-for-7 on the power play opportunities while also allowing a power play goal and a short handed goal.

If the young Chargers, who had eight freshmen in the lineup, had nerves going in, the River Hawks (1-0) capitalized quickly.

After an opening flurry, Colin O’Neill poked in a rebound between the legs of Mark Sinclair (29 saves) at the 1:21 mark.

UAH settled in for the rest of the period to stay down one at intermission.

Most of the second period was riddled with penalties, mostly against UML to give UAH plenty of chances to tie the game.

However, the River Hawks instead extended their lead to 2-0 on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Kenny Hausinger.

The Chargers finally got on board with 1:47 left in the second. On a 2-on-1, Jack Jeffers on the right wing found Christian Rajic all alone in the left circle. Rajic picked his spot to beat UML goaltender Tyler Wall.

UAH was still in it, but UMass Lowell to pull away in the third period with three goals.

The River Hawks led 3-1 at 6:27 on a quick power-play goal right after a Connor James goaltender interference penalty.

Two minutes later, Zach Kaiser threaded a shot from the slot between two UAH defensemen to make it 4-1.

Andre Lee was left unchecked as he scored UML’s fifth goal with 5:39 to go.