Fans deflate after Mankato collapses in Frozen Four championship game

MANKATO — Mankato's status as a hockey town is cemented.

Residents in this southcentral Minnesota city have waited decades to see the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks win a Division I men's hockey championship.

Which is why thousands of fans gathered in Mankato bars and restaurants were left heartbroken after the Mavericks collapsed in the third period in the NCAA Frozen Four championship Saturday, losing to Denver 5-1.

"It's the Minnesota curse," said Andy Literski, 35, of Mankato. "They scored the first goal and then just put it on cruise control,"

Minnesota State led 1-0 for two periods, leaving many Mavericks fans confident heading into the third period. No matter where you turned at restaurants or bars in the Mankato area, the game was on. There were cheers for every penalty that went the Mavericks' way, jeers for every perceived injustice.

People sauntered along South Front Street, where the bars and restaurants are lined up for Mankato's nightlife scene, to stop and cheer and clap along with the game underway.

After the game, fans walking downtown lamented how Dryden McKay, this year's Hobey Baker award winner, couldn't take home the Division I championship trophy in his last season with the Mavericks.

Minnesota State energized the community last year with its first-ever trip to the Frozen Four since the men's hockey team went Division I in 1996. Though the Mavericks lost to St. Cloud State, longtime hockey fans were excited to see what Minnesota State could do this season.

"It would be good for our little school and little town to get some recognition" by winning the national championship, Paulina Camacho said. Camacho and her husband, Ben Prehn, watched the game from Pub 500 in downtown Mankato.

Diehard local hockey fans, Camacho and Prehn have gone to Mavericks games for practically every season since 2006 when they both attended Minnesota State. They missed their first season in 2013 when their eldest son, Benny, was born.

Prehn and Camacho's children both skate, and Benny already is playing hockey. Their passion for the sport is growing on other family members: Camacho's mother watched the game from Mexico City and her brother watched from Louisville, Ky.

Yet the couple couldn't help but be crestfallen as Denver scored one goal, then another, then another and finally hit two empty-netters to seal the game.

"They usually dominate the third period," Prehn said. "I don't know what their deal was the last half of the third period."

The atmosphere inside Pub 500, an official host of a Mavericks watch party, turned just as sour as the third period went on. The loud boos from the first Denver goal became more muted as Denver ran up the score. By the time Denver led 3-1, people were already leaving.

"It's a lot more tense," Antonio Casillas, 28, of Mankato said shortly after Denver's third goal. "I feel like there's a general sense of defeat after that."

Casillas said Saturday's game was his first time watching hockey, in part because the Mankato area was abuzz over college hockey the past few weeks.

Minnesota State students who couldn't attend Saturday's game in person filled bars and restaurants as well. Madeline Neussendorfer and Drew Burling, both freshmen, are part of the Maverick Machine Athletic Band but didn't go with the group to Boston. Instead, they sat in Buffalo Wild Wings on the northeast side of town with a packed crowd watching the game.

"It's nice to see us finally get our chance to succeed," Burling said earlier in the night. Burling has watched hockey with her mother since she was little, and the Mavericks hockey program played a small part in why she chose to attend Minnesota State.

"It shows that you don't have to, like, come from really big schools in order to be successful," she said.

Though Minnesota State suffered a big loss Saturday, fans are already looking to next year.

"They made it to the Frozen Four last year for the first time. They made it to the championship for the first time this year. We'll win it [next year]," Camacho said. "I'm confident."