A standing-room-only crowd on hand Friday night at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion for the most anticipated matchup of the Icers season saw exactly what no fan, player or coach ever wants to see.

No player was badly injured, no blood spilled on the ice. But what was a truly great game played by the ACHA's two best teams, was ruined by a series of bizarre judgments made by three officials in the final two seconds of regulation, leaving those in attendance thinking, "unbelievable."

For 59 minutes and 58 seconds, No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Rhode Island played the kind of fast-paced, hard-hitting contest that Icers' forward Frank Berry classified as the type of game, "you want to play in."

Unfortunately, the game will not be remembered for its high quality of play, but for the late-game events that led to a 2-1 Rhode Island win, snapping Penn State's 17-game winning streak.

With less than 10 seconds to go in the third period with Penn State up 1-0, Icers forward Dave Arcobello flipped the puck out of the Penn State zone, doing what he thought would preserve the victory.

The crowd rose to its feet, giving the Icers a loud ovation for their impressive win. The scoreboard clock read 0:00. Some fans headed for the exits, but the game was not over.

Arcobello's flip of the puck, which was the correct play according to Penn State assistant coach Matt Bertani, rolled past the goal line in the Rhode Island zone. An automatic icing was correctly called with two seconds remaining, but because off the noise from the crowd, very few heard the whistle.

Meanwhile, Arcobello and Rhode Island's Matt Loftus, both thinking the game was over, began to scrum in the Icers' zone. Players from both teams, also thinking the game had ended, began entering the Penn State defensive zone, to defend their teammates. Arcobello and Loftus were both given two-minute penalties.

By rule, the ensuing faceoff should have come out to the neutral zone dot to the left of Penn State goalie Paul Mammola -- not in Penn State's defensive zone, like it did. Had this faceoff been correctly positioned, what happened next would have been made impossible.

With 0:02 now on the scoreboard, captain Brett Wilson took the faceoff to the left of Mammola. Wilson attempted to slow the puck down as best he could, but somehow Rhode Island's Eric Hogberg knocked the puck past Mammola around the same time the horn sounded signaling the end of the game.

It appeared that time had expired and the net was knocked off its mooring before the puck crossed the goal line.

Rhode Island players erupted in celebration, but the referee positioned just to the right of the net emphatically waved his hands to signal "no goal."

Penn State players came off the bench to celebrate what they thought was a win for the second time, but again, the game was not over.

Captains from both teams met with the three officials near the scorer's box.

During the conversation, according to assistant captain Brendan Martin, the referee explained that he had not seen the puck in real-time, which is why he originally signaled no goal, but that one of the linesman had felt the puck crossed the goal line before time expired.

As the referee signaled that he overturned his decision and awarded Rhode Island the goal, Icers head coach Joe Battista could only shake his head in disbelief.The fans had a few choice chants. The players, frazzled, now had to regroup for the sudden death overtime that they were now to play.

Mammola left the net off its mooring until he had to put it back in its correct position to start the overtime.

The referee never gave an explanation regarding the net being off, Martin said.

Forty-nine seconds into the overtime, Rhode Island's Mike Curran scored what seemed to be the inevitable goal to give the Rams the win.

The crowd, so jubilant just minutes before, was now deadtly silent in disbelief.

After the game, the Icers locker room was as silent as the fans in the bleachers above. Players cried as they walked down the hallway outside of the locker room.

The referee said "No thank you," when asked to comment Friday. And by the time the officials left, the Pavilion was empty besides a few people cleaning up the place.

Had you not been there an hour before, you would have no idea what had just happened. And even if you were there, you would have no idea why.