AUBURN — The Grand Canyon University Lopes were crowned Division I national champions after a triple-overtime, sudden-death 2-1 win over the Lindenwood University Lions on Saturday during the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

Senior Dylan Guy scored the game-winning goal 2:47 into the third overtime to secure Grand Canyon’s (25-2-2) first national title. The two-time defending champion Lions (21-1-0) were undefeated before the game and beat the Lopes 4-1 Friday to claim top seed for Saturday’s semifinals.

“This is what we wanted, this is what we worked for, and I honestly am speechless. I can’t even talk,” Guy said. “This is the greatest day of my life.”

The winning goal was assisted by Nick Ettelbrick.

Guy said he blacked out after seeing the open back of the net while scoring the game-winning goal, but knew he had a good chance of scoring after the puck popped out to him.

“I was, honestly, in disbelief,” Guy said. “I mean, we were the underdog. No one thought we were going to win, everyone thought we were going to come in and just get our teeth kicked in. We believed we were competitors from Day 1, and that we came to do a job, and that job’s done.”

After a scoreless first period, Grand Canyon sophomore Braydon Frisk scored the first goal of the game on a power play at the 9:31 mark of the second period. Ruben Gonzalez was credited with an assist.

The Lopes held lead and turned away Lindenwood’s chances, and they were less than two and a half minutes away from an upset in regulation when Gonzalez was called for boarding at the 9:33 mark.

The Lions tied the game on the ensuing power play, when Christian Acosta scored, off assists by Jackson Wozniak and Nathan Durrans, 10:18 in the third period, to make the score 1-1.

Saturday’s Division-I national championship game embodied the phrase “offense wins games, but defense wins championships,” as each team fought in front of the goal to keep the other from scoring. Both goalies kept the game competitive, blocking numerous potential game-ending shots.

Lindenwood coach Ron Beilsten called the triple-overtime showdown the “kind of nationals game that you want,” and said that Grand Canyon goalie Maxim Currie was “phenomenal and off the charts.”

Beilsten said there is no real training for maintaining a team’s for nearly 30 minutes of overtime play after a 36-minute game because games lasting that long is extremely rare in college roller hockey. In his 21-year coaching tenure, which includes 10 Division-I championships, he said this was the most competitive game he’s led a team through.

“I’m proud that they all bought into what we wanted to do all year,” Beilsten said. “I’m proud that nine of the players on this team were moved up over time over the past couple years from our second team that we’ve competed (with) here and are still competing tomorrow.”

Lindenwood’s second team faces Ohio State in Sunday’s AA Division semifinals at 9:15. The AA title game is at 1:30 p.m. and will be followed by the Division-III championship at 2:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon coach Rich Garvey said being a college national champion is “unbelievably amazing,” and adds to his collection of world champion, state champion and national championship titles as a player.

“I don’t think they’re too tired to party tonight,” Garvey said with a laugh. “Having that big cup, we’re going to fill it up. And how we got here, it was a long road, but the fact that we’re here is so sweet and so special and something that these guys and myself will never forget.”

Currie was a force to be reckoned with in goal for the Lopes, making 54 saves on 55 shots. Several of Currie’s saves were crucial for the Lopes to maintain their lead until nearly the end of regulation.

Currie joked that he thought the game was never going to end. He said he kept telling himself to focus on one save at a time and “if I keep playing for them, they’ll keep playing for me.”

“That guy down there,” Currie said pointing to Lindenwood goalie Marky Hager, “hats off to him; he kept his team in the game just as much as I did mine.”

Hager got the crowd going in the first sudden death overtime with a diving save on which he rolled on his side from one side of the goal to the other. Hager finished with 18 saves on 20 shots.

Grand Canyon was close to ending the game in the second overtime with a wide open 2-on-1 chance, but Hager shut it down with a save off the right leg to keep the game going.

This season is the sophomore Currie’s first with Grand Canyon. He said he played ice hockey in the past. He credited the Lopes’ emphasis on team bonding translating on to the rink this season and to championship game.

“We went through a lot of adversity during the year, there were spurts where we maybe weren’t the best friends and were always yelling at each other,” Currie said. “But when it came time, we bonded. We had campfires together, everyone loves being here — that was the difference.

“At the beginning, no one seemed to enjoy being here, but now that everybody’s here, they seem to just love the hell out of it.”

Garvey called Lindenwood a “perennial powerhouse,” and said it feels good to finally have beat the Lions.