ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- The Western Michigan hockey team dropped a thriller in overtime, 4-3, at No. 5 St. Cloud State in game one of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday night.

Freshman defensman Jimmy Schludt fired a shot that Lukas Hafner initially saved but Patrick Newel was in front of the net and batted the rebound out of mid-air and into the net with 3:29 left in the overtime period.

Hafner made a game-high 41 saves on the night and the Broncos picked up goals by Frederik Tiffels, Neal Goff and Colt Conrad. SCSU's Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves to earn the win.

The Huskies drew first blood late in the first period when Jimmy Murray banked the puck off of Hafner's shoulder and into the net on a power play for his 13th of the season.

Western Michigan tied it up early in the second period on Tiffels' seventh goal of the season. The sophomore forward took a pass from Rebry and fired a shot through a SCSU defender's legs and past Lindgren. Chris Dienes also notched a helper on the goal.

Goff netted his first of the season to give WMU a 2-1 lead on a delayed-penalty goal at 12:30. Hafner made it to the bench and the Broncos earned the extra attacker after penalty was being called on SCSU's Jon Lizotte for hooking. After a couple of chances Rebry found Goff in the deep slot and the sophomore defenseman wound up and put it past Lindgren. Rebry picked up his second assist of the night on the goal and Tiffels also tallied an assist for his second point of the night.

Will Borgen tied the game up at 15:37 in the second period when he jumped off the bench during a line change and was found by Joey Benik wide open in the left circle for his first career goal.

Kalle Kossila gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead just 5:03 into the third period. The Broncos attempted to clear the puck out of their zone but puck hopped off the wall and right to Kossila. The Finish forward then played give-and-go with Murray before netting his 14th of the season.

Conrad netted the game-tying goal with 6:05 left in the third period for his seventh goal of the season. Mike McKee won a battle along the boards in front of the SCSU bench and played the puck to Kyle Novak. Novak took the puck into the St. Cloud State zone and found Conrad in the right circle. The freshman forward did the rest and beat Lindgren over his blocker.

The Huskies outshot the Broncos 45-30 on the night, including a 17-7 edge in the overtime period. WMU finished 0-for-1 on the power play, while SCSU finished 1-for-4.

The two teams battle in game two on Saturday night at 8:07 p.m. The game can be streamed live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.