A hat trick by Merchen not enough to keep the Thunder undefeated as they drop game two at Nationals 6-5 in OT. 

 Thursday the Thunder boys played their second game at the USA Hockey High school Nationals against the Colorado Coyotes. The Thunder got on the board early when Merchen scored 1:04 into the game (assist Steen & Welling). Colorado evened it up with a goal with 12:05 remaining. Merchen made it 2-1 (assist Steen) at the 8:10 mark. Thunder began to take control when Hepper made it 3-1 three min later (assist Degeest). Colorado rallied back scoring the last two goals in the 1st period making it 3-3 after one. 

The 2nd period started with a quick goal by Jaxson Reeder (assist Caeyn Howard). The second period concluded with a Colorado goal followed by Merchen (assist Jaxson Reeder). 

The Thunder carried a 5-4 lead into the 3rd period in which they controlled handily until the Coyotes pulled their goalie and were able to tally a game tying goal with 0:12 remaining to send the game into OT. 

In the 3 on 3 OT Colorado was able to score the game deciding goal to hand the Thunder their first loss of the season. 

The Thunder will play their 3rd game of pool play on Friday at 7:30 CST against an 0-2 Maryland team. With a win the Thunder will advance to the weekend bracket rounds.