The Packer boys hockey team struggled with consistency as it fell to Mankato East 5-4 in overtime at Riverside Arena Saturday.

The Cougars (1-5 overall, 1-3 Big Nine) won the game when Judd Shultz fired in a slap shot with 6:33 left in overtime.

Austin (2-3 overall, 0-1 Big Nine) had rallied to tie the game in the third when Ethan Larson, who scored two goals and had one assist, fired in a one-timer on a pin-point pass from Adam Maxfield and Tony Baudler knocked in a loose puck while being taken down from behind to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:34 left in the third.

“We came back in the third, but when we tied it up, it was almost like we didn’t want it,” Austin head coach Erik LaRock said. “We played well for half of the game and the other half of the game we didn’t play at all. They just took advantage and they wanted it more than us.”

Momentum swung against the Packers in the second period when it looked like Cole Nicol was headed for a shorthanded breakaway score to give the Packers a 3-2 lead. Instead, a penalty was called on the Packers and the Cougars netted two powerplay goals in a 30-second spurt to take the lead. East finished 3-for-5 on powerplays and Austin went 0-for-4 on powerplays.

“We took a couple of dumb penalties,” LaRock said.

Austin goalie Rainer Londino-Green finished with 40 saves in the loss.

SCORING SUMMARY

East 1 3 0 1 — 5

Austin 1 1 2 0 — 4

First period

(A) Ethan Larson (Tony Baudler, Nick Castellano) 12:47

(M) Carter Johnson 14:41

Second period

(A) Baudler (Castellano) 6:34

(M) Austin Eesley 10:13

(M) Johnson (powerplay) 16:00

(M) Neil Nienaber (powerplay) 16:30

Third period

(A) Larson (Adam Maxfield) 1:31

(A) Baudler (Larson) 4:26

OT

(M) Judd Schultz (powerplay) (Grayson Gavin, Johnson) 1:27

Shots: Austin — 33; Mankato East — 45

Powerplays: Austin — 0-for-4; Mankato East — 3-for-5