BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Greg Shepherd won't show up in the box score but he had more of an impact on Thursday's first NCAA men's ice hockey national semifinal -- won 3-2 by New Hampshire over Cornell -- than anybody on the ice.

The Big Red dominated from the opening minute of play, and to nearly all of the 18,637 in attendance at the HSBC Arena, they appeared to draw first blood.

	UNH goalie Mike Ayers disputes a Cornell goal that was later overturned.

Cornell went up 1-0 on the scoreboard at 12:06 of the first period when right winger Shane Palahicky redirected a shot from the left point by defenseman Jeremy Downs that beat UNH goaltender Mike Ayers to the glove side.

As soon as Ayers realized the puck was in the net and ruled a goal by referee Don Adam, he went to the WCHA official to complain.

"I initially thought it was a high stick," Ayers said. "I wasn't too sure but I immediately went to the ref and said my peace and he said 'we'll go upstairs with it.' I just kind of relaxed and I had a good feeling about it."

After a lengthy video review by Shepherd, the WCHA Supervisor of Officials, it was ruled that Palahicky redirected the puck with a high stick.

Rule 6-20-c of the NCAA Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules Book states: "Batting the puck above the height of four feet with the stick is prohibited." Four feet is the height of the crossbar.

Additionally, the NCAA Ice Hockey Video Replay Protocol states: "The use of instant replay is permissible in tournament competition. A replay must be conclusive for an instant-replay official to overturn an on-ice official's call. One of the following criteria must be met: f) A puck hit into the net by a high stick."

As momentum shifts go, this one was a tsunami.

Before the disallowed goal, Cornell held a 7-1 shot advantage. From that point to the end of the period, UNH registered the next 10 shots.

"The start of the game they had our number and had a lot of shots on us," Ayers said. "We were fortunate enough to get the right call and once that goal was disallowed I thought the guys really stepped it up."

	“	The start of the game they had our number and had a lot of shots on us. We were fortunate enough to get the right call and once that goal was disallowed I thought the guys really stepped it up. ”
		— New Hampshire's Mike Ayers on the momentum changing overturned goal

"That was the part when we needed a momentum shift," UNH captain Patrick Foley added. "We weren't playing our game and that was a big momentum swing.

Just over two minutes after the video reversal, the Wildcats took a real 1-0 lead when center Tim Horst fired a shot from the slot that beat Cornell goalie David LeNeveu. UNH went on to score the next two goals -- both by right winger Steve Saviano -- to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

Cornell did close the gap with two goals, and the Big Red had a great opportunity in the final minute when captain Stephen Baby tried to go short side on Ayers, but the UNH goalie dove across the crease to make a spectacular save with his head.

That buzzing sound after the game wasn't Ayers trying to clear any cobwebs but rather was clearly about the first-period goal that wasn't.

"It was obviously a little bit of a letdown," Baby said of the video ruling. "But there's nothing you can do."

"I have no complaints," Cornell coach Mike Schafer added. "We had our opportunities."

Two weeks ago at the East Regional final in Providence, Cornell was the beneficiary of a disallowed goal when the video replay ruled a Boston College player was in the crease on a goal that would have given the Eagles a 2-1 lead late in the third period.

Cornell went on to win that game 2-1 in double overtime. Without that video victory, the Big Red never would have made it to the Frozen Four.

Live by the video replay, die by the video replay.

David Albright is a senior editor at ESPN.com and can be reached at david.albright@espn3.com.