MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State beat Michigan Tech 5-2 Friday in the first contest of the weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Verizon Wireless Center in downtown Mankato. 

Just 4:05 into the first period, Maverick senior wing Geoff Irwin's wrister from the top of the circle beat Husky freshman goaltender Kevin Genoe with MSU on the power play. Maverick sophomore wing Mike Louwerse beat Genoe for MSU's second goal 11:21 into the first period, again with MSU on the power play. Then, senior center Zach Harrison put another tally on the board for the Mavericks when he put the puck past Genoe low on the glove side 16:55 into the first period. Genoe, who had stopped six of nine shots, was then replaced by sophomore Josh Robinson in the MTU net. 

Irwin came around the back of the net and put the puck in low on the left side to beat Robinson 2:41 into the second period for the fourth Maverick tally and Irwin’s second goal of the night. Senior center Jerad Stewart put goal number five on the board for the Mavericks when he beat Robinson high on the stick side 7:31 into the second period with a Michigan Tech player in the box. Michigan Tech’s senior wing Drew Dobson beat sophomore Maverick goaltender Austin Lee for Tech's first goal of the contest 9:22 into the second period. Sophomore center Brett Olson's low shot off a rebound on a Husky power play 15:58 into the second period made it a 5-2 MSU lead and closed out the scoring in the game with neither team able to dent the twine in the third period. 

Zach Harrison, who was named the game's First Star, had a goal and three assists in pacing the MSU offense. Geoff Irwin chipped in with two goals and an assist and junior defenseman Ben Youds, who leads the Mavericks with ten assists on the year, contributed three assists. 

The Mavericks, who out shot the Huskies 41-29, went three-for-seven on the power play while the Huskies went one-for-three. MSU, now 5-7-1 overall and 3-7-1 in WCHA play, finish the series against Michigan Tech (3-8-0, 2-7-0 WCHA) Saturday at 7:07 p.m. in Mankato.