Madison, Wis. --- Minnesota State dropped a 4-3 decision at third-rated Wisconsin Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday in Madison.
The two teams battled through a scoreless opening frame before MSU sophomore forward Mike Louwerse backhanded a shot past UW netminder Scott Gudmanson at 14:24 of the second stanza for his fifth goal of the season. Then, with two Mavericks in the penalty box, the Badgers evened the score when Michael Davis shoveleda shot off of his own rebound past MSU freshman Phil Cook at 15:39. Wisconsin went up 2-1 on another rebound power play goal by Davies at 16:10. The Badgers got their third power play goal of the period at 19:12 with forward Blake Geoffrion getting credit.
UW forward Aaron Bendickson finished off an odd-man shorthanded rush with a shot to Cook’s gloveside at 11:33 to make it 4-1, but MSU senior forward Zach Harrison’s shorthanded tally at 15:48 cut the deficit to two. The goal is Harrison’s sixth career shorthanded goal, which ties the school record with five other players. Senior forward Kael Mouillierat made it a one-goal game when he tallied on a penalty shot for MSU with one minute left in the game.
The game marked the ninth one-goal loss of the season for the Mavericks and freshman netminder Phil Cook was credited with a career-high 40 saves in the contest.
Minnesota State, which was outshot by a 44-22 margin in the game, now stands 12-15-2 overall, 6-14-1 WCHA. Wisconsin is 17-7-4 with the win and is 12-6-3 in league action.
The two teams are scheduled to play again Saturday with an 8:07 p.m. face-off scheduled for UW’s Kohl Center.
