Mankato, Minn. --- One goal was all it took for Minnesota State to win Friday night’s non-conference men's hockey contest against visiting American International College.
 
And one goal it was with senior Rylan Galiardi's first-period tally proving to be the difference in the 1-0 outcome.

               
Galiardi's goal came at the 17:28 mark with the Mavericks on the power play. The senior captain from Calgary, Alta,  deflected a shot from the point by senior defenseman Kurt Davis that got past AIC sophomore goaltender Ben Meisner. Senior blueliner Ben Youds also had an assist on the play.

MSU sophomore Phil Cook recorded his second career shut-out with his 17 saves in the game and Meisner had 51 saves on the night.  Youds recorded a game-high nine of the Mavericks’ 52 shots on goal. After tallying his assist tonight, Davis is now sole scoring leader for the Mavericks with 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists on the season).  With tonight’s goal, his sixth of the season and his third career game-winning tally, Galiardi extended his point streak to six games.

The Mavericks have now won seven out of their last nine games to improve to 9-8-4 overall, with the Yellow Jackets now standing 4-10-0 on the season.

 The two teams play each other again tomorrow night at the Verizon Wireless Center in downtown Mankato, with a start time of 7:07 p.m. (CST).

Head coach Troy Jutting comments after game: