Denver, Colo.  ---  Minnesota State scored first, but could not hold on in dropping a 4-2 decision at third-rated Denver Friday night.

The Mavericks struck first at the 15:23 mark of the opening frame when freshman forward Jean-Paul Lafontaine grabbed a rebound off of a shot from the point by junior defenseman Evan Mosey and put the puck past DU’s Adam Murray on the stickside.

The Pioneers got a pair of goals from senior wing Luke Salazar in the second stanza in building a 2-1 edge. His first tally was at the 9:54 mark in which he pounced on a rebound after a shot by Jason Zucker and the second at 19:11 with a shot low to the stickside after DU gained possession in the neutral zone.

Sophomore Zach Lehrke tipped in a pass from Adam Mueller at 1:17 of the third to tie the game, but Drew Shore’s power play marker at 6:18 allowed the Pioneers to regain the lead.  Nick Shore’s empty-net tally at 19:18 rounded out the scoring in the game and gave the Pioneers the 4-2 win.

DU, which converted on one of three power play chances, owned a 38-25 advantage in shots on goal in the game.  The Mavericks went zero-for-five with the man advantage and is now zero-for-22 on the season in power play chances.

Now 1-4-0, 0-1-1 WCHA on the year, the Mavericks conclude the two-game WCHA series with the Pioneers (2-1-0, 1-0-0 WCHA) with a 7:07 p.m. MST face-off scheduled for DU’s Magness Arena Saturday.

Head coach Troy Jutting comments:



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