Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State rallied with a pair of late goals in the third period in Saturday's Senior Night festivities in tying third-ranked Minnesota Duluth, 4-4, in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game played at Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato.
The Mavericks got things going at 1:35 of the opening period with sophomore forward
Zach Lehrke firing a one-timer by goaltender
Kenny Reiter with MSU on the power play at 1:35. Minnesota Duluth responded when
Keegan Flaherty beat Austig Lee with a
shot along the ice on the glove side at 18:39.
The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead when freshman forward
Justin Crandall's wrist shot from the slot found the back of the MSU net at 7:18 of the second, but the Mavericks connected on a five-on-three power play when
Lehrke tallied his 13
th goal of the season at 17:39, sending the two teams to the locker room with the game tied 2-2 after two periods of action.
UMD scored goals at 6:26 and at 7:54 to take a 4-2 lead. MSU senior
Michael Dorr beat
Reiter from the point with the Mavericks on a power play at 17:46 and ten seconds later, center
Eli Zuck connected on a shot from the slot to send the game into overtime.
The two teams battled in overtime ending the game 4-4.
Minnesota Duluth, who outshot the Mavericks by a 42-31 margin in the contest, went 0-for-2 on the power play. Minnesota State was 3-for-7 in power play opportunities.
Now 12-20-2 overall and 8-16-2 WCHA, MSU will complete the 2011-12 regular season with a pair of league road games March 3 and 4 at the University of North Dakota.
-30-