Mankato, Minn. --- 12^th-rated Minnesota State used a trio of third-period tallies to pull away from Alabama-Huntsville, 3-1, in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday in Mankato.

After going scoreless in the first two periods in which the Mavericks owned a 37-14 advantage in shots on goal, senior forward Jean-Paul Lafontaine got his first goal of the season at the :51 mark of the third period. Junior forward Bryce Gervais scored on a rebound with the Mavericks on the power play at 3:31 to make it a 2-0 Maverick advantage. UAH got on the board when Brandon Carlson's screened shot from the point with an extra attacker was tipped by Max McHugh past Stephon Williams at 19:30. The final goal of the game came on the ensuing draw after Matt Leitner's face-off win went to Zach Palmquist, and the senior defenseman shot the puck the length of the ice into the open net.

Palmquist had a goal and assist in the win and leads the Mavericks in scoring for the season with 3-3--6, while Leitner contributed a pair of assists to run his totals for 2014-15 to 0-5--5.

The Mavericks went one-for- four in power play chances on the night, while UAH was zero-of-three with the man advantage. Minnesota State owned a 57-18 advantage in shots on goal and the was played in front of  3,171 fans at Verizon Wireless Center.

Now 3-2-0 (1-0-0 WCHA) for the season, the Mavericks and the Chargers (0-5-0, 0-3-0 WCHA) close out the two-game series Saturday night with a 7:07 p.m. face-off scheduled.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.