Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. ---   #7 Minnesota State continued its winning ways by claiming a 3-0 victory at Lake Superior State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest played in Sault Ste. Marie Friday. 

Coupled with Friday's 7-0 triumph, the Mavericks earned their third consecutive sweep over a WCHA opponent with tonight's win.  Minnesota State has won nine of its last ten games.

The Mavericks jumped out to a 1-0 first-period lead at 16:59 on a goal scored by junior forward Dylan Margonari, who bunted the puck past Gordon Defiel after taking a pass from Brad McClure.  The goal is the fourth of the year for Margonari.

Neither team was able to dent the twine in the middle stanza, but the Mavericks scored twice more in the final period to complete the sweep.

Junior forward Zach Stepan, who had assisted on Margonari's first-period goal, scored from in front of the net at 5:23 of the third to give the Mavericks a two-goal edge. The goal is the first of the year for Stepan. Then, at 6:44, senior forward Matt Leitner tallied his fourth goal of the season to close out the scoring.

Minnesota State owned a 41-21 advantage in shots on goal.

Minnesota State junior netminder Stephon Williams, who finished with 21 saves, improved his record to 11-1-0 in 2014-15. The shut-out is his second of the year and the seventh of his career. Williams' seven career shut-outs move him into a tie with Eric Pateman (1998-02) and Mike Zacharias (2005-09) for first on Minnesota State's all-time list.
 
The Mavericks are 11-3-0 for the season (9-1-0 in WCHA games) and return home next weekend to host Alaska in a pair of WCHA contests at Verizon Wireless Center Friday and Saturday.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the win.