Box Score Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State found itself trailing early in the game, but once getting the lead, did not relinquish it in downing Bemidji State 5-2 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday.

Bemidji State freshman forward Brendan Harms took a pass on the left wing and beat Cole Huggins with a shot on the stick side at 12:46 if the first period to open the scoring. The Mavericks owned a 14-10 advantage in shots on goal in the period, but the Beavers entered the first intermission owning a 1-0 lead.

The Mavericks tied it up at 3:14 of the second after junior forward Jean-Paul Lafontaine collected a rebound and wristed the puck into an open net.

Freshman forward Michael Huntebrinker scored his first career goal at 2:30 of the third after taking a nice feed from Brett Knowles to give the Mavericks their first lead of the game. Freshman forward Zach Stepan gave the Mavericks a two-goal cushion with a power play marker at the five-minute mark and senior forward Zach Lehrke got his seventh goal of the season at 13:44 to make it 4-1. BSU got one back at 16:45, but junior defenseman Zach Palmquist tallied his third goal of the year with the Mavericks on the power play at 17:56 for the final scoring in the contest.

Stepan, who recorded his first career game-winning goal in tonight's game, also had an assist for a two-point night. Jean-Paul Lafontaine finished with a goal and an assist and now has 9-9—18 in the last ten games. Zach Palmquist had a goal and an assist and has registered 1-5—6 in the last seven games. Junior forward Matt Leitner contributed a pair of assists and now has a seven-game point streak going in which he's tallied 4-10--14.

Minnesota State, which owned a 48-28 advantage in shots on goal, converted on two-of-four power play chances in the game. The Mavericks had five penalties for ten minutes, while the Beavers had five penalties for ten minutes in the contest.

MSU now stands 16-13-0, 14-7-0 WCHA while the Beavers are 8-14-7, 8-9-4 WCHA. The game was played in front of 3,526 fans at Verizon Wireless Center.

The Mavericks and the Beavers play again tomorrow night with a 7:07 p.m., face-off scheduled.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.



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