Bemidji, Minn.  ---  Bemidji State took a 3-0 first-period lead and never trailed in handing #2 Minnesota State a 5-2 loss in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest played in Bemidji Friday evening.

Defenseman Matt Prapavessis got things going for Bemidji State when he tallied at 5:28 on s shot from the slot.  It became a 2-0 Beaver lead at 12:51 when John Parker took advantage of a shorthanded chance and scored with a shot that beat Maverick netminder Stephon Williams on the glove side.  Following a turnover in the Minnesota State zone, Markus Gerbrandt scored BSU's third goal of the period to chase Williams, who was replaced by Cole Huggins.

The Mavericks cut the deficit to two when junior forward Bryce Gervais wired a shot past Michael Bitzer just eight seconds in to the second period for his 21^st goal of the year.  The Battleford, Sask., native struck again at 11:50 as the Mavericks pulled within one after he one-timed a shot past Bitzer after taking a nice pass from Matt Leitner.  A neutral zone turnover by the Mavericks led to a goal by Nate Arentz at 15:05 and BSU entered the locker room at the end of two periods owning a 4-2 lead.

Parker scored an empty net goal to seal the win for the Beavers when he got his second goal of the game at 18:40 of the third.

Minnesota State, which went scoreless in three chances on the power play, outshot the Beavers by 25-19 margin in the contest as junior netminder Stephon Williams, who stopped seven of the ten shots he faced, saw his record for the year fall to 20-5-3 with the loss. Huggins finished with seven saves on eight shots.

The Mavericks totaled seven penalties for 25 minutes.  Bemidji State had four penalties for eight minutes.

The Mavericks are now 24-7-3 on the season (20-4-3 WCHA) with tonight's loss. Bemidji State stands 16-14-2 (12-10-5 WCHA).

The two teams close out the WCHA regular season Saturday with a 7:07 p.m. face-off scheduled at BSU's Sanford Center.

Minnesota State men's hockey coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.