St. Paul,  Minn.  ---    #19 Minnesota State went toe-to-toe with #3 St. Cloud State Saturday in semi-final action of the third annual North Star College Cup, but it was the Huskies who ultimately came away with the 5-4 victory.

The Mavericks struck first when sophomore forward Zach Stepan tapped a loose puck into the SCSU net for a power play marker at 4:52 of the opening frame.  The Huskies answered at 8:43 on a partial breakaway goal from Patrick Russell and then took the lead on a power play chance from by Mikey Eyssimont at 9:55.  The goal with the man advantage is the first power play goal given up by the Mavericks since Nov. 21 and ended a streak of 41 consecutive successful penalty kills by Minnesota State. Senior forward Dylan Margonari, skating in off the rush, wristed a shot that beat Charlie Lindgren high on the stick side at 19:32 and the two teams entered the locker room at the end of the first period knotted at 2-2.

St. Cloud State, which entered the weekend having won eight times in its last 11 games, took the lead again at on Essyimont's second power play goal of the game at 9:15 of the second. At this point, Minnesota State coach replaced starting goaltender Jason Pawloski with junior Cole Huggins, but it became a 4-2 SCSU advantage less than a minute later on a Jacob Benson shot that got past Huggins high on the stickside. The Mavericks cut the deficit to 4-3 when sophomore forward Brad McClure deflected Jon Jutzi's shot from the point past Lindgren at 15:19.  The goal is the third of the year for McClure and the Huskies clung to a one-goal lead at the end of 40 minutes.

C.J. Franklin backhanded a rebound off a shot from McClure past Lindgren at 9:38 of the third as the Mavericks evened the score for the third time in the game.  The Huskies, who entered the weekend ranking second in the nation in power play percentage, retook the lead for good at 16:41 when Jimmy Murray capitalized with the man advantage on a shot from the right circle.

The Mavericks finished the game with a one-for-three performance with the man advantage.  The Huskies converted on three-of-four chances on the power play in the game.

Huggins and Pawloski combined to make 17 saves in the game and Huggins, who now stands 5-7-0 for the year, absorbed the decision. The Mavericks outshot the Huskies by a 33-22 margin in the game.

Minnesota State, which stands 13-9-5 overall and is 12-3-5 in WCHA games, play tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. against the loser between Bemidji State and the University of Minnesota.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.




                       
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