Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State trailed early, but scored twice in the second period and added two more in the third in skating to a 4-2 win over visiting Lake Superior State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest played in Mankato Friday night.
Despite being outshot by a 12-5 margin in the first period, the Lakers held a 1-0 lead by virtue of a goal from
Luke Morgan, who deflected a shot from
J.T. Henke at 18:22 past Maverick senior netminder
Cole Huggins.
The Mavericks scored twice early in the second period to take a one-goal lead. Just 41-seconds in senior winger
Zach Stepan wristed a shot from the left boards that beat
Gordon Defiel high on the glove side. Senior defenseman
Sean Flanagan scored his third goal of the season on a slap shot from the left point that beat a screened Defiel at 2:34. LSSU tied it up at 9:25 when
Josh Nenadal got the blade of his stick on a shot from the left side of the ice from
Ryan Renz and the puck found its way past Huggins on the shortside.
Freshman winger
Park Tuomie snapped a shot from the top of the right circle past Defiel at 3:07 of the third frame to give Minnesota State a 3-2 lead. Junior forward
Brad McClure took a pass
from Josh French and drifted across the slot before going top shelf at 11:54 in making it 4-2. The goal is his 12
th of the year.
Minnesota State, which was zero-for-one on the power play, put 34 shots on goal in the contest. The Lakers went scoreless sin three power play chances.
Maverick netminder
Cole Huggins, who started for the first time since Dec. 16
th, made 20 stops and now stands 8-4-0 on the year.
Flanagan, who had a goal and an assist and was +1, was named the game's First Star. Tuomie, named the third star of the game, got his first career game-winning goal, and French, who had two assists and was +2, was named the second star.
The Mavericks are 15-9-3 on the season with tonight's win and stand 10-3-1 in WCHA contests. Lake Superior State now stands 11-13-3 overall, 8-10-3-1 WCHA with tonight's result.
The Mavericks and the Lakers close out the two-game league series Saturday night with a 7:07 p.m. face-off scheduled for Verizon Center in Mankato.
Head coach
Mike Hastings commented following the win.
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