Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. ---   #4 Minnesota State scored the first three goals of the game and did not relinquish the lead in skating to a 4-2 win at #20 Lake Superior State Friday.

Bolstered by two goals from sophomore winger Walker Duehr, the visiting Mavericks led 3-0 after the first 20 minutes of action. Duehr, a Sioux Falls, S.D., native fired the puck from the left boards that bounced off a skate past Nick Kossoff at 4:13 of the first period for his first goal of the year.  A power play marker from Connor Mackey at 8:12 made it a 2-0 Minnesota State lead and when Duehr tallied his second of the game after a nice play from Jared Spooner at 17:17, the Mavericks entered the locker room owning a 3-0 lead.

The Mavericks owned a 5-4 shot advantage in the second period, but the Lakers were the ones to find the back of the net. At 17:51, after a tremendous save by Minnesota State's freshman goaltender Dryden McKay, Diego Cuglietta cashed in on a rebound chance for his sixth goal of the year.

The Mavericks regained their three-goal lead at 11:03 of the final period when junior center Marc Michaelis deflected a shot from the point by Wyatt Aamodt past Kossoff on the stickside.  The goal by Michaelis is his team-high ninth of the year

Freshman Dryden McKay (4-2-0 overall), who made his fifth start of the year, stopped 16 of the 18 shots he faced in the contest.

With tonight's win the Mavericks are 11-2-0 (6-1-0 WCHA) on the season. The Lakers fall to 7-5-1 overall, 4-4-1 WCHA with tonight's loss.

The two teams square-off again Saturday with a 7:07 p.m. EST face-off scheduled for Taffy Abel Arena.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented after the win.