Mankato, Minn. --- Fifth-rated Minnesota State got two goals each from forwards
Brad McClure and
C.J. Suess in skating past Ferris State 4-2 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game played in Mankato Saturday.
The Mavericks, who outshot the Bulldogs 15-5 in the opening 20 minutes, got out to a quick lead when McClure, a senior winger, rifled a shot from the left circle that beat
Justin Kapelmaster high on the glove side for a power play goal at the 4:21 mark of the opening period. The goal is the eighth of the year for McClurer. Suess, also a senior forward
, tallied his 19
th of the season at 9:48 after taking a nice feed from
Parker Tuomie.
Ferris State battled back in the second period, scoring at :57 when
Jacob Hetz fired a shot past
Connor LaCouvee on the short side from the left dot to make it one-goal game. Then, when
Liam MacDougall tipped one past LaCouvee on nifty feed from
Lucas Finner at the nine-minute mark, the game stood tied at 2-2.
The Mavericks scored twice in the final frame to pull away from the Bulldogs and it was a pair of seniors that did the damage. McClure got his second of the game (and the 43rd of his career) at 17:22 when he followed his shot to the net and batted in a rebound to make it 3-2. Then Suess reached the 20-goal plateau for the year at 18:15 with his second goal of the game closing things out and making it a final of 4-2.
The win is the ninth in a row for the Mavericks and ups their record to 25-7-0 overall, 21-5-0 WCHA on the year.
LaCouvee, who made his ninth consecutive start in the game and stopped 18 shots in the process, upped his record to 19-3-0 with the win.
The Mavericks outshot FSU by a 47-20 margin in the contest and the game was played in front of 4,579 fans – the second-largest crowd at Verizon Center this year.
The Mavericks close out the 2017-18 regular season next Friday and Saturday with Bemidji State visiting Mankato for a pair of WCHA contests with a chance to clinch the league regular-season tilte.
Head coach
Mike Hastings commented following the win.