Mankato, Minn. --- A pair of goals from junior forward Jared Spooner helped Minnesota State overpower Lake Superior State 5-1 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game played in Mankato Friday night.

The host Mavericks, who also got two assists from senior forward Charlie Gerard, two assists from senior center Marc Michaelis and two assists from senior defenseman Ian Scheid in the game, have extended their winning streak to eight games with tonight's victory.

Minnesota State owned an 11-7 shots on goal advantage in the first period, but the score stood 0-0 at the end of the opening 20 minutes of action.

Junior winger Dallas Gerads picked up his second goal of the season when he connected on a power play chance at 4:47 of the second period after taking a cross ice pass from Marc Michaelis.  Charlie Gerard had the secondary assist on the goal.  Senior winger Parker Tuomie made it a 2-0 Minnesota State lead at 14:21, when he wristed a shot from the right dot past Mareks Mitens with the Mavericks on the power play.  The goal, which was assisted by Michaelis and Ian Scheid, is the seventh of the year for Tuomie. The Lakers pulled within one of the Mavericks at 18:150 on a goal from Pete Veillette.

The host Mavericks, who took an 11-0 record on the season when leading after two periods of play into the final period of action, regained their two-goal cushion 8:48 when Jared Spooner found the back of the net after taking a pass from Gerard. The goal for Spooner is his fourth of the season.  Then, at 11:07, Minnesota State took a 4-1 lead on a play that started with Ian Scheid passing the puck to Nathan Smith, who found junior center Jake Jaremko unattended in the left circle and the Nowthen, Minn., native made no mistake in striking for his fourth goal of the year.  An insurance tally at 17:11 from Spooner, with the Mavericks on the power play, closed out the scoring in the game.

Junior Dryden McKay, who finished with 20 saves in the game, now stands 12-1-1 for the season.

The Mavericks, now 13-1-1 overall, outshot the Lakers by a 31-21 margin in the game and went three-for-four in power plays while holding the Lakers to a zero-for four performance with the man advantage. The two teams close out the two-game series Saturday night with a 6:07 p.m. face-off scheduled for Mankato Civic Center.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.