Mankato, Minn. ---  Minnesota State put 50 shots on goal in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game vs. Bemidji State Friday, but fell by a 4-2 margin to the visiting Beavers in Mankato, Friday.

The loss ended an eight-game winning streak for the third-rated Mavericks.

The Mavericks owned a 12-9 shots on goal advantage in the first 20 minutes of action, but Bemidji State scored the game's first goal. After a turnover, Alex Ierullo took a shot from between the circles that beat Dryden McKay low on the gloveside at 13:11 of the opening period.

The visiting Beavers took a 2-0 lead at 2:20 of the second period, capitalizing on a power play opportunity when Nick Cardelli, who was skating down the right side of the rink, blasted a shot past McKay over the left shoulder.

At 6:43 in the third period the Beavers took a 3-0 lead on a deflection by Tyler Kirkup.   

Then things got interesting. After pulling McKay for an extra attacker with more than six minutes left in regulation, the Mavericks tallied an extra-attacker goal at 15:59 when a puck bounced off of Dallas Gerads past Beaver netminder Zach Driscoll to make it 3-1.   Still with McKay on the bench, senior winger Charlie Gerard got his stick on a shot from the point off the stick of Connor Mackey in redirecting the puck into the net, making it 3-2 at 17:33.  The rally came to an end at the 19:10 mark when Cardelli connected for an empty net goal.

The Mavericks outshot the Beavers by a 50-18 margin in the contest and BSU netminder Zach Driscoll, who finished with 48 saves, was named the game's First Star.

A total of 5,232 fans packed the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center – the fifth-largest crowd in Minnesota State men's hockey history.

The Mavericks, now 23-4-1 overall and 17-3-1 WCHA, continue WCHA action next weekend with a pair of league road contests at Alaska Anchorage.

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