Bemidji, Minn. --- In a battle between the top two teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Minnesota State's come from behind effort came up just short in a loss to Bemidji State with the Mavericks dropping a 3-1 decision to the host Beavers Friday night.

It took until early the third, but the Beavers got the game's first goal when Carter Jones snuck one between the pipe on the shortside and Maverick goaltender Dryden McKay, at the 2:35 mark. into the third period. Moments later, the Beavers added another, the eventual game winner, when Charlie Combs scored on a wrist shot from the slot to put the Beavers up 2-0 four minutes into the final period.

Senior center Josh French gave the Mavericks some life with a snapshot from the left dot to bring them within one 11:48 into the third period. The goal is fourth of the season for French.

The Mavericks pulled McKay for an extra attacker late in the contest, but an empty-net tally by Beavers defenseman Brad Johnson at 18:43 closed out the scoring in the game.

The Mavericks, now 28-5-2 overall and 22-4-1-1 in WCHA play, were outshot by the Beavers 34-26 and finished the game 0-for-1 on the power play.

The hunt for the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions continues tomorrow night with a 6:07 p.m. face-off scheduled at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.

Head coach Mike Hastings commented following the game.

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