Duluth, Minn. --- Senior winger Reggie Lutz scored three times as #1-ranked Minnesota State skated to a 5-2 victory over tenth-rated Providence in the first round of the 2021 Ice Breaker Tournament in Duluth Friday.

Lutz, who boosted his season goal total to five for the year with tonight's performance, got the ball rolling at 13:27 of the opening period after Lucas Sowder forced a turnover behind the Providence net. Sowder sent the puck to David Silye, who was standing on the left side of the net where the Elk River native fired the puck past Jaxson Stauber.  Providence evened things up at 14:06, but Ryan Sandelin's first goal of the year, which came at the 18:30 mark, gave the Mavericks a 2-1 edge at the end of the first 20 minutes of action.

It became a 2-2 game at 1:38 of the second period on a Providence goal by Kohen Olischefski, but when junior center Nathan Smith scored his fourth goal of the year at 11:10, Minnesota State regained a one-goal lead.  Lutz capitalized on a on power play opportunity with a one-timer from the right circle at 10:41 to make it 4-2 and then closed out the scoring in the contest with an empty-net marker at 19:09. 

The Mavericks, who outshot Providence by a 37-20 margin in the contest, have now outscored their opponents 9-0 in the third period in five games this year.

Lutz's hat trick, the first of his career, marks the first hat trick by a Minnesota State player since Nick Rivera accomplished the feat vs. Alabama-Huntsville Feb. 22, 2020.

Junior forward Brendan Furry contributed two assists in the win and senior winger Julian Napravnik, who assisted on Nathan Smith's goal, has extended his point-scoring streak to five games (2-4--6).

Senior netminder Dryden McKay, who turned aside 18 shots to get the victory, stands 4-1-0 for the year and is 79-16-4 for his college career.

Minnesota State, now 4-1-0 for 2021-22, awaits its opponent for tomorrow's championship game and will play the winner between #3 Michigan and #5 Minnesota Duluth.  If the Mavericks play UMD, the game is at 7:37 p.m. If it's Michigan, the game will be played at 4:07 p.m.

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