MANKATO, Minn. --- Three goals by #2/#1 St. Cloud State proved to be the difference Saturday evening as the Huskies handed #1/#2 Minnesota State's its first loss of the season via the score of 3-1.
 
With the win, SCSU improves to 3-1-0, while MSU drops to 3-1-0.
 
The first period favored the Huskies as they found the net twice to take an early 2-0 lead. Nolan Walker broke the ice with an unassisted goal at 3:20 of the first period on a play where he skated down the left side of the rink before bouncing the puck off a Maverick player stationed in front of the net. Less than four minutes later the Huskies added to their lead as Mason Salquist found the back of the net off of a rebound at 6:46 to put St. Cloud State up 2-0.
 
The second period saw both teams get multiple opportunities on the power play but it was St. Cloud State that was able to cash in as Veeti Miettinen found twine, again with t he puck bouncing in off of a shin pad at 18:30 to put the Huskies up 3-0.
 
The Mavericks finally got on the board as senior winger Reggie Lutz tallied his second goal of the season at the 16:50 mark of the third period to cut the SCSU lead to two at 3-1. The Mavericks pulled McKay for the extra attacker for the final 3:31 but the scoring remained elusive for both teams as the Huskies hung on for the 3-1 win.
 
David Hrenak (3-1-0) picked up the win for the Huskies as he stopped 22-of-23 shots. Senior netminder Dryden McKay took the loss as he stopped 16-of-19 SCSU shots.  
 
Minnesota State will continue its season on Friday in Duluth, Minn., as it takes part in the two-day Ice Breaker Tournament hosted by Minnesota Duluth. The Mavericks will square off with Providence with the opening face-off scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
 
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