Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State bolted to a 4-0 first-period lead and never trailed en route to a 9-0 Central Collegiate Hockey Association win over visiting St. Thomas Thursday.
Junior center
Nathan Smith finished with a three-point night on two goals and an assist in the win, while
Jake Livingstone and
Julian Napravnik both had a goal and two assists. Senior netminder
Dryden McKay was perfect with his 13 saves giving him his fourth shut-out of the season.
Senior defenseman
Wyatt Aamodt connected on a bomb from the point at 3:14 of the first period, with his first goal of the season staking the Mavericks to a 1-0 lead. Minnesota State scored three times in less than a minute later on in building a 4-0 lead before the end of the period. Junior winger
Ryan Sandelin buried his sixth goal of the year after
Brendan Furry's pass found him in the slot
at 13:24.
Lucas Sowder recorded his second goal of the season at 13:42 and
Julian Napravnik's sixth marker of the season came at 14:20 and the Mavericks entered the locker room owning a 4-0 lead at the end of 20 minutes of action.
A trio of goals made it a 7-0 Minnesota State lead after 40 minutes. A pair of tallies from
Nathan Smith – one at 1:21 and another at 8:54 – extended the lead to 6-0 and sophomore defenseman
Jake Livingstone jumped up on the play and collected his fourth goal of the year at 13:47 to give the Mavericks a seven-goal cushion.
The host Mavericks scored twice in the third period - first when junior forward
Ryan Sandelin tipped a shot from
Bennett Zmolek past Jacob Berge at 3:54 and then when sophomore center
Ondrej Pavel tallied at 6:13.
Senior forward
Reggie Lutz became the 16
th player for Minnesota State (NCAA Division I-era) to reach the century mark for career points when he assisted on Lucas Sowder's first-period goal. Lutz also assisted on Livingstone's goal for a two-point night. And while he didn't register a point in the game, senior defenseman
Andy Carroll turned in a +7 performance.
Smith has extended his point-scoring streak to nine games with tonight's effort and leads the Mavericks in scoring with 8-12—20 on the season.
McKay upped his record to 10-3-0 with the victory and the shutout extends his NCAA DI men's hockey career record to 28.
Minnesota State, which stands 10-3-0 for 2021-22 (6-1-0 CCHA), plays against St. Thomas again Saturday, with a 7:07 p.m. face-off slated for Mendota Heights.
- 30 -
