St. Cloud, Minn.  --- #2 Minnesota State rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game, but a late goal by the host Huskies proved to be the difference as 8^th-rated St. Cloud State claimed a 4-3 win Saturday at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
 
The Mavericks, who now stand 3-3-0 for the season with tonight's result, outshot the Huskies by a 37-21 margin in the nonconference contest.
 
The Huskies jumped out to an early 1-0 first-period lead on a Grant Cruikshank shorthanded goal at 7:53, but the Maverick responded a short time later when junior center David Silye converted on a rebound chance at 9:46 in making it 1-1 and that's how the score stood after the first 20 minutes of action.
 
Maverick netminder Alex Tracy got a piece of the puck, but Micah Miller's wrister from the top of the slot at 10:31 of the second period made it a 2-1 St. Cloud State lead. The Huskies took a two-goal lead at 12:08 when Chase Brand deflected Ondrej Trejbal's shot from the point past Tracy. Minnesota State junior winger Josh Groll spun around to take a shot on his forehand, putting the puck past SCSU goaltender Dominic Basse for his third goal of the year at 16:01 and after two periods of play the host Huskies held a 3-2 lead.
 
Senior center Sam Morton registered his second goal of the weekend when he made a nice move down low before roofing a shot high on the shortside to tie the score at 6:39 of the final stanza. Then, working hard on the forecheck, SCSU got the game winner when Cruikshank netted his second goal of the game at 16:34.
 
Freshman netminder Alex Tracy had 17 saves in the game, while Basse finished with 34 stops for the Huskies.
 
The Mavericks begin conference play in their next action with Bowling Green visiting Mankato Friday and Saturday for a pair of Central Collegiate Hockey Association contests.
 

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