Houghton, Mich. --- #1 Minnesota State extended its winning streak to 11 games with a 2-1 win at #13/14 Michigan Tech Saturday.
The victory, 20
th in the last 21 games, ups the Mavericks' record to 31-5-0.
Michigan Tech outshot the Mavericks by a 7-4 margin and held a 1-0 lead after one period of action when
Brian Halonen scored on a backhanded chance at 2:47.
The Mavericks scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Junior center
Nathan Smith wired a shot off the rush past
Blake Pietela at 3:35 with his 17
th goal of the season knotting the score at 1-1. Junior winger
Lucas Sowder capitalized on a power play chance right in front of the net, going upstairs with a backhanded shot at 15:21 to score his fifth goal of the year.
Tech owned a 12-5 shots on goal advantage in the third period, but could not find a way to get puck past Maverick senior netminder
Dryden McKay. McKay finished the game with 25 saves and stands 31-4-0 on the season.
The Mavericks, who finished the regular season with a 23-3-0 league mark, begin the postseason next weekend with a best-of-three CCHA quarterfinal series that begins in Mankato Friday.
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