BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Fourteenth-ranked Minnesota State broke a 1-1 tie with three unanswered goals to win its seventh consecutive game, defeating Ferris State, 4-1 Friday night.
 
Much of the credit for the win belonged to sophomore Keenan Rancier, who stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his seventh win of the month.
 
The victory also vaulted the Mavericks back into first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings, overtaking Bowling Green to lead the Falcons by a point with 38 total points and a game in hand.
 
Despite the hosts controlling much of the first period, MSU took a 1-0 lead, with four minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the frame when junior Ondrej Pavel carried the puck into the FSU zone on the left side. He cut to the net through the left circle, driving the net and sliding the puck through the five hole of Bulldog netminder Noah Giesbrecht.
 
It took the hosts just over three minutes to tie the score when Antonio Venuto tipped a shot by Travis Shoudy behind Rancier to tie the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
 
The second period was controlled by the Mavericks and resulted in the team taking a 3-1 lead.
 
Junior Josh Groll broke the 1-1 tie when he scored at the 7:52 mark of the middle frame. The Bulldogs were unable to recover the puck after senior Ryan Sandelin was thwarted by Giesbrecht on a breakaway but Groll got the puck to the right of the net and scored on his second attempt.
 
It became a 3-1 game less than four minutes later when freshman Simon Tassy cut into the middle from the left side. He fell in the process but had the presence of mind to turn over and slide a perfect pass to junior David Silye, who came in from the left side and shot across Giesbrecht's body.
 
Silye would add his team-leading 19^th goal of the season at 10:48 of the final period, marking his second consecutive two-goal game, when he finished off a feed by junior Jake Livingstone.
 
By going four-for-four on the penalty kill, MSU has killed 14 consecutive power-plays over the last five games.
 
The win raises MSU's record to 17-9-1 overall and 12-6-1 in CCHA action.
 
The two teams will conclude their two-game series at Ferris State's Ewigleben Arena beginning at 5:07 p.m. CST.