BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Lucas Sowder notched four assists to help Minnesota State to a 6-2 win Friday night at Ferris State to open CCHA play at Ewigleben Arena. Fellow first line forwards Brian Carrabes (two goals, one assist) and Sam Morton (one goal, two assists) also had three-point nights as the Mavericks scored three goals to open the first period and never looked back.
 
"Their success came from playing a team game," Luke Strand reflected on the top-line effort. "It's great they got rewarded with points because they did it by playing the right way. We talked about how we needed to play the first five minutes of a game and I was proud of how the entire team followed through and committed to the way we needed to play. We had a good balance between risk and reward and made smart decisions on the ice."
 
Minnesota State (3-3-1, 1-0-0 CCHA) won its third straight road game in the matchup against Ferris State (3-5-1, 1-2-0 CCHA). The teams conclude the weekend series Saturday at 6:07 central time in Big Rapids.
 
Minnesota State found the offensive zone early and it took the Mavericks just 4:19 to score the game's initial goal. Morton carried the puck through center ice and dropped it off on the left side for a right-handed wrist shot by Carrabes (second goal of the season), which leaked through netminder Noah Giesbrecht.
 
Just over three minutes later, Morton snapped the Mavericks' 0-for-20 power play drought when he fired a one-timer off Evan Murr's pass just inside the top of the right circle. Lucas Sowder collected the second assist.
 
Tyler Haskins made it 3-0 with his first career goal at 12:59. Haskins, left alone on the back door, converted a forehand one-timer. Jordan Steinmetz made the pass through the middle and tallied his third helper of the season.
 
Tyler Schleppe put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard at 16:36. Alex Tracy made a save on the forward rush but Luigi Benincasa skated out of the left corner and fed one cross-ice to Schleppe for a tap-in and the Bulldogs cut the lead to 3-1 after 20 minutes.
 
Carrabes notched his first multi-goal game of the season when he turned around and tipped a Cameron Cichosz shot 1:12 into the second period. Cichosz followed with a rising right-point shot for his first goal of the season and a 5-1 score just over two minutes later. Sowder and Morton assisted and Logan Stein replaced Giesbrecht in goal for Ferris State.
 
In the final minute of the second period, the Mavericks scored on their fourth power play opportunity. Carrabes found Sowder in the left corner on a zone entry. Then Kaden Bohlsen lifted Sowder's quick pass into the upper right corner of the net for a 6-1 advantage heading into the final frame. The Mavericks led 26-24 in shots on goal to that point.
 
Minnesota State surrendered a third period goal to Emerson Good but Alex Tracy made 31 total saves to collect his fourth win. Ferris State outshot the Mavericks 33-31, but the MSU penalty kill kept FSU's power play in check (0-2). MSU finished 2-4 with the man advantage but lost the faceoff battle 32-27.
 
"I think our tough non-conference schedule helped prepare us for this first one in the CCHA tonight, but we know we are going to have to be prepared to play an even better game tomorrow if we want to be successful," Strand said.
 
The Mavericks close out a four-game road stretch Saturday before returning to Mankato next weekend for a series against Bemidji State.