MANKATO, Minn. – Lucas Sowder scored in the third period but Minnesota State settled for a 2-2 overtime tie against Northern Michigan Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The Wildcats won the shootout 2-1 to grab an extra point in the CCHA standings.
 
"The conference is tight and they're a good team," reflected head coach Luke Strand. "Northern played a good game. I thought we had our moments of being pushy as far as what we wanted to get done but then there were moments where we lagged. We took back-to-back penalties and gave up a goal right after that. We gave up a faceoff goal too so those things are a recipe to end up in the wrong column."
 
Sowder's recorded his tying goal at the 8:56 mark of the third and it came less than a minute after he had a scoring play disallowed after official review. On the marker that counted, Sowder took a feed from Sam Morton on the back door and shoveled it in, bookending a 2-on-1 rush up the ice.
 
"I think especially in the third period of a 2-1 game, when you think you've scored and it gets waived back, it's easy to deflate; but our guys kinda' said, sometimes you don't get the bounce and we went back out there and it just went off me again. Just a fortuitous bounce," said Sowder.
 
The Mavericks earned chances in overtime. Brandon Koch sent a shot off the facemask of goaltender Beni Halasz from a sharp angle and Northern Michigan went to the penalty box for too many players on the ice, enabling a 4-on-3 advantage following a timeout.
 
Artem Schlaine blocked a shot for NMU, then broke free of Morton. With Schlaine barreling toward Tracy alone, Sowder stymied the scoring chance with a hooking minor that put the teams back at even strength with 6.8 seconds remaining.
 
Minnesota State grabbed the early advantage in the shootout. After both goaltenders stopped their first attempt, Morton slowly stickhandled his way to a goal. Then Grant Slukynsky and Matkei Kabanov scored for NMU and Halasz turned aside Sowder's attempt.
 
Kabanov also scored in the second period off a faceoff as he snuck in from the top of the left circle and rifled a shot to the far side to make it 2-1 Wildcats. The Mavericks did post an lead early 1-0. Evan Murr put away his fifth marker of the year on MSU's third of four first-period power play opportunities. Kaden Bohlsen assisted after he pulled a draw back to the defenseman, whose high wrister found its way through traffic in front.
 
"Special teams were huge for our club and theirs, so when we get opportunities out of the gate, we have to take advantage of them," Sowder said.
 
The Wildcats tied it 1-1 at 17:53 of the second. Jack Perbix cleaned up a loose puck in the crease just after Sowder's slashing minor expired at 17:53. Kabanov's goal followed less than two minutes later.
 
Friday represented the second straight overtime affair between the two teams in Mankato, after the Mavericks downed the Wildcats in last season's CCHA Championship game. Zach Krajnik tallied the game-winner as MSU swept the 2022-23 season series 3-0.
 
Minnesota State finished 1-5 on the power play while Northern Michigan went 0-2. Halasz (5-8-3) closed with 22 saves, plus two of three in the shootout while Alex Tracy (8-6-4) stopped 17 shots for the Mavericks.
 
"I think we played a solid game tonight, but it came down to tiny little details that we gotta' clean up and we'll be better tomorrow," Sowder said.
 
The Mavericks (12-9-4, 8-5-2 CCHA) played in front of 4,667 fans and host the Wildcats for the conclusion of the series Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. The Wildcats improved to 8-12-3 on the year, 6-8-1 in CCHA play.