BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – With four second-period goals on Saturday night, No. 18 Minnesota State men's hockey skated away from Ewigleben Ice Arena with an important CCHA series sweep at Ferris State. The final tally was 4-3, and the Mavericks fended off more than two minutes of a Bulldog empty net late in the third period.
 
Four different goal scorers contributed for MSU, including freshmen Reid Morich and Mason LeBel, both of whom also found the scoresheet on Friday.
 
The victory helped the Mavericks (15-8-5, 11-6-3 CCHA) improve to 8-4-3 on the road this year and improve to fourth place in the conference standings with six games remaining in the regular season. The Bulldogs (4-24-0, 3-17-0 CCHA) suffered their 12^th straight defeat.

"It was great to get the sweep," said head coach Luke Strand. "None of us would say that is our formula to win but winning is hard. The power play stepped up and Alex (Tracy) was excellent in net. The off weekend will come at a good time to revisit some of our play and get our group some rest for the stretch."
 
FSU began with a burst of offense. Jack Silich deflected the puck into the neutral zone and cut the middle of the ice for a wrist shot goal 58 seconds into the opening period. Emerson Goode assisted.
 
The Bulldogs made it 2-0 on the power play at 2:11 of the second period. Max Dukovac one-timed in a shot, and Caden Brown assisted.
 
The Mavericks answered. Following a left offensive zone faceoff, Fin Williams fired a shot on goal from inside the left dot, and LeBel backhanded in the rebound for his second goal and third point of the weekend. Fellow freshman Jordan Ronn also assisted on the goal at 6:48.
 
In a triangle of passing on the power play, Alex Zetterberg finished off a one-timer for his fifth goal of the game and tied it 2-2 at 13:16 of the middle stanza. It took Campbell Cichosz less than a minute more to give MSU its first lead. Cichosz skated from the defensive zone, went around the outside of a defenseman and shoveled it across the line as he fell to the end boards. Cichosz' unassisted marker was his second of the year.
 
Not yet done, Rylan Bonkowski assisted on Morich's tap-in on the backside of the crease to make it 4-2 Mavericks in the second period. It was Bonkowski's first career point at MSU. Defenseman Ralfs Bergmanis notched his 12^th assist on the play.
 
The Bulldogs scored their second power play goal of the evening in the third period. John Lundy wristed one in from the high slot over the blocker of Alex Tracy at 5:58, cutting MSU's advantage to 4-3 but it was as close as they would get.
 
MSU broke its power play drought (0-23) and finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage while Ferris State converted 2-4 power plays. Tracy made 29 saves for the Mavericks and Noah Rupprecht turned aside 28 shots for the Bulldogs. The Mavericks won 32 of 62 draws.
 
With a split against Ferris State at home in December, the Mavericks grabbed the season series against FSU 3-1. After next weekend off, the Mavericks host Bemidji State on Friday, February 13 at 7:07 p.m. CT and Saturday, February 14 at 6:07 p.m. CT at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.