ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Aided by a three-goal first period, St. Cloud State defeated the Michigan Tech hockey team 6-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association competition Friday night at the National Hockey Center. Senior Chris Conner provided his team-leading 17th goal of the season and extended his point streak (1-2--3) to two games in the contest.

SCSU scored its first goal of the evening on the power play at the 5:34 mark of the opening period, when Dan Kronick tallied one of his two goals on the night.

Andrew Gordon notched the home team's next two markers -- a shorthanded goal at 15:06 and an even-strength score at 17:45.

The Huskies of MTU held the upper hand in the middle session, as they compiled a 9-7 shot advantage and picked up a shorthanded goal in the process. Conner lit up the scoreboard at the 10:16 mark after he beat SCSU goaltender Bobby Goepfert high on the stick side off of a clean breakaway. Senior John Scott chipped in the lone assist on the goal after his clearing attempt bounced onto Conner's stick near St. Cloud State's blueline. Scott's helper was his second of the year and extended his point streak (1-1--2) to two games.

Kronick scored again at 18:46 of the second stanza, which gave him 10 goals on the season.

The Huskies of SCSU put the game out of reach in the third frame, as Brock Hooton and Gordon combined to give their team a five-goal cushion. Hooton struck at 13:50 and Gordon earned the hat trick with a power-play tally at 18:50.

MTU compiled 27 shots overall, compared to 29 for SCSU.

Freshman Rob Nolan made 23 saves in net for Tech, while Goepfert finished with 22 stops and improved his season record to 16-10-3.

Michigan Tech (7-21-5, 6-14-5 WCHA) will look to secure a split with St. Cloud State (18-12-3, 13-11-1 WCHA) Saturday night at the National Hockey Center. The puck will drop at 8:07 p.m. EST.

Notes: Conner now ranks first among WCHA players in shorthanded points (4-2--6) this year after his shorty tonight.