HOUGHTON, Mich. - Minnesota State scored with 1:02 remaining in
overtime to claim a 3-2 win over Michigan Tech in Western
Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday (Nov. 21). The two
teams finished the evening nearly identical in every statistical
category, but the Mavericks out shot the Huskies 32-26. Mankato
improves to 6-3-2 and 4-3-2 in the WCHA and Tech falls to 2-8-1 and
1-7-1 in the league.
"We complicated the game tonight," said head coach Jamie
Russell. "We did not play a simple game and make simple
decisions. You can't sit on a 1-0 lead. You need to drive to get
that second goal."
The Huskies got on the board first at 4:25 of the first period.
Sophomore Eric Kattelus sent a hard shot on net that was
blocked by senior goalie Mike Zacharias but freshman Brett
Olson put in the rebound for the second goal of his young
career. Junior Drew Dobson recorded his team-leading eighth
assist on the goal.
After a scoreless second period, the Mavericks scored a pair of
goals to take a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Mike Louwerse, who entered the game ranked seventh in the
nation in scoring among rookies, used a great individual effort to
record his seventh goal of the season at 5:55. He was assisted by
sophomore Rylan Galiardi and sophomore Kurt Davis.
Galiardi then gave MSU the lead with his second goal of the season
at 9:58 of the third period. He was assisted by senior Mick Berge
and Davis on the power play goal.
The Huskies took a time out with just over one minute remaining to
set up for the ensuing face off. The planning worked as Eric
Kattelus scored the game-tying goal with 25 seconds remaining.
Freshman Alex MacLeod sent a puck on net and Kattelus
scrapped in front to put it away for his first goal of the season.
Olson picked up his second point of the evening with an assist on
the goal.
The Mavericks capitalized on a turnover at the blue line to score
the game-winner in overtime. Junior Jason Wiley collected a loose
puck at the blue line and skated in alone on senior Rob
Nolan. He scored his fourth goal of the season at 3:58 of
overtime to give MSU the win.
Zacharias (6-3-2) made 24 saves on 26 shots in the win.
Nolan (1-7-1) finished the evening with 29 saves on 31 shots.
The two teams will finish out the series tomorrow (Nov. 22) at 7:07
p.m.
