#3 Minnesota State Wraps Up Weekend With Triumph Over FSU In WCHA Play

Big Rapids, Mich. - A pair of goals in both the second and third periods lifted nationally third-ranked Minnesota State to a 5-1 win over the Ferris State University men's ice hockey squad on Saturday (Jan. 31) night as the two teams wrapped up a weekend series at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minn.

The Mavericks beat the Bulldogs by an identical score to the night before to complete a four-game regular season sweep over FSU in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play.

Minnesota State scored the lone goal of the opening frame 12:06 into the contest on Max Gaede's third marker of the campaign off assists from Jordan Nelson and Casey Nelson.

The 1-0 score stood up until early in the second frame when MSU pushed its lead to two goals on Bryce Gervais' 17th lamplighter of the year off an assist from Matt Leitner and Zach Palmquist. It would prove to be the eventual game-winner.

Ferris State cut the margin back to a single goal with a short-handed tally at 2:29 of the second from sophomore forward Kyle Schempp, who notched his eighth goal of year in unassisted fashion. It was his fourth in as many games against the Mavericks as he accounted for all four FSU scores in the four-game set.

However, Gervais extended the hosts lead to 3-1 when he scored 3:43 into the second for his 18th of the year off helpers from C.J. Franklin and Leitner on the power play.

The 3-1 score stayed until early in the third period when Minneosta State scored only 26 seconds into action with Michael Huntebrinker notching his first goal this season. It was assisted by both Carter Foguth and Zach Stepan.

The final Minnesota State goal came at 6:34 of the final period when Brad McClure found the back of the net for his eighth marker this year. Casey Nelson provided his 18th assist this season on the final goal.

The Mavericks received a 17-save performance from Stephon Williams in net as he improved to 17-3-1 on the year. FSU senior CJ Motte took the loss despite making 30 saves in 60 minutes of action.

Overall, Minnesota State held a 35-18 margin in total shots for the night and the Mavericks tallied 15 shots in the initial period before producing 10 apiece in each of the last two frames.

Ferris State was called for 10 penalties totaling 31 minutes while MSU had six infractions for 23 minutes in the box. The Mavericks scored twice in eight opportunities with the man-advantage while FSU went 0-of-3 on the power play.

With the win, Minnesota State improved to 21-5-1 overall and stayed on top of the WCHA with a 17-2-1 mark in league play. FSU dropped to 11-15-1 overall and 8-10-0 in WCHA action.

The Bulldogs will play another top 10 team in the country over the next four games as FSU squares off against Bowling Green. The Bulldogs visit the Falcons next weekend for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 6-7) with both games starting at 7:07 p.m. (ET) in Bowling Green, Ohio.

After the trip to Ohio, FSU returns home to host the Falcons on Feb. 13-14 at the Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids. Tickets for the home series are currently on sale and can be purchased online at StarTickets.com or by calling 1-800-585-3737.