Box Score Box Score
MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State scored at 3:05 of overtime to beat the UNO Mavericks, 5-4, on Saturday to salvage a split of the weekend series. UNO had won 2-1 in overtime on Friday.
The Mavericks go into a bye week with a record 12-10-4 overall and 9-6-3 in the WCHA. Minnesota State is now 8-17-1 on the year and 4-13-1 in the WCHA. The Mavericks will have the next week off before returning to the CenturyLink Center to host Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4.
On the game-winning goal, Joe Schiller grabbed a loose puck at center ice and fed Johnny McInnes who beat UNO's
John Faulkner with a wrist shot from the top of the circles.
The goal capped off a wild, back-and-forth game that saw UNO take three one-goal leads and then have to score with an extra attacker in the final 10 seconds to send the game to overtime.
With the score tied 2-2 early in the third,
Bryce Aneloski scored off a slap shot through traffic for his second goal in as many nights.
But MSU's Eriah Hayes scored at 9:09 and again at 17:46 to complete a hat trick and give his team a 4-3 lead. Hayes' second goal of the game that tied the score at three chased starting goaltender
Dayn Belfour who left with 29 saves.
But with 9.7 seconds to go and Faulkner off for an extra attacker,
Jayson Megna slipped the puck through MSU goalie Phil Cook to tie the game again.
UNO opened the scoring at 12:20 of the first period. The Mavs forced a turnover at the MSU blue line.
Ryan Walters whipped a cross-ice pass to
Josh Archibald who beat sprawling Cook.
MSU tied the game on a power late in the period. Hayes tapped in a pass from Eli Zuck for his eighth goal of the year. UNO's
Brock Montpetit was assessed a boarding major and game misconduct on the play, giving the purple Mavericks an extended power play. It was the third ejection of a UNO player in the last four games.
UNO killed the penalty without any damage done and retook the lead when Matt White set up Archibald who squeezed a shot through the pads of Cook for his second of the night.
The lead lasted only 48 second before a ricochet found the stick of MSU's Zach Lehrke who wired home a shot just inside the left post.
UNO would later have a five-minute power play of its own when Hayes was boxed for boarding at 13:08 but the purple Mavericks also killed the extended advantage, leaving the game tied at two.
Faulkner took the loss in goal with eight saves in just over 13 minutes of action while Cook made 39 saves to earn the win.
NOTES: UNO retained the Spirit of the Maverick trophy for the third straight year. The trophy goes to the winner of the season series. Because each team won a game and the total goals were the same, the trophy stays with UNO.
