MARQUETTE, MICH. — The Minnesota State men’s hockey team entered the holiday break playing great, with an 11-game unbeaten streak and six-game winning streak.
It wasn’t an ideal start to the second half, as No. 12 MSU fell 3-2 to Northern Michigan in a CCHA road game on Saturday at Berry Events Center.
“There was no lack of effort,” MSU coach Luke Strand said of MSU’s performance. “They defended hard and we’ve just got to find ways to score.”
The Mavericks controlled play early with a 10-5 edge in shots on goal and 30-6 advantage in shots attempted in the first period. But the Wildcats (2-18-1) scored the period’s lone goal when Ryan Duguay scored at 16:13.
MSU answered just 26 seconds into the second period with Will Hillman scoring on a sharp-angled wrist shot. Jakob Stender and Brenden Olson got assists.
However, Duguay scored his second of the game to make it 2-1 at 4:13 of the second, a score that held into the second intermission.
Duguay completed the hat trick with a power-play goal at 8:06 of the third, which ended up being the game-winner. Evan Murr scored a power-play goal for the Mavericks at 17:19, but MSU couldn’t tie the game in the closing minutes.
The Mavericks had an 88-33 advantage in shots attempted, but Northern was able to block 34 shots.
“It’s a recipe for their success — stick blocks, body blocks,” Strand said. “To Northern’s credit, they worked hard.”
Final shots on goal favored MSU 27-23. Alex Tracy made 20 saves for the Mavericks.
MSU (14-5-2, 9-2-2 in CCHA) will finish its series with the Wildcats at 5:07 p.m. Saturday.
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