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Mankato, MN – The MSU Mavericks lost a lot of talent from their 2022-23 CCHA championship team. They lost nine of their top 10 points producers and their entire coaching staff. But, one thing they didn’t lose was grit and determination and on the night that they unveiled their 2022-23 CCHA championship banner, they put forth an effort that proved they are still a formidable opponent. True to form, it was a typical Huskies vs Mavericks battle that had the feel of a playoff game and a treat for the announced 4398 in attendance.
Down by two goals early in period two the Mavericks rallied from the deficit to send the game to overtime where they dispatched the Huskies who suffered their second OT loss in the last three games. In the process, the Mavericks won nearly every game statistic outshooting the Huskies 27-23, winning 30 of 49 faceoffs, and blocking 23 shots to the Huskies 12. MSU starting goaltender Alex Tracy had a wall in front of him, particularly in period three as the Huskies attempted 14 shots with 9 blocked by his defenders. They forced the game to the three-on-three overtime where Adam Eisele, a four-goal scorer in 2022-23 ended it with a wraparound goal on Dominic Basse on their only shot of the session.
“It’s exciting,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said. “We went through the exhibition (with Omaha) without scoring. Everyone’s a little bit holding their breath and then when Sowder scored, a lot of things busted open. For the older guys, they’ve got a torch to carry and I think they showed it out there tonight.”
“It wasn’t the prettiest start but to go down two-nothing and not give up and keep being resilient; it was nice that things worked out for us,” commented Lucas Sowder who scored the Mavericks first goal. “It’s a good start to the season, but we’re already moving on and looking toward tomorrow.”
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Period One
In a tight first period, the Mavericks outshot the Huskies 7-6 but it was the Huskies who hit the scoreboard first with freshman Barrett Hall getting his second goal of the season 7:04 into the contest with an assist from fellow freshman Verner Miettinen. On an alert play by Miettinen, he intercepted a clearing attempt by the Mavericks inside the blue line and took several strides to the net through traffic before feeding Hall with a backhand. Hall promptly wristed a quick shot from the left slot high stick side over Tracy for a 1-0 SCSU lead. Basse had to make a huge save midway through the period on a point-blank shot from the slot off the stick of Brian Carrabes to maintain the SCSU 1-0 lead.
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Period Two
The Huskies increased their advantage to two goals just 2:21 into the period on a pretty play by the Huskies. Josh Luedtke sent a cross-ice pass from the right wall through traffic to Joe Molenaar in the left circle and he beat Tracy short side for a two-goal SCSU lead. However, the Mavericks responded less than two minutes later with a goal by their top returning scorer Lucas Sowder. A shot from the blue line by Tony Malinowski was deflected by Sowder past Basse to draw to within a goal. The Mavericks thought they added another inside seven minutes remaining in the period on the power play after a wraparound by Luc Wilson and an ensuing goalmouth scramble but it was ruled the whistle had blown. But the Mavericks got the equalizer at 12:47 as Bret Mravec got behind the Huskies defense, captured a pass off the sideboards, and beat Basse short side off a breakaway. The Mavericks once again edged the Huskies 9-6 in shots on goal.
Third Period
A scoreless third period had MSU outshooting the Huskies with both teams failing to convert a man-advantage opportunity. The Mavericks outshot the Huskies for the third straight period 10-8 as the game went to the overtime three-on-three session.
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Overtime
The Huskies controlled the opening faceoff and had three shots on Tracy and a goalmouth attempt by Verner Miettinen before the Mavericks were able to get their first shot attempt on Basse. The Mavericks gained control of the puck in their end with slightly over two minutes left in the overtime and Adam Eisele skated the puck from behind his blue line the length of the ice carrying the puck wide and scoring a wraparound goal on Basse for the 3-2 overtime win.
Game Statistics
Shots on Goal: 27-23 (MSU)
Goaltender Saves: Tracy (MSU) 21/23 (.913 SV%); Basse (SCSU) 24/27 (.888 SV%)
Power Play: (SCSU) 0/3; (MSU) 0/3
Penalties: (SCSU) 3/6:00; (MSU) 3/6:00
Game-Winning OT Goal: Adam Eisele (MSU)
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