Mavs can't finish

St. Cloud State rallies for 3-2 victory

By Shane Frederick
Free Press

MANKATO — St. Cloud State is a team trying to claw its way out of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association cellar.

Minnesota State had a chance to give the Huskies an extra shove down the steps and climb up a couple of more Saturday at Midwest Wireless Civic Center.

But the foot came off the throat, and the Mavericks slipped, falling 3-2 before a crowd of 3,356.The Mavericks lost a one-goal lead in the third period to the last-place Huskies, who are now within two points of MSU.

"This was a very critical game for us," coach Troy Jutting said. "For us not to finish off the game is very disappointing."

At game's end, the Mavericks (10-16-6, 7-15-4 in WCHA) were clinging to their seventh-place spot in the standings. They have just two WCHA games remaining - next week against No. 1-ranked Denver - while the Huskies of both St. Cloud State (14-18-2, 8-16-0) and now 10th-place Michigan Tech each have four.

"We had a chance to put some distance between us," forward David Backes said. "It was an opportunity squandered."

Backes broke some St. Cloud State ankles maneuvering around the zone to set up Kyle Peto on the first MSU goal, but it wasn't enough to break the Huskies' back.

Looking to sweep their first conference series in more than three months, the Mavericks led 2-1 after one period. But they slogged through the second and third as the Huskies got defensive and gained momentum.

Nate Raduns and Dave Iannazzo scored 90 seconds apart midway through the third period to tie the game and put the Huskies ahead.

"We had to win; we just had to," St. Cloud State coach Craig Dahl said.

The Huskies were the first team to defeat the Mavericks when behind going into the third period, a scenario that has only happened 10 times this season.

"We haven't really found our killer instinct," Backes said. "When we have a team down we need to punish them and put the nail in the coffin."

Minnesota State was again without its second-leading scorer, Travis Morin, who was ill, as well as injured forwards Brock Becker and Jeff Marler.

In Friday's 4-3 victory at St. Cloud, the Mavericks survived without the trio, but the group was missed Saturday.

"We have three very important players out of the lineup," Jutting said. "But that's no excuse for the other kids not to play hard."

St. Cloud State led 1-0 when Grant Clafton one-timed Dave Iannazzo's pass between goalie Chris Clark's pads at 1:49.

The Mavericks got an amazing effort from Backes to tie the game at 8:26. The team's leading scorer wheeled his big body around the Huskies as if they were cones before passing across to Peto, who jumped in deep from his defensive post to tap the puck past Boron.

At 15:42, Brad Thompson batted the puck out of the air after a Steven Johns power-play shot to give MSU the lead.

The Mavericks outshot the Huskies 12-7 in the first period but 18-17 in the second and third. MSU had few quality even-strength chances the rest of the way.

"They found the net in the third, but it was really the second-period momentum that carried over to the third," Backes said. "You can't win games playing 25 minutes a night."

The Huskies tied the game when Matt Gens shot wide but Raduns redirected it behind Clark at the left post. Iannazzo got the game-winner, finishing off a pass that Justin Fletcher made from behind the MSU net.

"We got tired; we looked tired," Jutting said. "We just did not take advantage of the situation when we were up. We have to learn to go for the throat."

The Mavericks will play the U.S. Under-18 National Team in an exhibition game at 2:05 p.m. today at the Civic Center. They will host Denver Friday and Saturday.

Minnesota State 2-0-0-2

St. Cloud State 1-0-2-3

First Period

Scoring

1. SCSU-Clafton 7 (Iannazzo 14, Szabo 13) 1:49
2. MSU-Peto 3 (Backes 18, Carter 7) 8:26
3. MSU-Thompson 9 (Johns 10, Brenk 8) ppg 15:42

Penalties

• Kisio, MSU (hooking) 11:03
• Szabo, SCSU (hooking) 15:12
• Fletcher, SCSU (roughing) 20:00
• Carter, MSU (roughing) 20:00

Second Period

Scoring

None.

Penalties

• Brownlee, MSU (hooking) 1:35
• Kisio, MSU (holding) 10:45
• Raduns, SCSU (holding) 15:30
• Thompson, MSU (roughing) 15:30
• Fletcher, SCSU (holding) 15:51
• Jensen, SCSU (interference) 18:34

Third Period

Scoring

4. SCSU-Raduns 3 (Gens 13, Szabo 14) 8:30
5. SCSU-Iannazzo 14 (Fletcher 13, Szabo 15) 10:00

Penalties

• Rankin, MSU (tripping) 6:24
• Doyle, SCSU (holding) 9:27
• Toll, MSU (holding) 9:27
• Gens, SCSU (cross-checking) 11:29
• Peto, MSU (holding the stick) 11:53
• Gens, SCSU (cross-checking) 16:19
• Hanson, MSU (interference) 17:57
• Dey, SCSU (holding) 19:25

Summaries

Shots on goal

• SCSU 7-8-9-24
• MSU 12-8-10-30

Penalties

• SCSU 9 for 18 minutes
• MSU 9 for 18 minutes

Power-play opportunities

• SCSU 0 for 5
• MSU 1 for 6

Goalie saves

• SCSU-Boron 10-8-10-28
• MSU-Clark 6-8-7-21

Attendance

• 3,356

Referee

• Jon Campion

Assistant referees

• Jerome Krieger
• Kile Bergren