Hockey skates past Boston for series sweep

The Mavs kicked off the regular season in style, winning their first two vs Boston University

Brady Olson
Staff Writer

Seven different players scored for the Mavs as #11 Minnesota State won both games in a series against #8 Boston University, winning by scores of 4-3 and 5-3.

The first game was defined by the Mavericks’ inability to score on the power play. Despite having converted on over 25% of power plays last season, Boston held the Mavs scoreless on seven power play opportunities, with three of those power plays going shotless.

It was a slow start to the game for a while before junior forward Parker Tuomie scored at the 11:56 mark in the first period of the first game on Friday. 

The lead would be taken away when Terrier Dante Fabbro beat freshman goalie Dryden McKay with just four seconds left in the period. 

Boston took their first lead in the contest at the 5:35 mark in the second, with Patrick Curry giving Boston a 2-1 lead. 

It would take only four minutes before sophomore forward Dallas Gerads to tie up the game. 

However, Boston instantly took the lead back, capitalizing on a power play that gave them the 3-2 advantage.

With time winding down in the second period, Tuomie tied things up as he scored his second goal of the night. 

Scoring would be capped off mid-period when Gerads stole a pass from Terrier goalie Jake Oettinger and put it in the empty goal.

The Terriers tried to mount a late offensive, but a game misconduct penalty on Ryan Cloonan hampered their opportunities to score late, and the Mavericks were able to close out the game with ease.

In the second game, the Mavericks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period that got fans at the Verizon Center on their feet. 

Jared Spooner scored first at the 8:08 mark, and was followed by Connor Mackey’s goal on a Maverick power play. 

Riese Zmolek scored with 2:20 left in the period, extending the Maverick lead to three.

Boston dominated most of the second period, beginning at the 7:38 mark when Joel Farabee scored on a Maverick power play. Boston surged off that momentum, tacking on two more goals in the period to even the score at 3-3. However, Charlie Gerard found the net with less than one second left in the period, giving the Mavs the lead heading into the final period.

MNSU and Boston played a back-and-forth game for most of the third period. In the final minute, with Boston pulling Oettinger from the goal, Marc Michaelis padded the lead for the Mavericks, giving them a final of 5-3.

With the duo of wins, MNSU should see a bump from their current ranking of 11th to a place in the top 10. MNSU will next play on the road against North Dakota, with those matches happening on October 19th and 20th.

Feature photo: Marc Michaelis (right) brings the puck up the ice in a game against Boston University last weekend. (Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter)