Mavs bounce back to win shootout over Fighting Hawks

The Minnesota State Men’s Hockey team played in their first road series of the season Friday and Saturday night. Their opponent, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, were ranked no. 4 coming into the weekend.

The Mavs dropped the first game 6-2, but were able to stand their ground and come out with a 2-2 tie that ended in MSU winning the shootout. Now 2-3-1 and heading into a bye week, the Mavs will have some time to make adjustments before they head into CCHA conference play.

In their loss, the Mavs allowed four first-period goals, which inevitably gave the Fighting Hawks the edge and momentum to close them out. 

“Obviously, it was a disappointing start,” said head coach Luke Strand in a press release posted to the Maverick Athletics website. “To chase a team on the road is difficult. Individually and collectively we have to find a way to be better within 24 hours to raise our bar and be better.”

Following the Fighting Hawks third goal, Keenan Rancier entered in goal in relief of Alex Tracy. Rancier’s appearance in this game was his first of the year after returning from injury. However, Tracy returned to start Saturday’s game and made 37 saves, including all three shots in the shootout.

“It was a great response,” said Strand. “No one was more disappointed on Friday than him and his ability to come back and be focused right from the start was really important. It’s a credit to the type of person and goalie that he is.”

The Mavs scored both of their goals in the first period, as Will Hullman and Sam Morton collected their fourth and first goal of the season, respectively. The Fighting Hawks also added a goal in the first frame, and the second period was scoreless as the Mavs tried to hold onto their lead heading into the final frame of the weekend.

In the third, Hunter Johanes of the Fighting Hawks was able to tie up the game with 10:31 remaining in regulation. As neither team was able to score for the rest of regular time, overtime was necessary. In the extra session, the Mavs overcame a hooking penalty assessed on Morton that sent him into the penalty box 1:52 into overtime. Tracy made eight saves before his showing in the shootout.

“I was proud of the response and proud of the standard that the guys got back to,” Strand said. “Maybe a piece that was missing was that we weren’t desperate enough at critical times last night but we were tonight.”

As they head into their week off, the Mavs will look to prepare for their first CCHA opponent, Ferris State. The Bulldogs are also 2-3-1 to this point, but will play St. Lawrence before they host the Mavs Nov. 10 and 11.

Header Photo: The Mavs head into their bye week at 2-3-1, and now will have extra time to prepare for their CCHA conference matchups that will make up the bulk of their season. (Dalton Grubb/The Reporter)

Write to Hayden Lee at hayden.lee@mnsu.edu