MANKATO, Minn. - Lake Superior State hockey dropped the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series opener 8-0 on Friday night against Minnesota State. The No. 20 ranked Mavericks (12-8-5, 11-3-5 WCHA) regained the top spot of the WCHA standings with the victory.
The Lakers (9-14-4, 6-7-4 WCHA) are now 0-9-0 all-time against MSU and 0-5 in games played at Verizon Wireless Center.
MSU goaltender Cole Huggins, appearing in his first game since Nov. 13, made 17 saves in securing his first shutout of the season and the eighth of his career.
Sophomore netminder Gordon Defiel (6-9-3) started in net and played the entire game despite being tagged with all eight of the Maverick goals. Defiel made 34 saves in the loss.
Freshman forward Max Coatta scored two goals to match his season total entering the evening, while sophomore C.J. Franklin scored a goal and tallied a pair of assists.
Brett Knowles, Daniel Brickley, Teddy Blueger, Zeb Knutson, and Michael Huntebrinker added a goal each in the winning effort. Brickley also had a game-high plus/minus +4 rating .
Junior defenseman Casey Nelson also added three assists and had a +3 rating.
The teams will face off in Game 2 on Saturday night with the puck set to drop at 8:07 p.m. ET.