Minnesota State jumps to 7th; Gophers slip to ninth

A slightly edited WCHA news release on this past weekend:

Minnesota State, Mankato -- the team the Gophers play this weekend -- gained the most ground in the WCHA standings over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with back-to-back victories against visiting Michigan Tech.

The Mavericks moved into seven place and are just two points out of fourth after beating the Huskies 5-2 and 3-2.

Just four points separate the top six clubs. Colorado College (10-3-1, 7-2-1 WCHA) and Denver (9-4-1, 7-2-1) remain tied for first with 15 points each.

Idle Minnesota Duluth (9-4-1, 6-3-1) is third with 13 points, and North Dakota (8-4-2, 5-4-1), St. Cloud State (6-6-2, 5-4-1) and Wisconsin (8-5-1, 5-4-1) share fourth with 11 points apiece.

Minnesota State (6-7-1, 4-7-1) is seventh with nine points, Alaska Anchorage (6-10-0, 4-8-0) is eighth with eight points, Minnesota (5-8-1, 3-6-1) is ninth with seven, and Michigan Tech (3-9-0, 2-8-0 WCHA) is 10th with four points.

Outside the conference over the past weekend, North Dakota won 4-1 over Ohio State on Friday in the Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks and then tied Miami 5-5 (ot) tie on Saturday.

A closer look at Saturday's games involving WCHA teams:

* At Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minnesota State completed a WCHA sweep of Michigan Tech with a 3-2 victory before 3,448 as left winger Kael Mouillierat scored a pair of goals, including the winner at 3:16 of the second period. The visiting Huskies, trailing 3-0 in the third, received goals from Anthony Schooley at 16:26 and Drew Dobson at 19:47 with an extra attacker.

* At the World Arena in Colorado Springs, right winger Sean Wiles of Alaska Anchorage had two goals and an assists as the Seawolves beat CC 3-2 in overtime. Center Daniel Naslund scored the game-winner at one minute of the extra period. Also for UAA, winger Mickey Spencer and defenseman Trevor Hunt both had two assists while Jon Olthuis had 26 saves in nets. For the Tigers, winger Stephen Schultz and defenseman Nate Proesser each had a goal and an assist.

* At Magness Arena, St. Cloud State upended Denver, 3-2, to gain a split of their series as winger Tony Mosey scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner at 11:55 of the third period, and winger Ryan Lasch added a goal and an assist. For the Pioneers, Tyler Ruegsegger notched a pair of third period goals to close the gap to one with 2:30 remaining. In nets, Dan Dunn had 26 stops for SCSU while Marc Cheverie had 24 for DU.

* At the Ralph, North Dakota and Miami battled to a 5-5 overtime tie before 11,425 in the Subway Holiday Classic. The host Sioux, behind a pair of second period goals from winger Danny Kristo (2g, 1a), overcame a 2-1 deficit to take a 5-3 advantage into the third period. Also for UND, defenseman Ben Blood and forward Jason Gregoire each had a goal and an assist.

Wisconsin 7 at Michigan State 3 (nc)

Minnesota 0 at Michigan 6 (nc)

Alaska Anchorage 0 at Colorado College 5

St. Cloud State 3 at Denver 5

Michigan Tech 2 at Minnesota State 5

Saturday results

Minnesota 2 at Michigan State 1 (nc)

Alaska Anchorage 3 at Colorado College 2 ot

St. Cloud State 3 at Denver 2

Michigan Tech 2 at Minnesota State 3