On each of the previous two Fridays, St. Cloud State played outstanding hockey, beating two nationally ranked opponents. The Huskies kept the trend going for a third consecutive week, defeating No. 20 Bemidji State 2-1 in Friday's opening game at the North Star College Cup at Xcel Energy Center.
Jacob Benson gave St. Cloud State (12-12-1) a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 6 minutes, 1 second of the first period. Blake Winiecki made it 2-0 in the second period, even as the Beavers (16-10-3) outshot the Huskies 10-2.
St. Cloud State held Bemidji State without a power-play goal on three chances, and goalie Jeff Smith stopped 26 of 27 shots.
"They have very good special teams, and we beat them in the special-teams battle,'' Huskies coach Bob Motzko said. "Once again, here we are; three Fridays in a row, we get a win. We've got to find a way to have that kind of effort [Saturday]."
RACHEL BLOUNT
North Dakota 5, Colorado College 2: The Fighting Hawks (14-9-3, 7-7-1 NCHC) scored four goals in the last six minutes of the game to beat the Tigers (6-17-2, 2-11-2) in Colorado Springs. Hayden Shaw tied the score 2-2 with 5:19 to play. Dixon Bowen got the winner with 2:46 left. Shane Gersich and Joel Janatuinen got the last two goals.
Minnesota State Mankato 4, Lake Superior State 2: Parker Tuomie's goal for the Mavericks in the fourth minute of the third period broke a 2-all tie. Teammate Brad McClure added an insurance goal eight minutes later. Cole Huggins stopped 20 shots for MSU Mankato (14-9-3, 10-7-3 WCHA), which also got goals from Zach Stepan and Sean Flanigan.
