Six different skaters scored for No. 5 Minnesota State, and freshman goaltender Alex Tracy made 16 saves in his collegiate debut as the Mavericks shut out No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, 6-0, at home on Friday.
Senior co-captain Cade Borchardt (1g, 2a) and junior defenseman Akito Hirose (3a) each had three points for the Mavericks (2-1-0). Will Hillman, Jake Livingstone, David Silye, Sam Morton and Josh Groll each scored as well.
Junior netminder Zach Stejskal made 26 saves on 32 shots for the Bulldogs (2-1-0). Senior transfer Matthew Thiessen stopped both shots he faced in relief of Stejskal in the third period.
Silye gave Mankato an early 1-0 lead on the power play at 11:29 of the first period. Hirose worked the puck low to Borchardt, who fed Silye in the slot, where the junior forward ripped a one-timer by Stejskal.
Groll doubled Minnesota State’s lead just over five minutes later when Silye’s shot from distance deflected in off him.
Late in the first, UMD junior defenseman Luke Mylymok took a five-minute major and 10-minute misconduct for hitting from behind, and Livingstone made it 3-0 with five seconds left in the period on the ensuing power play. Senior defenseman Andy Carroll’s wrist shot into the pile in front deflected to Livingstone to the side of the crease, giving the junior blue-liner the whole net to shoot at.
The power play carried over into the second and quickly became a 5-on-3 after a high-sticking call. On the two-man advantage, Minnesota State took a 4-0 lead just 2:34 into the middle period, thanks to Borchardt, who finished a cross-ice setup from Livingstone with a catch-and-release wrister.
Hillman tacked on another tally with under a minute remaining in the second when Hirose’s shot from the point pin-balled in front before trickling in off him, and Morton added another power play marker early in the third, finishing a tic-tac-toe play with a one-timer at the right face-off circle.
Tracy wasn’t tested often but was strong when he needed to be, making a sprawling save on Dominic James’ rebound attempt after making the initial stop on Aiden Dubinsky’s shot from the point with just under six minutes remaining in regulation.
Junior forward Ondrej Pavel thought he got in on the fun to make it 7-0 when his shot went in off the post and immediately shot back out of the net, but the officials ruled no goal on the ice. They upheld the call during the stoppage without reviewing the play, saying the puck hit the crossbar. Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings said postgame the replay system at ice level was down, preventing the opportunity to review the chance.
The Mavericks were 4-for-7 on the power play, while the Duluth went 0-for-5. Minnesota State has now won five straight meetings with the Bulldogs.
Game 2 of this weekend’s series is set for Saturday at 7:07 p.m. ET.
