For a period at least, there were thoughts of an upset.
But Minnesota State did what a third-ranked team should do, scoring three goals in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over the Chargers at the Von Braun Center on Thursday night.
UAH (2-8-1 overall, 2-3-0 WCHA) struck first 3:32 into the contest when Quinn Green, taking a feed from the rigth wing Bauer Neudecker, beat superstar goaltender Dryden McKay from the high slot.
Tyrone Bronte extended his point-scoring streak to five games with the secondary assist on Green’s first collegiate goal.
After that, it was all Mavericks, who outshot the Chargers 46-10.
Minnesota State (12-2-1 overall, 9-0-0 WCHA) had tied the game with 7:18 left, but after a long video review officials determined that Brendan Furry’s stick was above the crossbar.
The Mavericks started the second period on a blistering pace and tied the game up on a power play. Andy Carroll back-handed in a rebound with goaltender David Fessenden down at 4:31 to go.
MSU took a 2-1 lead just over a minute later when Walker Duehr’s deflection in front handcuffed Fessenden. With 7:18 remaining, Cade Borchardt’s one-timer made it 3-1.
It was all Fessenden could do while being bombarded. The Mavericks put up 20 shots on goal in the second period alone.
UAH defenders were handling all they could as well, blocking 10 shots in the second period and 24 for the game.
Ayodele Adeniye led the Chargers with six blocked shots. During the power play when the Mavericks scored their second goal, Adeniye blocked two hard shots from the right slot. The first occurred while a Maverick player was falling on him. Adeniye got up with a limp before sliding to block the second. He skated gingerly off the ice but returned after being tended to.
Fessenden left the game hurt early in the third period and finished with 29 saves. Derek Krall, who started the Chargers’ second game against Michigan Tech last week, stopped 13 of 14 shots the rest of the way.
Dallas Gerads added a third-period power-play goal for the final 4-1 score. Meanwhile, UAH did not get any power plays.
Game two of the series is Friday night at 7:07 p.m.