Minnesota State posted an eye-opening, 5-3 victory over the second-ranked Minnesota men's hockey squad Saturday night, in Mankato.
Freshman Dylan Margonari tallied the first game-winning goal of his career with 3 minutes, 41 seconds remaining, handing the host Mavericks a 4-3 advantage they would never relinquish. That gave Minnesota State (3-3-2 overall, 1-3-0 WCHA) its first WCHA win of the season -- and the first big win of head coach Mike Hastings' tenure. Hastings is a former Gophers assistant.
"We stuck to it and pulled out the win," Margonari told FOX Sports North afterward. "It does everything for us -- the sky's the limit for this team."
The hosts from Mankato used an early surge to seize momentum. Minnesota State led, 2-0, late in the first period, following a power-play goal by Zach Lehrke.
The visiting Gophers (5-2-0, 2-2-0) played solid throughout the middle portion of the contest, however, and fought back to a 3-all tie by late in the second period, when Nate Condon posted his second goal of the season.
Alas, the nation's second-ranked team couldn't overcome another late push from Minnesota State.
"I think we came out and played a very poor first period," Gophers head coach Don Lucia noted. "Home or on the road, you're not going to win many times" when trailing by two goals early.
"We just didn't have a lot of rhythm early."
Minnesota State was led by Jean-Paul Lafontaine's two points and netminder Phil Cook's 25 saves. Minnesota got one goal apiece from Condon, Erik Haula and Nick Bjugstad.
"We've just got to get back to it and get better," added Minnesota's Haula, who had three points on the night.
