No. 6 St. Cloud clinched at least third place in the WCHA with a 6-3 win over MSU-Mankato on Saturday.
The win pushes the Huskies’ record to 25-8-1 (18-8-0 WCHA), while MSU-Mankato falls to 18-15-1 (12-13-1). The Huskies now have 36 points in the WCHA standings, while fourth place Colorado College has 32 points after a loss to Wisconsin tonight.
SCSU opened the game with Tyler Arnason’s 21st goal of the season at 7:55 of the first before
Nate DiCasmirro gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season at 12:54 of the first. DiCasmirro’s goal was assisted by Brandon Sampair and Duvie Westcott. Of note, Sampair now has 32 assists this season — one shy of the current team record of 33 set by Jeff Satedalen in 1989-90.
Mankato gained its first goal at 1:18 with a tally by Josh Kern in the second.
Sampair posted the game winner at 5:14 of the second with assists by Arnason and Mark Hartigan on the power play. Mankato replied with a goal by Nate Mauer at 5:43 of the second.
Arnason padded the lead with a goal at 8:13 of the second.
Mankato scored its final goal at 13:13 on the power play by Jesse Rooney.
Chris Purslow charted another SCSU goal at 14:18 before Keith Anderson ended a wild second period with his seventh goal of the season at 17:36 of the second.
In the nets, Scott Meyer posted his 19th win of the season that featured 29 saves. Todd Kelzenberg suffered the loss for Mankato with 32 saves. On the night, SCSU outshot the Mavs 38-32.
