The theme for Minnesota State’s exhibition victory over Brandon University Friday night was simple: mission accomplished.
In its season opener, MSU stayed healthy, found areas to work on, and — oh, yes — won 8-0 over the Bobcats.
Minnesota State head coach Troy Jutting called the game “a good start for everybody. There are some areas we need to get better in obviously, but all in all it was a pretty good game.”
The Mavericks dressed nine freshmen in their exhibition opener, and Jutting was impressed with the results. The rookies combined for four goals, including the game-winner, and ten points.
“It’s good to see the young guys get on the board because I think it gives them a little confidence and gets them headed in the direction we need,” added Jutting.
Jutting said that the freshmen had only four days to absorb “a huge amount.”
“With only four days and ten freshmen, there was a lot to get in and we only got in the basics,” said Jutting. “The thing I’m learning about this group is that they are intelligent hockey players. It doesn’t take them long to pick things up. We’re going to need our freshmen to perform for us if we’re going to be successful this year.”
MSU came out strong from the beginning of the game and cashed in early. Only 1:04 into the contest, senior Nate Mauer passed from the blue line to teammate Jerry Cunningham, camped out on the right side of the crease. Cunningham made a quick touch-pass across the crease to freshman Brad Thompson as Thompson was streaking down the left side. Thompson deflected the puck past Brandon goalie Jamie McCaig for the first goal of the game.
Thompson, who would finish with two goals and an assist, also felt the game was a good way for the freshman class to start.
“We went out and we worked hard,” remarked Thompson. “We kept it simple, and the puck went in the net for us.”
MSU kept the pressure on, but McCaig came up with brilliant saves to stop the Mavericks. Eight minutes in, forward Shane Joseph brought the puck around Brandon’s net and fired a point-blank shot on goal. McCaig was there to stop the initial shot and made a fantastic save on senior Josh Kern’s rebound attempt.
Maverick starting goalie Eric Pateman also had his share of good saves in the period. While Brandon was on the power play 12 minutes in, the senior goaltender stopped defenseman Dustin Hurl’s slapshot and sprawled across to cover the rebound attempt. Pateman was replaced after one period of play to give backups Jason Jensen and Jon Volp time between the pipes.
After outshooting the Bobcats 19-6 in the first period, MSU took the 1-0 lead into the second and came out firing again. This time the Mavericks scored 5:27 into the period.
Forward Jon Hart carried the puck behind the net and passed into the slot to find fellow freshman Jon Dubel. Dubel, a defenseman, snuck in from the blue line and one-timed the puck past McCaig to make the score 2-0.
It would take only 1:29 for the Mavericks to make the score 3-0. After a skirmish around the Brandon net, the puck flew in the air and landed on the left side of the crease in front of sophomore Tim Jackman. McCaig lost sight of the puck, and Jackman had an easy goal as he slid the puck into the empty left side of the net.
The middle of the second period was marred by a fight in the MSU zone, which resulted in the ejection of two players. Brandon’s Marlin Murray was removed for spearing, while Minnesota State defenseman Peter Runkel was ejected for fighting.
After senior B.J. Abel added a goal at 14:39, MSU got perhaps the prettiest goal of the night at 18:22. On the power play, Cunningham sent an aerial pass to teammate Dana Sorensen, who was set up on the right side of the Bobcat goal. Sorenson tipped the puck out of midair and redirected it into the net to make the score 5-0.
MSU finished 1 for 9 on the power play, while Brandon was 0 for 4.
MSU received goals from Cunningham, Thompson, and freshman Jon Hart in the third period, and stifled the Bobcat offense to earn an 8-0 victory.
Although the Bobcats lost, head coach Jim Fuyarchuck felt the game was positive.
“The number-one object was to get a challenge and step up our game to compete,” said Fuyarchuck. “We felt this would be great preparation for opening up (league play) next weekend.”
“I thought that there were some good signs for competing and playing well, but discipline really hurt us,” he added. “We had a lot of penalties to kill off, and we didn’t pick up our assignments defensively. We’re not at all happy with losing, but we’re going to use it as a learning experience and take the positives out of it.”
MSU heads to Bemidji State this weekend to take on the Beavers. Brandon plays in St. Cloud Saturday night in another exhibition matchup.
