ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota State freshman Brad McClure had 10 career goals going into this weekend. Now he has 15.
His five goals at the WCHA Final Five this weekend went a long way in helping the Mavericks capture their second consecutive Broadmoor Trophy.
[scg_html_wcha2015]Minnesota State scored four goals in the third period to overcome a 2-1 deficit and defeat Michigan tech 5-2 in the WCHA Final Five championship game.
McClure had a hat trick on Saturday and his three goals came in succession to end the game. He was awarded the tournament’s most valuable player award, and several of his teammates bowed to him as he accepted it after the game. McClure scored the game-winning goal in both games for the Mavericks this weekend.
Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings said that McClure’s play was huge on Saturday considering that Michigan Tech was focused on taking away the Mavericks’ top line. He added that the freshman always has the green light to put the puck on net.
“He can shoot from the bench as far as I’m concerned,” Hastings said. “He has a release, he likes to do it and he’s good at it.”
The Stratford, Ontario, native made a nifty move in the offensive zone at the 11:29 mark of the third period and then sniped a shot past Jamie Phillips to break a 2-2 tie and give the Mavericks their first lead of the game.
“You’ve always got to stick to your game and keep working at that,” McClure said of adapting to being a goal scorer in college hockey. “You’ve got to work on it every day to catch up with these guys.”
McClure artfully tipped a blue-line shot by Teddy Blueger into the back of the net three minutes later and then scored his third on a rebound with 1:20 left in the game. His second and third goals were on the power play.
“I honestly just give a lot of credit to [Blueger] there,” McClure said of his second goal. “He put the puck in the right place. He wasn’t shooting high so that I couldn’t get my stick on it. He put the puck in the right place and I just tried to get a piece of it to deflect it.”
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000Jg4996BPt8o” g_name=”20150321-MTU-MANK” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f22Fbq1nIYKgSCI7NYOF2akn5Q.8yMLiNK9wU32dvQjgiA1Ueaw–” ]Minnesota State got seven power-play opportunities during Saturday’s game. Five of those power plays came in the third period.
Michigan Tech went 2-for-3 with the extra man.
The Huskies capitalized early on their first power play about six minutes into the first period when senior forward David Johnstone’s shot created a big rebound that found its way onto fellow senior Blake Pietila’s stick. The captain housed the first goal of the game with relative ease.
“I thought our guys did a really nice job of moving the puck,” Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson said of his team’s power play after the game. “It was good to see them get a couple opportunities during tonight’s game.”
Minnesota State tied it three and a half minutes later thanks to a goal that involved both of its co-captains. Senior defenseman Brett Stern brought the puck in deep and wrapped around the back of the net and then whipped it into the crease area, where it banked off of Chase Grant’s stick and past Phillips.
Grant took the penalty that resulted in the Huskies’ first power-play goal.
“I knew I had to do something to contribute someway and make up for that mistake,” Grant said. “When the puck went into the back of our net eight seconds into my penalty I came back to the bench and said, ‘That one’s on me. I’ve got to get that back.’ I was going to try my best to do it one way and it just turned out that it was a goal. I was fortunate enough to get that; Stern made a great play.”
Michigan Tech took the lead at the 2:44 mark of the second period on the power play when Alex Petan ripped a shot from the point past Stephon Williams to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. The goal was assisted by Shane Hanna and Johnstone.
“I was just trying to get pucks through. They’re a pretty good team at blocking shots,” Petan said. “We were trying to find some lanes and fortunately enough it got right through to the net. There was a good amount of players in front of the net and I don’t think the goalie saw it all the way through.”
Michigan Tech outshot the Mavericks 12-4 in the second period. In reality, Minnesota State was lucky to escape the period only down one goal and required a couple nice saves by Williams to get to the break within striking distance.
“We started to pull apart a bit in the second period,” Hastings said. “Not from a standpoint of lack of discipline … we just had guys doing it as individuals at times and starting to create Tech’s offense [for them] a little bit, giving them out-numbered rushes, those type of things.”
The Mavericks tied the game at 2-2 about a quarter through the third period when sophomore forward Jordan Nelson grabbed a rebound and put it through Phillips’ five-hole.
Hastings said that he saw the team come together after Nelson tied the game, and that led to the surge to the finish.
“From that point on things started to loosen up,” he said. “I thought the guys settled down once we got the [the tying goal]. I thought they started playing off of each other and playing in groups of five, instead of one guy pulling that rope at a time.”
Both Minnesota State and Michigan Tech will play next weekend in the NCAA tournament. With their wins and losses by North Dakota this weekend, the Mavericks will be the tournament’s first overall seed.
