MANKATO, Minn. Andrew Sackrison scored one goal and added two assists to lead Minnesota State to a 4-1 win over No. 4/5 Denver tonight in WCHA action at Alltel Center. Geoff Irwin added a goal and assist and R.J. Linder chipped in two assists as the Mavericks improve to 12-10-4 overall and 6-9-4 in the WCHA. Denver fell to 18-7, 12-5. Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) tallied DU’s lone goal as the Pioneers lost for the third time in five games.

 

Mike Zacharias (22 saves) earned the win and Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) played well in the loss with 24 saves.

 

Minnesota State led 1-0 after the first period on an Irwin goal at 11:39. DU outshot the Mavericks 9-8, but the Pioneers went 0-for-2 on the power play.

 

A slashing penalty on Irwin at 2:44 of the second waved off a Maverick goal and Mannino stopped a Jon Kalinski breakaway attempt 31 second later. Rakhshani capitalized on the brief momentum with a backhanded shot past Zacharias on the power play at 4:01. Patrick Mullen (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Chris Butler (St. Louis, Mo.) earned assists on the equalizer. Minnesota State regained the lead at 8:21 with a Jason Wiley redirect off an R.J. Linder shot from the blueline. Sackrison made it 3-1 with a goal at 13:12. The Mavericks outshot DU 9-6 in the middle stanza.

 

Ben Youds’ first career goal at 7:14 of the third made gave the Mavericks a commanding 4-1 lead. Joel Hanson made the final score 5-1 with a goal at 18:15.

 

Minnesota State outshot the Pioneers 29-23. DU shined on the penalty kill with an 8-for-8 effort.

 

The teams play the series finale tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m. MT.

 

Notes: The Pioneers allowed the first goal for the third consecutive game. Rakhshani has scored in two consecutive games. The Pioneers fell to 1-7 when trailing after two periods.