MANKATO — Nobody is happy about this one.
Ferris State netted an empty net goal to take a 4-1 lead. It was the moment when the Mavericks seven-game winning streak went up in smoke.
No. 13 Minnesota State men’s hockey saw its winning streak go up in smoke after a 4-1 loss to Ferris State Saturday.
Saturday was also MSU’s second regulation loss of the 2025-26 campaign after it fell 5-2 to Omaha on opening night. The Bulldogs blocked 27 MSU shot attempts.
“No one is happy in that locker room with how that went,” Mavericks captain Mason Wheeler said.
“A lot of guys see this as an opportunity and not so much ‘poor me’ hanging our heads. Obviously we’re all pretty frustrated and have a sour taste in our mouth.
“I think that’s perfect.”
The last seven games saw MSU outscore its foes 24-8 while surging to the top of the CCHA standings. On Saturday, it felt like nothing could go right on the offensive end.
Usual passes were bouncing off sticks or misfired by a couple of inches, and at times a foot or more.
Trying to break out of their defensive zone became as equally frustrating as it was trying to dump and chase the puck.
It didn’t help that the Bulldogs were clogging the middle of the ice worse than a massive, fine-aged wad of hair in a shower drain.
Untimely penalties didn’t help either.
Jakob Stender’s trip to the box for interference set up a power play goal for Gavin Best to take a 2-0 lead 6:08 into the frame.
Reid Morich picked up his second penalty of the game for charging later in the frame.
The Bulldogs power play struck again, this time it was Xavier Jean-Louis coming up with a goal for a commanding 3-0 lead with the Mavericks bottled to a mere 10 shots on goal.
“What just happened is unrepeatable,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said. “Whether it’s individual, team, coach or whatever it is… it can’t happen again.”
MSU didn’t go down without a fight though.
Luigi Benencasa threaded a picture-perfect cross ice pass to a wide-open Mason LeBel. But he never got a clean shot off the pass with his shot firing into the protective meshing above the glass.
MSU pulled Alex Tracy with 5:05 to go in hopes of generating something on offense with a 6 on 5 advantage. The Mavericks put four shots on goal before Jack Smith beat Martin Lundberg glove side with 2:40 to go.
But that’s all MSU was able to muster.
“I liked the fact we had to go through adversity,” Strand said.
“We have to find the better side of what we did.”
The Mavericks hit the road for a series against Augustana. Game 1 is set for 7:07 p.m. Friday with the finale set for 6:07 p.m. Saturday.