The St. Cloud State men's hockey team was heavily outshot in a 4-2 loss to Minnesota Friday night at the NHEC. The Gophers outshot the Huskies 42-24 in the game.

Minnesota got the scoring started at 8:45 with on Nick Bjugstad's 14th goal of the season, with assists credited to Kyle Rau and Nate Condon.

Huskies freshman Joey Benik knotted the game at one on a loose puck in front of the net. Junior Cory Thorson lifted a stick behind the net and threw the puck in front of the net and into a trio of Gopher skates. With the puck pinballing in front of the cage, Benik swooped in and slammed home his first career goal at 14:48.

The Gophers had two goals waved off in the first period, one because the goalie lost his helmet before the puck crossed the goal line, the other due to goalie interference.

Minnesota took a 2-1 lead at 4:32 of the second period on an Erik Haula snipe that beat Huskies netminder Ryan Faragher underneath the blocker for his 12th of the year.

The Gophers outshot SCSU 16-5 in the second period and led the category 25-12 total through two periods.

Huskies captain Drew LeBlanc tied the game for SCSU early in the third period with a power play goal at 3:59. However, the lead would not last long.

At the 9:32 mark Minnesota's Eric Haula beat Faragher after a nice feed from Nate Schmidt that give the Gophers a 3-2 lead. Under a minute later, Cathedral grad Schmidt scored to ice the game for the U of M.

Despite the loss, the Huskies remain atop the WCHA with a three point lead over North Dakota and Minnesota. SCSU and Minnesota will tangle again Saturday night in St. Cloud.

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