The Mavericks' comeback over St. Cloud State was so surprising that Chris Clark called it the best he's seen. Clark, you may recall, was the winning goalie in Minnesota State's 2003 8-7 comeback win over Denver. The Mavericks were down 7-1 midway through the second period when Clark became the third goalie to play for MSU. From there, the Mavericks scored seven goals in a row to win. Here's what Clark, now a graduate assistant, had to say about Friday's game:
"Down 3-nothing, against a rival, in our barn ... I've never seen one better. We were down and out for 52 minutes."
As surprising as the comeback was, especially with how uninspired the Mavericks seemed to be before R.J. Linder started the rally, it's wasn't exactly a rarity. On Jan. 12, 2007, the Maverick were down 4-1 at St. Cloud State and scored five goals to win 6-4. A couple of differences between that night and Friday night: The Mavericks' rally began early, starting with Mick Berge's goal at 4:38 (Linder's was at 11:45); it included two power-play goals (Friday's were all even-strength); and the now-graduated Travis Morin dominated the period with two goals and an assist.
The win didn't move the Mavericks up in the WCHA standings much. Michigan Tech's tie with Colorado College put Tech and MSU in a tie for eighth place. However, the Mavericks stayed in the race. They're two points out of sixth and four out of fifth.
"Ever since Duluth when we were up 3-1 in the third period and they came back, we've kind of been a lull," Linder said of the Mavericks' four-game winless streak leading up to Friday. "North Dakota swept us, and, obviously, our confidence was down. I think this game was a huge morale boost."
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