Mavericks win Shillelagh title

The banner hanging above the 3rd place game.

Minnesota State defeats Brown 7-3 to take the title. ...

Freddy's three thoughts of the game (I'm keeping this short as I get ready to hit the road):

1. Lucky seven: Six different players scored goals for the Mavericks in the rout. Michael Dorr had two to complete an phenomenal, Most Outstanding Player performance. Mike Louwerse, Eriah Hayes, Kurt Davis, Cameron Cooper and J.P. Burkemper also scored goals. Dorr added an assist for a four-point weekend that included the late GWG on Saturday. "Confidence, right now, is pretty high for me," Dorr said. "Coming into this weekend, I wasn't as confident as I needed to be."

2. All-tourney team: Dorr, Cooper, Rylan Galiardi and goalie Phil Cook were named to the all-tournament team, along with Brown's Matt Wahl and Jack Maclellan. Cooper was one of the defensemen, along with Wahl. He had a goal and an assist to go along with a goal on Saturday. Kurt Davis should have received some consideration for D, too, as his goal with 10.4 seconds left in the second period was as timely as it gets. The Mavericks had a penchant for scoring late-period goals, getting two on Saturday and one on Sunday.

3. Stay positive: The theme of the day seemed to be just that, as coach Troy Jutting and his players all talked about keeping their heads up when things went bad for them. Against Brown, they were down 1-0 after one period, and they saw the Bears trim two-goal leads to one goal twice in momentum-changing ways. There was Maclellan's short-handed goal with 2:22 to play in the second and Garnet Hathaway's score just 1:48 into the third. The Mavericks responded with Davis' late goal in the second and Cooper's goal midway through the third. "When we got down, it didn't throw us into a tailspin," Jutting said. "Instead it refocused the kids into some positive energy. Early in the season, that didn't happen."