Mavericks 3, Bulldogs 1

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Better effort: Minnesota State clearly wasn't happy with its performance on Friday despite a 3-0 victory. Jared Spooner described their play as "arrogant" and "ungrateful" afterward. The Mavericks came out much better on Saturday, going hard to the net and making plays amid the Ferris State traffic, which it simply did not do much on Friday. If not for a stellar effort by Bulldogs goaltender Ron Salmenkangas (28 saves, 14 in the first period), the Mavericks would have put the game away early in the first period. As it turned out, the game was scoreless again through the first 20 minutes. Go figure. "It was a battle," coach Mike Hastings said. "The last one is always hard to win in a series, and a Bob Daniels (coached) team is not going to go away."

2. Do it, Duehr: Walker Duehr broke the scoreless stalemate at 9:03 of the second period, burying a nice behind-the-net pass from Spooner. Spooner and Shane McMahan did the dirty work along the wall and behind the net, but Walker had the nice finish and improved his point-scoring streak to five games. He's really come on over the second half of the season after a slow start. His 15 points equal his total from last year and is one shy of his total from his sophomore season. "A real honest, heavy line," Hastings said.

3. And the rest: Sam Morton put MSU up 2-0 at 2:19 of the third period with a shot that hit the pipe but went into the net after hitting Salmenkangas in the skates. Jake Livingstone gave the Mavericks a 3-1 cushion with a 180-foot empty-net goal with 45 seconds to play. Livingstone and his D partner, Riese Zmolek each finished plus-3. As for Dryden McKay, no shutout this night, but he was rock-solid once again, making 23 saves, including a few flurries. Ferris broke through with 7:00 to go on Marshall Moise's power-play goal.

Up next: Minnesota State will host the WCHA semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday. Schedule to be determined. As of right now, the Mavericks and Lake Superior State, the No. 2 seed, are in. The Lakers swept Alabama Huntsville, 6-1 and 4-1.