By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
HOUGHTON, MICH. — Minnesota State goaltender Phil Cook has been a spark for the Mavericks since getting his first career start on Dec. 11 at Bemidji State.
After stopping 30 shots in Saturday’s 3-2 victory at Michigan Tech, the freshman from Wheaton, Ill., has lost just one game. That came on Jan. 8 at North Dakota when a back injury forced him to leave the game just seven minutes into the first period. The Mavericks were trailing 2-0 at that point and lost 4-1.
Cook did not play the rest of that weekend or in the Mavericks’ home series against Minnesota Duluth. Austin Lee started those games as well as Friday’s 4-1 loss to Tech.
“I felt good,” Cook said of his return. “I was seeing the puck well and controlling most of my rebounds.”
He made a huge, close-range save on Steven Seigo when the Mavericks still had a 2-1 lead early in the third period.
“It was a pretty harried game,” Cook said. “It came down to the last minute of the game.”
The Mavericks kept most of the Huskies’ opportunities to the outside and allowed eight shots on seven power-play chances.
“I think (Cook) did a nice job,” Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said. “We didn’t give up a ton of quality chances, but he made some nice saves.”
Cook is now 4-1-1 with a .949 save percentage and a 1.40 goals-against average. He has allowed just eight goals in eight games this season.
Road warriors
Minnesota State has six victories in WCHA play this season, and half of them have come on the road – at Alaska-Anchorage, at Minnesota and Saturday at Michigan Tech.
“It feels good to win,” junior forward Kael Mouillierat said. “Anytime you win on the road it’s a good win in this league.”
Three of the Mavericks’ final eight games will be played on the road, including their next series Feb. 12-13 at Wisconsin and their regular-season finale on March 6 at St. Cloud State.
Minnesota State was the only road team in the WCHA not to win on Friday night.
Movin’ on up
Mouillierat’s game-winning goal on Saturday night was the 80th point of his career. He is now tied with ex-Mavericks forward Joel Hanson (2004-2008) for 13th on the Mavericks’ Division I-era scoring list.
Mouillierat, who was tied with 2003 All-American Grant Stevenson, is now two points behind Ben Christopherson (1998-2001) and five behind Mick Berge (2005-2009). He needs eight points to crack the top 10.
Mouillierat has eight goals and five assists this season. For his career, he has 44 goals and 36 assists.
Loose pucks
Before Saturday’s 45-shot outburst, Minnesota State’s previous high in shots on goal was 41, which came on Nov 27 in a 5-2 victory over Michigan Tech. … The Mavericks made two lineup changes on Saturday, putting Mouillierat and defenseman Evan Mosey in for Tyler Thompson and Nick Canzanello, respectively. … Freshman Eli Zuck played in back-to-back games for the first time since the Bemidji State series. … Rylan Galiardi’s short-handed goal on Friday was the first of his career.
