MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State Mavericks completed a two-game sweep of the No. 4/5 Denver Pioneers with a 3-2 victory tonight before 4,234 at Alltel Center. The Mavericks record their first sweep over DU since 2001 and improve to 13-10-4 overall and 6-9-4 in the WCHA, while the Pioneers fall to 18-8, 12-6.

Andrew Sackrison, Joel Hanson and Jon Kalinski scored for Minnesota State, who stretched its winning streak to four games. Mike Zacharias gained the win with 18 saves. Freshmen Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) and Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) scored for DU, while Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) stopped 19 shots in his third consecutive loss.

“We played with better intensity and effort tonight, but give Minnesota State credit for its play this weekend,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We battled back a couple of times, but couldn’t score the game-tying goal.”

Minnesota State held a 2-0 lead on goals by Sackrison and Hanson before Bozak put the Pioneers on the board at 6:19 of the second period. After a brief stoppage to replace a piece of glass, Kalinski regained the two-goal lead for Minnesota State moments later at 15:50.

Ostrow’s scored DU’s final goal on the power play at 13:46 with assists going to J.P. Testwuide (Vail, Colo.) and Mannino.

Minnesota State won the shot battle 22-20. DU went 1-for-5 on the power play, while MSU was 1-for-4.

Denver returns to action at home Feb. 8-9 against Minnesota.

Notes: DU is 1-4 in its last five games. The Pioneers fell to 1-8 when trailing after two periods and have allowed the first goal in four consecutive games. The three goal weekend was DU’s lowest total of the season. Rhett Rakhshani increased his scoring streak to three games, while defenseman Chris Butler had assists in both games. Tyler Bozak ranks second on the team with 12 goals.