Luigi Benincasa had a goal and an assist and former Gopher Rhett Pitlick assisted on two goals to help Minnesota State Mankato outlast St. Thomas 4-2 in the CCHA Mason Cup championship game Friday in Mankato.
The victory was the 10th in the past 11 games for the Mavericks (27-8-3), who had already earned a spot in the 16-team NCAA tournament field.
The Tommies (19-14-5), who had an eight-game winning streak ended, are in the final year of their transition to Division I and are ineligible for the NCAA tournament this season.
After a scoreless first period, Matthew Gleason gave the Tommies a 1-0 lead at 13:04 remaining in the second period.
The Mavericks scored twice in a 3½-minute span to take a 2-1 lead. Benincasa’s power-play goal with 9:20 left in the second period tied the score, and Kaden Bohlsen’s goal with 6:46 remaining in the second broke the tie.
The Tommies tied the score with 93 seconds left in the second period on a power-play goal by Laim Malmquist.
Evan Murr’s goal with 9:47 remaining in the third period gave the Mavericks a 3-2 lead. Josh Groll’s empty-net goal with 43 seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Mavericks.
MSU Mankato, which has won seven of the past eight CCHA regular-season titles, was 2-1-1 against St. Thomas during the regular season.
