2012 NCAA Hockey scores: St. Cloud State pounds Minnesota State — twice

College hockey teams throughout the state of Minnesota were in action for the fourth consecutive weekend, with the St. Cloud State Huskies faring the best of the bunch.

The Huskies picked up a pair of 5-1 victories over the Minnesota State Mavericks to move into a tie atop the WCHA standings alongside the Denver Pioneers. Ben Hanowski scored twice in the opening period of Friday night's game, while Drew LeBlanc notched a goal and two assists. LeBlanc found the back of the net in the third period on Saturday night, and Nic Dowd had a goal and an assist to help lead the Huskies to the weekend sweep.

Elsewhere, the Minnesota Golden Gophers played the U.S. Under-18 team to a 2-2 tie on Friday night before defeating the Canisius Golden Griffins on Sunday, 1-0. The Gophers fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period on Friday before getting second-period goals from Tom Serratore and Nick Bjugstad to knot the score. On Sunday, Kyle Rau accounted for the only scoring, beating Canisius goaltender Tony Capobianco in the opening stanza. In the two games, the Gophers combined for 80 shots on goal.

The Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs came away from the weekend winless, dropping a 2-0 decision to the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday and skating to a 2-2 tie with the Badgers a day later. The Bulldogs scored the first two goals of the second game before surrendering two third-period goals and settling for the draw. Minnesota-Duluth outshot Wisconsin in both games, but couldn't turn the opportunities into a victory.