No fancy moves. No baiting the goaltender. Hunter Ramos just skated through the slot and rifled the puck into the net, simple as you like. Lake Superior State goaltender Anders Miller stopped a shot on the other end, and the Lakers took two points in an eight round shootout win at Minnesota State on Saturday night. Combined with a shootout loss the night before, LSSU split the weekend series with the Mavericks, taking three CCHA league points on the road.

"This is a hard place to play hockey, get points and be effective," said Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten. "There's a lot to like about it. We fell a little short in getting regulation victories, so there's still work to do obviously. But we only have a handful of guys who've ever played a hockey game here. I thought we showed a lot of grit and resiliency to stick through it this weekend.:

While the result officially goes into the record books as a 2-2 tie, the Lakers (2-4-2, 0-2-2 CCHA) took the extra point with Ramos' winner. Carter Batchelder and Ethan Moore also scored shootout goals for LSSU.

Moore played the savior twice for Lake State. With the Mavericks (2-4-2, 0-0-2 CCHA) holding a late 2-1 lead, Moore snuck toward the Minnesota State goal via the backdoor. Parked on the right wing post, he took a perfect pass from Cooper Foster and redirected it past a helpless Lassi Lehti to tie the game 2-2 at 19:34 of the third period. Moore again kept the Lakers alive in the shootout. The Lakers sent him out for the third round, trailing by a goal. He neatly delivered, clearing the way for Batchelder and Ramos to score later and claim the shootout victory.

"A breakout for Mooresy," said Whitten. "He's a very talented player. He's a dangerous player. He senses danger extremely well and knows how to exploit defenses. We saw that setting up Raoul's rush goal, then also getting that equalizer. Great pass by Cooper Foster, but Mooresy knows how to finish around the net. Dynamic effort all game long, then a big-time goal in the shootout to extend it."

Moore's goal wiped out what looked like the game-winner by Minnesota State's Ean Somoza. He scored at 15:04 of the third on a deft finish, putting the Mavs ahead for the first time in the weekend series. They never led Friday night and only took their first lead on Somoza's late goal Saturday. Four and a half minutes later, Moore cleared that advantage off the board for good. Minnesota State led at home for just 4:30 the entire weekend, a rarity for the Mavericks over the last decade and a half. They've typically welcomed teams into the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center and rapidly pounded them into fine particles. But the Lakers controlled much of the tempo throughout the weekend and kept a regularly raucous crowd in its collective seat.

Miller played a central role in that tempo control. He made 29 saves on Saturday, including five in overtime, after an excellent 24 save outing on Friday.The first year goaltender played extremely well, dictating the pace of both games in a building that's normally harsh on opposition netminders.

Raoul Boilard scored the opener for LSSU. At 6:41 of the first, he put the Lakers in front on the rush with a sizzling wrister that beat Lehti for Boilard's first collegiate goal. Though his night ended early with a five minute major and game misconduct penalty at the end of the second, the New York Rangers draft pick showed his immense skill, dominating in the faceoff circle with seven wins in nine draws and striking for his first college goal.

"I think there's a lot of guys that took a step," said Whitten. "Boilard's had a lot of chances to score, and he's played really well for us. He gets his first goal. That's a big confidence booster for him. Cooper Foster continues to play well. Then you have a first year goaltender who put back-to-back performances together. There's a lot to like about those performances, and I think you'll see big steps forward because these guys continue to adjust to this level."

The Lakers return home to face Maryville next weekend at Taffy Abel Arena. The series opens with a special Thursday night game at 7:07 PM. The second game takes place on Friday and features a special celebration of 60 years of Laker Hockey, as LSSU welcomes back members of the inaugural team that first competed on November 9th, 1966.

"We talk about the momentum of the season, but it's a season of momentous moments," Whitten said. "We've had the reopening of Taffy Abel Arena, the 60^th anniversary and on Friday night, honoring some of the initial student-athletes of Laker Hockey. Another momentous night. Really excited to be part of all this in this special year of Laker Hockey."

Buy your tickets for the Maryville series online, and download the Lake Superior State Lakers app on the App Store or Google Play.