As absurd as it sounds given the 8-2 anvil Minnesota State-Mankato dropped on UAA, a feel-good story actually emerged for each side at Sullivan Arena on Friday night.

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Mankato's Jared Stewart scored four goals Friday.

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The Seawolves, who lost their third straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association game and sixth in their last seven matches, delivered playing time for No. 3 goaltender Dusan Sidor, the redshirt freshman who made his college debut in a two-period relief stint.

The Mavericks, who snapped their four-game winless skid, saw senior winger Jerad Stewart shed his grinder label, at least for one night, and channel Alexander Ovechkin. OK, maybe that last part is a stretch, but the kid nonetheless dropped four goals and a helper on UAA.

In any event, Mankato's humiliation of UAA before a season-low announced crowd of 2,732 furnished those items of interest, which was something, given that the rest of the game held the ghoulish appeal of driving slowly past a multi-vehicle traffic accident.

Sidor has spent the last season-plus behind senior Jon Olthuis and junior Bryce Christianson in the Seawolves' goalie rotation. That means he's the guy who takes most of the extra shots at practice, the one who stays out on the ice when shooters want to work on their game. He gets to dress for home games and sit on the bench, but he doesn't travel with the club to road games.

But after Olthuis surrendered four goals on 13 shots in the first period -- UAA coach Dave Shyiak labeled two of those strikes as soft -- Sidor played the rest of the game.

"I think he's deserved it,'' Shyiak said. "He's our hardest-working goaltender. He comes to the rink with a smile on his face, and he's appreciative.''

Besides, Shyiak said, neither Olthuis nor Christianson has played well enough to secure the No. 1 label or to help the team prosper in the WCHA, so Sidor earned his shot.

Sidor, from Slovakia, made a couple of point-blank saves early in the second period and held the Mavericks scoreless in the middle 20 minutes before giving up four third-period goals.

"I didn't have anything to lose, so I just want to go out there and help the team,'' Sidor said. "And the guys cheered me on and supported me. I was a little nervous, but nothing too bad.''

Breakdowns in front of him didn't provide him much cover in the third period. Sidor stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced in his 40-minute appearance and flashed a competitive resolve -- namely, he didn't like losing.

"The reward would have been if we came back and actually won,'' Sidor said. "If you lose, it's like any other game.''

The game matched the WCHA's two lowest-scoring teams. Both entered averaging two goals per league game.

But the Mavericks, who had not scored more than four goals in a league game this season, matched that in the first period to chase Olthuis. Stewart, who entered with 16 goals in 116 career games and four points in 10 games this season, ballooned those totals. He scored two goals in the first period and added two goals and an assist in the third period.

"I'm so happy for that kid,'' said Mavericks coach Troy Jutting. "He works his ass off -- has since the first day he stepped on campus. Sometimes, you get what you deserve a little bit.''

Stewart conceded he was a little shocked by his breakout night, in which he scored on four of his five shots and racked a game-best, plus-4 rating. He scored his first three goals on rebounds and his fourth on a breakaway furnished by a UAA turnover.

"I don't have any words to describe it,'' he said. "It's a great feeling. Before tonight, I talked about how I probably had the worst shooting percentage in the league. Then everything I touched went into the net tonight.

"Guys did a great job of getting the puck to the net.''

The Mavericks (4-6-1, 2-6-1 WCHA) leapfrogged out of the league basement and over UAA (4-9-0, 2-7-0) and Michigan Tech, which are now tied for last in the 10-team league.

UAA has surrendered goals in bunches of late -- a season-high eight on Friday and 19 in their last three games.

Still, Nick Haddad's second-period goal pulled UAA within striking distance at 4-2, and the Seawolves enjoyed a power play to open the third period. That man advantage proved fruitless, though, and Kurt Davis and Stewart scored 10 seconds apart early in the third period to turn the game into a laugher.

"Everybody has to hold themselves accountable, including myself,'' Shyiak said.

Seawolves notes

• Senior winger Kevin Clark's first-period goal, on a backhander off the rush, was his team-high sixth goal. Haddad assisted on Clark's goal for the first two-point game of his UAA career.

• UAA played without senior winger Josh Lunden (five goals), who sat out with a shoulder injury. Six different Seawolves have missed a combined 22 games with injuries this season, and Shyiak has yet to have his full roster to choose from.

• Winger Sean Wiles returned from a two-game absence with a bum shoulder to assist on Haddad's goal. Winger Jade Portwood returned after missing four games with a knee injury.

• The Seawolves mustered just 16 shots on goal, marking the fourth time in 13 games they have been held to 16 or fewer shots. They have been held to 20 shots or fewer in six of 13 games.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Mankato 4 0 4 -- 8

UAA 1 1 0 -- 2

First Period -- 1, Mankato, Stewart 2 (Cooper, Galiardi), 11:41; 2, Mankato, Hayes 4 (Boe), 12:39; 3, Mankato, Stewart 3 (Harrison, Youds), 15:37 (pp); 4, UAA, Clark 6 (Haddad), 18:03; 5, Mankato, Pitlick 3 (Davis), 19:25. Penalties -- Vidmar, UAA (cross-checking), 14:43; Crowell, UAA (interference), 17:29; Mouillierat, Mankato (hooking), 17:37.

Second Period -- 6, UAA, Haddad 3 (Leinweber, Wiles), 13:18. Penalties -- Youds, Mankato (interference), 10:27; Clark, UAA (roughing), 12:31; Elbrecht, Mankato (roughing), 12:31; Grant, UAA (goaltender interference), 13:43; Mueller, Mankato (interference), 19:01.

Third Period -- 7, Mankato, Davis 2 (Stewart), 4:36; 8, Mankato, Stewart 4 (Canzanello), 4:46; 9, Mankato, Wiley 1 (Galiardi), 14:00; 10, Mankato, Stewart 5, 15:58. Penalties -- Spencer, UAA (grasping the face mask), 3:57; Cooper, Mankato (holding), 3:57; Hayes, Mankato (boarding), 6:50; Tuton, UAA (hooking), 9:54; Parkinson, UAA (charging), 10:21; Vidmar, UAA (high-sticking), 11:19; Grant, UAA (tripping), 18:41; Boe, Mankato, minor-misconduct (slashing the goaltender), 20:00.

Shots on goal - Mankato 13-9-17--39. UAA 7- 5- 4--16.

Power -- play Opportunities - Mankato 1 of 7; UAA 0 of 4.

Goalies -- Mankato, Lee, 3-4-0 (16 shots- 14 saves). UAA, Olthuis, 2-5-0 (13-9); Sidor, enter 0:00 2 nd (26 -22).

A -- 2,732 (6,251). T -- 2:18.

Referees - Brad Shepherd, C.J. Berline. Assistant referees -- Scott Sivulich, Steve Glines.

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