MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The danger of being rusty after three weeks without a contest didn't spoil the Beavers' opener at the ACHA National Tournament late Friday night.

Down early against 17^th-ranked Missouri State, the No. 1-ranked Minot State men's hockey team shook off that rust and rallied with a pair of third-period goals, skating away with a 4-3 win over the upset-minded Bears.

With the win, Minot State (28-1-1-1 overall) advances to the quarterfinals and next plays Sunday at 8 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's late game between No. 9 Adrian (Mich.) and No. 8 Jamestown.

After an 18-day layoff, the Beavers found the going rough early on against the Bears, who Thursday opened play at nationals with a 4-0 win over No. 16 Purdue University Northwest.

Riding that momentum, the Bears put two pucks in the net and led 2-0 at the end of the first period.

The Beavers' comeback began early in the second period as Reece Henry scored off assists from Kieran Cooke and Matthew Yakubowski just 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the session.

Slade Stanick then knotted the score at 2-2 just 2:56 later with an unassisted goal, but Missouri State answered with 10:21 left in the period, once again making the bid for the upset.

Trailing 3-2 heading into a potential final period to the season, the top-ranked Beavers grabbed the game's momentum when Stanick scored with 2:29 gone in the third, off assists from Eric Krywy and Walker Jerome, then Jay Buchholz broke the tie and gave Minot State its first lead with 7:15 left to play, scoring the game-winner off a Sean Williams assist.

From there, the Beavers preserved their one-goal lead as William Dyke made 16 third-period saves and finished with 24 saves total in the win for Minot State.