Box Score A rare occurrence took place Saturday night at James S. Malosky Stadium. A rare occurrence, indeed.

Minnesota State University-Mankato did what no other Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team had done in nearly 13 years -- leave the University of Minnesota Duluth's home facility with a victory in hand. In a clash of two Top 10 nationally-ranked clubs, the No. 2 Mavericks used a pair of touchdown passes and one scoring run from quarterback Jon Wolf to down the No. 7 Bulldogs 21-17 before a standing room-only crowd of 5,723 (the fourth largest in program history).

The loss not only snapped UMD's 41-game NSIC home winning streak (a run which dated back to October 2000), but it was the first regular season setback for the Bulldogs at Malosky Stadium since the 2009 opener.

UMD (2-1) got on the board on its first series of the game when sophomore placekicker Andrew Brees nailed a 41-yard field goal and then took a 10-0 lead one play into the second quarter on freshman quarterback Drew Bauer's back-shoulder touchdown pass to junior Aaron Roth. On the ensuing possession, Maverick quarterback Jon Wolf threw for one score and, with 93 seconds to go in the half, ran for another (from 19 yards out) to put the reigning NSIC champions up 14-10 at the break.

The Bulldogs, who had won the previous four league titles before being dethroned by MSU last fall, took the second-half kickoff and marched 90 yards on 10 plays to regain the lead at 17-14. That drive was capped off by a 23-yard pass from Bauer to junior wide receiver Zach Zweifel. The Mavericks capitalized on a UMD fumble, the first of threes straight turnovers by the Bulldogs, late in the third quarter by hitting pay dirt one play later -- a 34-yard Wolf-to-Dennis Carter strike. UMD appeared to be on its way to pulling out a comeback victory in the waning minutes of play, moving all the way down to the Maverick's five-yard line, but a five-yard loss and back-to-back penalties, the second of which nullified Bauer's 16-yard toss to senior wide receiver Joe Reichert in the back of the end zone, dashed those hopes.

"We kept shooting ourselves in the foot," said Zweifel, who had a game-high 57 yards on six catches. "When you turn the ball over, you want your defense to respond and that's what they did."

Bauer finished the night with 252 yards of total offense, rushing 18 times for 79 of those and connecting on 17 of 23 passes for another 173 yards with one pick. The Bulldogs outgained MSU in overall yardage, 331 to 269, but for the first time in 12 games, failed to come away with either an interception or fumble recovery.

The Bulldogs will be back on the road next Saturday (Sept. 28) for an NSIC engagement with Wayne State College.