Women Skaters Play Host to the Badgers of Wisconsin December 11 and 12

12/9/2009 1:34:05 PM

Mankato, Minn.--- The Mavericks, now 4-6-4 on the year and 2-6-4-2 in WCHA play, continue conference play December 11 and 12, when they play host to the Wisconsin Badgers in Mankato, Minn. at All Seasons Arena. Friday’s game will be played at 7:07 pm and 3:07 pm.

About Wisconsin: The Badgers are 10-5-3 and 7-4-1-0 in the WCHA. In their last action, the Badgers played host to the fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Wisconsin finished the weekend with 3 points, 1-0-1. The Badgers defeated the Bulldogs on Friday night by a score of 3-1. UW and UMD finished Saturday’s game with a 2-2 tie. The University of Wisconsin is led by sophomore forward Brooke Ammerman (12-8--20), junior forward Mallory Deluce (8-7--15), freshman forward Brianna Decker (5-6--11) and junior forward/defenseman Geena Prough (5-5--10). Ammerman’s 20 points ranks seventh in scoring in the WCHA. In net for the Badgers will likely be freshman Becca Ruegsegger or senior Alannah McCready. Ruegsegger owns a 5-4-3 record, holds a 2.05 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. McCready owns a 5-1-0 record, owns a .926 save percentage and a 1.49 goals against average. McCready ranks second in the conference for her 1.49 goals against average, while Ruegsegger ranks third with her 2.05 goals against average. McCready’s 5-1-0 record ranks first in the WCHA.

MSU/UW History: The Mavericks are 0-40-2 all-time against the Badgers. The two ties against the Badgers came in the 2002-03 season and the other in their last meeting in Mankato last season.

St. Cloud State Series Notes: The Mavericks continued the 2009-10 conference portion of their schedule by playing host to St. Cloud State on Friday last weekend and finishing the series in St. Cloud on Saturday...Both games had a 7:07 pm start time...The Mavericks entered Friday night’s game with a 4-5-3 overall and 2-5-3 in the WCHA...The Mavericks finished Friday’s home contest with a 4-4 tie but earned the extra point with a shootout win...St. Cloud defeated Minnesota State in Saturday’s contest, 1-0...The Mavericks got on the board first as sophomore defensemen Jackie Otto (Lake Zurich, Ill.) lit the lamp at 9:14 in the first period, her first goal of the season. Sophomore forward Emmi Leinonen (Valkeakeski, Finland) assisted on the first period goal...St. Cloud State captain and left wing Felicia Nelson answered when she found the back of the net 12:59 in the first period. Nelson beat Maverick goaltender Alli Altmann (Eagan, Minn.) as fellow senior Caitlin Hogan set her up with the assist...Hogan got a goal of her own at 7:38 into the second period as the Huskies took advantage of a power play...Hogan found the loose puck in front of the Maverick net and capitalized to give the Huskies a 2-1 advantage early in the second...The lead was short lived however as Maverick left wing Leinonen finished off a Maverick attack for her seventh goal of the season at 10:02 in the second period and was assisted by senior forward Christina Lee (Maple Plain, Minn.) and junior Nina Tikkinen (Salo, Finland)...The fast paced action continued as the Huskies finished off their second consecutive power play as senior right wing Holly Roberts beat the Mavericks’ Altmann; Roberts was set up by Hogan and Nelson on the play...The Mavericks answered 14:42 in the second as Holly Snyder (Kenosha, Wis.) beat St. Cloud State’s Ashlie Nixon...A tremendous pass set up Snyder from sophomore center Moira O’Connor (Chicago, Ill.)...The seesaw battle continued early in the third as Roberts recorded her second goal of the night giving SCSU a 4-3 advantage...The Huskies once again took advantage of a loose puck in front of the net as she beat Altmann glove side...Ashley Young (South Saint Paul, Minn.) recorded the equalizer as Lauren Smith (Burnsville, Minn.) and Ida Clark (Vallentuna, Sweden) both assisted her on her on the third period goal...Young came out with the puck amidst the chaos in front of St. Cloud State’s goal as she beat Nixon...A winner wasn’t decided in the first 60 minutes of regulation or overtime so the teams headed to a shootout...Minnesota State’s captain Kala Buganski (Andover, Minn) scored the only goal of the shootout as she beat St. Cloud State’s backup goaltender Tayler VanDenakker...She replaced Nixon with 30 seconds remaining in the third after Nixon collided with a Maverick skater...Altmann denied all three SCSU attempts in the shootout...Altmann finished with 27 saves, allowing only four goals giving her a .871 save percentage...The Maverick finished the game with 30 shots on goal compared to St. Cloud State’s 31...MSU finished 0-2 on power play attempts as the Huskies ended the night 2-9 with the extra skater...MSU won in the face-off circle, 37-33...In Saturday’s contest after a scoreless first period, the Mavericks out-shot the Huskies, 17-9...MSU goaltender Alli Altmann finished the period with nine saves...Minnesota State opened the second period by killing a St. Cloud penalty and the scoreless hockey continued as neither the Mavericks nor the Huskies could capitalize on shots...St. Cloud finished the second period with eight shots compared to Minnesota State’s four. Altmann continued to play well in net finishing the period with eight saves...After 12:21 of scoreless hockey in the third, St. Cloud scored on a Holly Roberts goal, assisted by Kelly Meierhofer...The Mavericks finished the third period with 11 shots...Altmann finished the contest with 22 saves, five of them coming on Huskie power plays...The Mavericks finished the game with 32 shots compared to St. Cloud State’s 23...Both teams finished 0-6 with the extra skater...Leading the Mavericks in scoring this weekend was Emmi Leinonen who finished with one goal and an assist...Eight other MSU skaters finished with one point each...Young currently leads the team in points with 5-8--13...Leinonen currently sits second on the team in scoring with 7-5--12 and Smith third with 3-8--11...The team currently sits 9-65 on power play chances and 16-91 on penalty kills...The Mavericks (4-6-4, 2-6-4-2 WCHA) play host to the Wisconsin Badgers next weekend, December 11 and 12, at All Seasons Arena. Friday’s game will start at 7:07 pm and Saturday’s game at 3:07 pm.

To view a complete version of there notes click HERE.

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Women Skaters Play Host to the Badgers of Wisconsin December 11 and 12