Mavericks Seek Success Against #3 Badgers in Madison This Weekend

2/9/2010 10:08:40 AM

On Tap:    Minnesota State (12-14-2 overall, 6-13-1 WCHA) is scheduled for a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association road contests this weekend at the third-rated University of Wisconsin (16-7-4 overall, 11-6-3 WCHA) on the docket. The Mavericks and the Badgers square-off at UW’s Kohl Center (15,237) Friday at 8:07 p.m. and Saturday at 8:07 p.m..

About the MSU-UW Series: The Mavericks split a pair of league home games with the Badgers earlier this year (6-0 loss and 3-2 win Oct. 23-24) and trail in the all-time series with Wisconsin by a 18-14-4 margin.
    MSU’s leading active scorers vs. UW are senior forwards Geoff Irwin (4-3--7 in 12 GP) and Kael Mouillierat (5-2--7 in 12 GP).   Head coach Troy Jutting’s career head coaching record vs. UW stands at 12-16-4 (.433).

Mavericks Most Recently: Minnesota State stands 12-14-2 overall, 6-13-1 WCHA on the year after split a WCHA series at Michigan Tech Jan. 29-30 in its most recent action. Currently 12-14-2 overall and 6-13-1 in WCHA games after splitting a pair of league contests at Michigan Tech Jan. 30 and 31 (4-1 loss and 3-2 win), Minnesota State resumes action with a pair of road league games at the University of Wisconsin this Friday and Saturday.

Senior forward Jared Stewart (12-9--21) stands atop the MSU scoring charts with senior forward Zach Harrison (5-15--20) and junior defenseman Ben Youds (1-19--20) just off the pace. Sophomore Austin Lee (7-10-0, 2.75, .910), who has started four of the last five games, has 18 appearances this year. Lee has combined with freshmen Kevin Murdock (1-3-1, 3.46, .895) and Phil Cook (4-1-1, .949, 1.40) for a team goals against average of 2.61 and a .913save percentage on the year.
   The Mavericks, who have 706 wins in the 41-year history of the program, have eight games left in the regular-season schedule and all are of the WCHA variety. And including this weekend’s games at UW, five of the games are at home, three are on the road.

About Wisconsin: The Badgers stand 16-7-4 overall and are 11-6-3 WCHA after registering a 3-2 win over Michigan in the Camp Randall Hockey Class outdoor game played last Saturday.

Ranked third in both the USA Today and USCHO.com polls this week, UW is led by junior defenseman Brendan Smith (12-21--33), junior forward Derek Stepan (6-25--31) and senior forwards Michael Davies (11-21--32) and Blake Geoffrion (18-10--28). Junior Scott Gundmanson (9-2-4, .919, 2.19) ranks ninth in the country in goals against average and seventh in the nation in winning percentage.

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