Mankato, Minn.--- The Minnesota State women’s hockey team wraps up a four-game homestand at All Seasons Arena after sweeping visiting Lindenwood, 3-0 and 4-1, a week ago for its first sweep of the season.  MSU welcomes Minnesota-Duluth to Mankato in a key early-season WCHA series, the first series away from home for the Bulldogs this year.    UMD defeated Wisconsin twice, 2-0 and 1-0, last weekend at AMSOIL Arena, after dropping two contests to Ohio State at home the weekend prior.

Bulldogs (2-2-0)	VS.	Mavericks (3-2-0)
0-for-12 (0%)	Power-Play	6-for-21 (29%)
2-for-15 (13%)	Penalty-Kill	4-for-26 (15%)
1.5	Goals/Game	2.5
21.8	Shots/Game	28.8
11.2	Penalty Min./Game	13.7
Jessica Wong (2G, 1A) Katherine Wilson (1G, 2A) Jenna McParland (1G, 1A)	Scoring Leaders	Tracy McCann (4G, 3A) Lauren Smith (4G, 1A) Emilia Andersson (2G, 2A)
Kayla Black (1.52 GAA)	Goaltender	Danielle Butters (1.98 GAA)

Inside the MSU/UMD Series:  Minnesota State is 4-48-3 all-time against Minnesota Duluth with its last victory, a 3-2 win in Duluth, coming on Nov. 21st, 2009...The Bulldogs have defeated the Mavericks in 13 straight matches dating back to the MSU win in 2009...MSU dropped all four contests to UMD a year ago, including losing 4-2 and 3-0 at All Seasons Arena...The largest margin of victory for the Mavericks was a 5-3 victory in Duluth on Nov. 18th, 2006...Minnesota Duluth’s largest margin of victory came on Oct. 18th, 2002 tipping the Mavericks 12-1...Junior goaltender Danielle Butters made 13 saves over the course of two periods in her lone appearance against the Bulldogs a year ago...MSU was led offensively by senior Lauren Zrust and junior Tracy McCann who recorded a goal and an assist and two assists, respectively, in four contests against UMD...The Maverick penalty kill held UMD to 3-for-18 last season, while performing at a 0-for-14 clip on the power-play itself...Minnesota Duluth outscored Minnesota State 18-4 through four games in 2011-12...Senior Audrey Cournoyer and junior Jamie Kenyon led the Bulldog attack last year collected three goals each in the season series with the Mavericks......Minnesota State will return to Duluth Feb. 9-10, 2013 to take on the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena.

A Little Bit More On the Bulldogs:  Minnesota Duluth sports a 2-2-0 overall and WCHA record through four home contests...The Bulldogs are coming off a very successful 2011-12 campaign where they lost 2-0 to eventual-national-champion, the University of Minnesota, in the championship of the WCHA Final Faceoff...UMD is sixth in the WCHA in scoring offense at 1.5 goals/game but ranks second in scoring defense allowing 1.5 goals/game...Minnesota-Duluth sits eighth in the league on the power-play at 0.0% (0-12), while its penalty kill stacks up fourth at 86.7% (13/15) through four games...Four different Bulldog skaters have multiple points this season led by seniors Jessica Wong (2G, 1A) and Katherine Wilson (1G, 2A)...Freshman goaltender Kayla Black is off to a fantastic start to her collegiate career posting a 1.52 GAA and .941 save percentage while starting all four games for Minnesota Duluth...Black stands third in the WCHA in GAA and second in save percentage...UMD boasts a younger roster with only eight of its 23 student-athletes...Minnesota-Duluth has been outshot 102-87 through four WCHA games.

MSU vs. the Rest of the Nation:  Individually, senior Lauren Smith and junior Tracy McCann are tied for 19th nationally with 0.67 goals/game...McCann and senior Emilia Andersson’s two power-play goals each place them in a tie for sixth in the country...Andersson sits 15th in points/game for defensemen (0.67), while Smith is tied for the national-lead with two game-winning goals...Junior Danielle Butters’ (right) 1.98 GAA is good for tenth in the country, while her .938 save percentage stacks up eighth nationally.

Standing Out: Minnesota State sits seventh in the WCHA with four points in four games as teams 2-7 are separated by two points or less.  This weekend’s opponent UMD ranks third having swept Wisconsin a week ago after dropping two games to Ohio State in its first WCHA series.

What Lies Ahead:  Minnesota State return the league play this weekend in its final two contests of a four-game homestand before embarking on a six-game road trip beginning with non-conference action next weekend in Erie, Pa. against #7 Mercyhurst.

Bring Out the Brooms: MSU completed its first sweep in nearly a year defeating Lindenwood University, 3-0 & 4-1, last weekend, ironically the last team the Mavericks had swept.

Smooth as Butters: Junior goaltender Danielle Butters earned the first conference honors of the season for the Mavericks being named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3rd.  She recorded a career-high 41 saves in a 2-2 tie with #2 Wisconsin on Sept. 28th and 77 total in the series.  The junior has amassed a .922 save percentage and 2.70 GAA through four games.

Twice as Nice:  Senior forward Lauren Smith (left) made it two straight weeks a Maverick received WCHA accolades being named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 10th.  She scored two of three MSU goals in the final ten minutes to overcome a 2-0 deficit and upset #5 North Dakota in Grand Forks on Oct. 5th.  She added an assist in Saturday’s series finale.
 
Strong Out of the Gate: Junior forward Tracy McCann leads all Maverick skaters with seven points this year having been on the scoresheet in four of six games for MSU.

How We Stack Up Against the Rest:  Minnesota State received one vote in the USCHO Women’s Hockey Poll released Oct. 8th and USA Today/USA Hockey Poll released Oct. 9th after splitting with #5 North Dakota the weekend before.

Climbing the Ranks: Senior Lauren Smith  is tied for sixth all-time at MSU with 38 career assists.  She needs 14 to tie the all-time record of 52 shared by Christina Lee and Maggie  Fischer.  Smith is also sixth all-time shots (333) and eighth in points (62) with the MSU career marks sitting at 483 and 109 respectively.

Beat the Best to Be the Best:  Minnesota State owns a 1-2-1 record this season against ranked opponents with its lone win coming at North Dakota, 3-2, on Oct. 5th.

Third Period Magic:  MSU has made a habit out of scoring late as 10 of its 15 (66%) goals have come in the third period, inlcuding four in last weekend’s series vs. Lindenwood.  Maverick opponents have netted six of 12 goals (50%) this season in the first period.

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