What's On Tap: The Minnesota State women's hockey team will continue league action this weekend as they travel to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The puck is scheduled to drop at 3:07 p.m. for both games.

The Mavericks own a record of 0-5-1 after starting the season playing four of their first six games against opponents ranked in the top-10. They will continue that trend as the Bulldogs entered the USCHO poll at No. 10 this week.

Looking Back at Last Week: Minnesota State traveled to No. 8/9 Mercyhurst last weekend to battle the Lakers. MU swept MSU winning by scores of 5-1 and 2-1, respectively.

It was the power-play that once again bit the Mavericks on Friday as the Lakers tallied three goals with the extra skater in seven opportunities while MSU went 0-3. Junior Erin Krichiver made 40 saves for the Purple and Gold, a new career high, but it wasn't quite enough. Freshman Nicole Schammel scored her first career goal in the loss as well.

On Saturday the Lakers were able to take advantage of the power-play opportunity in the first period to take an early 1-0 lead. They added another goal in the second period, but the Mavericks would answer back early in the final stanza. Schammel added her second goal of the weekend with senior's Shelby Moteyunas and Casey Hirsch getting credited with the assists to cut the score in half. MSU looked to score late in the third, but a late penalty called on the Mavericks hurt them as they were unable to even up the score dropping the second game 2-1.

Looking at the Bulldogs: The Bulldogs have come out of the gates with an overall record of 4-4-2 and are 1-4-1 in the WCHA. They are coming off a weekend in which they swept Lindenwood University at AMSOIL Arena by scores of 3-1 and 6-2, respectively. Just like the MSU, UMD has had a tough with six of their first ten games coming against teams ranked in the top-ten of the national rankings.

The Bulldogs are guided by head coach Shannon Miller who is in her 16th season and has been at UMD since the inception of the program owning a lifetime record of 363-132-45. Senior Zoe Hickel (F, 5-6, Anchorage, Ala.) and sophomore Lara Stalder (F, 5-6, Luzern, Switzerland) lead UMD in points with nine each. Hickel has six goals to her credit while Stalder has the most assists on the team with seven. Junior Kayla Black (GK, 5-8, Blyth, Ont.) has started nine games in goal and owns save percentage of .921 while boasting a goals against average 2.28.

The Bulldogs are averaging 2.4 goals a game while allowing 2.5 and are outshooting their opponents 306-293. They have gone 7-40 with the extra skater and have allowed six power-play goals this season.
 
Last Time Around: Last season the Bulldogs swept the season series against the Mavericks by scores of 6-1, 3-1, 3-1, and 2-4. UMD owns the all-time series against MSU as the series stands at 6-53-4.

Minnesota State All-Time: The MSU women's hockey program - started in 1998-99 - is currently in its 17th season of competition and has compiled a 158-354-48 (.326) record in 560 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 16th year as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and boast an 89-277-40 (.270) mark in 404 league contests.

Welcome to Mankato: The Mavericks bring in 12 freshman to this seasons squad including eight forwards, three defenseman, and one goalie. Five of the newcomers will continue to play in their home state of Minnesota. Three other players come to the Mavericks from Arizona, Colorado and Illinois. The final four come from outside the United States with two coming from Ontario, Canada and the other two from Sweden and Norway.

Schammel Leading the Pack: Freshman Nicole Schammel scored the first two goals of her career for the Mavericks last weekend and is in the midst of a two-game scoring streak. She leads the team in points going 2-1--3 this season.

Freshman Impact: Five different freshman have scored a point so for this season. Elin Johansson scored the Mavericks first goal of the season against UND. Nicole Schammell leads the team in scoring while Lindsey Coleman, Hannah Davidson and Anna Keys each have an assist on the season.

MSU vs. Opponents: The Mavericks are averaging 0.8 goals per game compared to allowing 3.3. They are also being outshot 247-100 so far this season. MSU will look to improve its special teams as they have not been able to score with the man advantage this season while killing off just 73.4 percent of its penalties.

Protecting Our House: MSU dropped its first series at home this weekend against North Dakota at all Seasons Arena. The Mavericks now stand 91-152-29 all-time at home.  The Mavericks  have called the arena home since their inception in 1998.

Road Warriors: The Purple and Gold are 0-2-1 on the road so far this season as they dropped a couple of contests on the road last weekend against No. 8/9 Mercyhurst. The Mavericks owned a 6-13-0 record on the road last season and swept Lindenwood on Oct. 11-12 and North Dakota on Feb. 15-16.

Beat the Best to Be the Best:  Four teams in the WCHA are ranked in the top-ten of the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey polls this week. Minnesota comes in at No. 1, Wisconsin is No. 2/3, North Dakota is No. 10 and is tied with UMD for the final spot in the USCHO poll.

The Mavericks are 0-4-0 against top-ten ranked opponents this season losing a couple of games against North Dakota to start the season and dropping a pair of contests against Mercyhurst last weekend.

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