• #9 Mavericks Stand 7-3-0 Overall After Sweeping Bemidji State in Last Action
    • Gervais, Blueger, Leitner, Lafontaine, Palmquist Continue to Rank Amongst National Scoring Leaders

On Tap:    After an open weekend, 9th-rated Minnesota State (7-3-0 overall, 5-1-0 WCHA) resumes Western Collegiate Hockey Association action with a pair of road league contests at #1-rated Michigan Tech (10-0-0, 8-0-0 WCHA) this weekend. MSU and MTU play in Houghton, Mich., at MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,466) Friday (7:07 p.m.) and Saturday (7:07 p.m.) CST.

Minnesota State Most Recently:  The Mavericks last played Nov. 7 and 8 when they claimed 6-3 and 5-3 home league wins over Bemidji State. Minnesota State enters the series at Michigan Tech having won five of its last six contests.

About Michigan Tech:  The top-rated Huskies, who face the Mavericks after sweeping Bemidji State in a pair of WCHA home contests last weekend (2-1 and 4-2), stand 10-0-0 overall and 8-0-0 WCHA. Tech is  led offensively by senior forwards Tanner Kero (4-8--12) and Blake Pietila (4-5--9) and junior forward Alex Petan (5-5--10). Tech, which went 14-9-7 overall (12-11-5 WCHA) last year, has used junior Jamie Phillips (10-0-0, 1.20, .957) in all ten games this year. Head coach Mel Pearson (Michigan Tech '81) is in his fourth year behind the Huskies bench and owns a 53-58-15 career record as a collegiate head coach.

Minnesota State is 28-15-55 in the all-time series vs. Michigan Tech. The Mavericks have won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams.

MSU All-Time:  The Minnesota State men's hockey program, begun in 1969-70, completed its 45th year of competition last year.  MSU is in its 19th year as a member of NCAA Division I (first DI season was 1997-98) and the Mavericks are entering their 16th season as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Mavericks sport an all-time record of 793-604-138 (.562).

Patronage:   A record-setting sell-out crowd of 5,375 fans attended Minnesota State's home game vs. Minnesota Duluth Oct. 18th at Verizon Wireless Center.  The previous mark of 5,201 was established Jan. 30, 2009 in a game vs. Minnesota.  The Mavericks are averaging 3,782  fans per home contest in 2014-15.

Shot Stuff:  Minnesota State leads the nation with the fewest shots on goal allowed per game (19.08), ranks second in shot margin (+149) and sixth in shots on goal for (34.7).

Polling:  For the second consecutive week, the Mavericks are rated ninth by USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine in the national polls. The highest Minnesota State has ever been ranked is seventh (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine) Feb. 25, 2013.

The complete 12-page release is available in pdf format HERE.