• Mavericks Have Won Six Games in a Row and Stand 11-3-0 Overall After Sweep at Lake Superior State Last Weekend

• Williams Earns League Defensive Player of the Week Honors (Again)
• Mavericks Achieve Highest-Ever Ranking in National Polls Series

On Tap:  Second-rated Minnesota State (11-3-0 overall, 9-1-0 WCHA) continues Western Collegiate Hockey Association action with pair of home league contests vs. the University of Alaska (7-7-0, 2-6-0 WCHA) this weekend. The Mavericks and the Nanooks play at Verizon Wireless Center (4,832) in downtown Mankato Friday (7:07 p.m.) and Saturday (7:07 p.m.) CST.

Minnesota State Most Recently:  Minnesota State owns an 11-3-0 overall record and is 9-1-0 WCHA after earning a pair of wins (7-0 and 3-0) at Lake Superior State last weekend.  Minnesota State enters the series with Alaska having won six games in a row and nine of its last ten contests.

About Alaska:  The Nanooks, who face the Mavericks after splitting a pair of WCHA road contests last weekend at Northern Michigan (3-0 win and 4-1 loss), stand 7-7-0 overall and 2-6-0 WCHA. Alaska is led offensively by junior forward Tyler Morley (2-11--13), sophomore forward Marcus Basara (7-4--1) and junior defenseman Colton Parayko chips in with 4-6--10. The Nanooks, who went 18-15-4 overall (14-12-2 WCHA) last year, have used three goaltenders this year in sophomore Davis Jones (4-3-0, 2.72, .872), senior Sean Cahill (2-3-0, 2.59, .923) and junior John Keeney (1-1-0, 3.63, .860). Head coach Dallas Ferguson (Alaska '96) is in his seventh year as a collegiate head coach and owns a 105-103-32 in his time in charge of the Nanooks.

Minnesota State is 1-11-0 in the all-time series vs. the University of Alaska. The two teams split in the only meetings between the two schools last year in a series that played in Fairbanks.  This weekend marks the second time the Nanooks have visited Mankato (Alaska claimed 5-2 and 4-2 wins over the Mavericks in two nonconference games played in 1992-92).

On Tap:  Following the two games vs. Alaska this weekend, Minnesota State closes out the first half of the schedule Dec. 12-13 with a home nonconference series vs. Princeton.

Shot Proof:   Minnesota State leads the nation in goals (53) and is second in goals per game (3.79). The Mavericks lead the country with the fewest shots on goal allowed per game (21.5), stands first in shot margin (+180) and shots on goal margin per game (+12.8). The Mavericks are sixth in shots on goal for per game (40.8).

Broomology:   Including the last three weekends in which the Mavericks have posted sweeps over Bemidji State, Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State, since joining DI in '96-97, the Mavericks have posted 77 sweeps. The most sweeps posted by Minnesota State in one season (DI-era): 8 in 2013-14. The Mavericks have not failed to post at least 1 sweep in each DI season.

Polling: Minnesota State is rated second by USCHO and fourth by USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine in the national polls this week. This week's rating is the highest the Mavericks have ever been ranked. Prior to this week, the highest a Minnesota State men's hockey team had been ranked was seventh (Nov. 4, 2014 by both USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, and Feb. 25, 2013 by USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine).