What's On Tap: The Minnesota State women's hockey team will return to All Seasons Arena after being on the road for five of its last six games and taking almost a month long break over the holiday season.

The Mavericks will battle the Saints of St. Lawrence University on Saturday in Mankato with the puck set to drop at 6:07 p.m. This meeting will mark the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams and the first since the 1999-00 season.

Last Time on the Ice: The last time Minnesota State was on the ice was against Bemidji State on the Beaver's home ice on December 5th and 6th. The Mavericks dropped a couple of contests by scores of 7-4 and 2-0, respectively.

The Mavericks took an early lead in their first contest game against the Beavers as junior Katie Johnson tallied her second goal of the season 1:01 into the opening frame. BSU tied the score at 10:14 of the opening frame but freshman Hannah Davidson scored 11 seconds later to give MSU a 2-1 lead after the first period. The Beavers came storming back scoring six unanswered goals, including four in the second period alone, to pull ahead of the Mavericks for good. Johnson added her second goal of the game while senior Shelby Moteyunas also found the back of the net marking her first goal of the season in the final period.

In the second game of the weekend BSU shutout MSU 2-0 as the Beavers oushot the Mavericks 37-26. Rachael Kelly scored the game-winning goal in the first period.

Looking at the Saints: St. Lawrence University boasts an overall record of 8-6-2 and are 5-3-1 in Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference action. The Saints most recent action came December 5th when they defeated Colgate University 5-0 and December 6th when they lost to Cornell University by a final score of 4-2.

Saint Lawrence is led by head coach Chris Wells who is in his seventh year at the helm of the program and owns a record of 120-92-26. Junior Jenna Marks (F, 5-4, Cottage Grove, Wis.) is the leading scorer for SLU totaling 8-10--18 in 16 games. Sophomore Brooke Webster (F, 5-5, Aurora, Ont.)leads the team with 11 goals and has added five assists for 16 points while freshman Kennedy Merchment also has 16 points tallying seven goals and nine assists. Senior Carmen MacDonald (GK, 5-7, Pictou, Nova Scotia) has played 14 games in goal for the Saints and owns a record of 7-5-2. She boasts a 0.920 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.36.

The Saints area averaging 3.19 goals per game while allowing 2.69 per game. They are also killing off penalties just below 80 percent of the time and are 6 of 44 with the extra man advantage.

Last Time Around: The Mavericks have yet to defeat the Saints in their first five meetings. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 1999-00 season.

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 158-364-48 (.319) record in 570 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 16th year as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and boast an 89-287-40 (.263) mark in 414 league contests.

Freshman Impact: Eight different freshmen have scored a point so for this season for the Purple and Gold. Elin Johansson scored the Mavericks first goal of the season against UND. Hannah Davidson leads the team with six assists and two goals for eight points. Nicole Schammel leads the team with four goals and has added two assists for six points. Anna Keys has a goal and an assist while Lindsey Coleman, Emma Wittchow, Amanda Conway and Amanda Martin each have totaled at least one assist on the season.

Maverick Special Teams: The Mavericks are killing off penalties at a clip of 75.7 percent while going 2 of 37 with the extra skater this season.

MSU vs. Opponents: Minnesota State is averaging 1.00 goals per game this season while allowing 4.25. They are also being outshot and are averaging 17.9 shots compared  to their opponents 45.4 shots per game.

Johnson's Big Day: Junior Katie Johnson had a career day against Bemidji State on December 5th. She had her first career two-goal game and added an assist in the loss against the beavers.

Ending the Scoring Drought: Senior Shelby Moteyunas was able to find the back of the net against Bemidji State last time out on the ice. That goal ends a 17 game goal scoring drought for the defenseman.

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.

Protecting Our House: MSU dropped its first series at home to start the season against North Dakota at all Seasons Arena and most recently were swept by Ohio State. The Mavericks now stand 91-155-29 all-time at home.  The Mavericks  have called the arena home since their inception in 1998.

Road Warriors: The Purple and Gold are 0-9-1 on the road so far this season as they dropped a pair of games against #9 Bemidji State last time out. The Mavericks owned a 6-13-0 record on the road last season.

Beat the Best to Be the Best:  Four teams in the WCHA are ranked in the top-ten of either the USCHO or USA Today/USA Hockey polls this week. Minnesota comes in at No. 2, Wisconsin is No. 3, Minnesota-Duluth comes in at No. 7 while Bemidji State is No. 9.

The Mavericks are 0-12-0 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, Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin, Minnesota and most recently Bemidji State.

To view the complete PDF release click HERE.