What's On Tap: Fresh off the heels of its first wins of the 2014-15 season, Minnesota State will take the ice against #2 Minnesota this weekend in a home-and-home series against the Gophers.

The Mavericks (2-17-1, 0-13-1 WCHA) and Gophers (19-1-3, 12-1-3 WCHA) will square off Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis at 7:07 p.m., before the two teams travel back down to Mankato to battle inside All Seasons Arena Saturday afternoon at 4:07 p.m.

Last Time on the Ice: Minnesota State hit the road last weekend to face Lindenwood University for a three game series. The Mavericks defeated the Lady Lions 4-1 and 3-2 before losing the final game on Saturday by a score of 3-1.

The Mavericks ended a 13 game skid on Wednesday against the Lady Lions as four different players scored for the Purple and Gold. The four goals matched a single-game high for MSU. Freshman Anna Keys started the scoring for the Mavericks at 9:47 of the first period which was the only goal in the opening session. Freshman Hannah Davidson tallied her third goal of the year, which proved to be the game winner, while freshman Amanda Conway recorded her first career collegiate goal to bring the score to 3-0. Lindenwood answered back with a goal of its own, but senior Kathleen Rogan got the goal back in the third period to give MSU a 4-1 victory. Junior goaltender Erin Krichiver made 26 stops to pick up the win.

On Friday the Lady Lions scored 21 seconds in to the opening period to take an early 1-0 lead and were able to increase their lead to 2-0 early in the second period. MSU came back and scored three unanswered goals to win 3-2. Freshman Emma Wittchow scored the game-winning goal, the first goal of her career, at 8:25 of the third period. Sophomore netminder Brianna Quade picked up her first career win as she recorded 23 saves in the win.

The Purple and Gold were unable to come up with the sweep as the Mavericks outshot the Lady Lions 27-19 on Saturday, but were only able to score once. Freshman Elin Johansson tallied the lone goal for MSU.

Looking at the Gophers: Minnesota comes into the weekend with an overall record of 19-1-3 and a 12-1-3 record in WCHA play. Most recently the Gophers defeated Wisconsin 4-1 and tied the Badgers 1-1.

Minnesota is led by head coach Brad Frost who has compiled a 243-39-20 record in eight seasons at the helm of the Gophers program. Junior Hannah Brandt (F, 5-6, Vadnais Heights, Minn.) leads the team in scoring and ranks second in the nation recording 21-24--45 in 22 games this season. Sophomore Dani Cameranesi (F, 5-5, Plymouth, Minn.) has tallied 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points. Junior netminder Amanda Leveille (G, 5-8, Kingston, Ont.) has played 19 games in goal for the Gophers owning a record of 16-1-2 with a goals against average of 1.17 and a save percentage of .947.

The Gophers are averaging 4.61 goals per game while allowing 1.04 goals per game ranking second in each of those categories.

Last Time Around: The Gophers won both meetings earlier this season by scores of 5-1 and 4-0 respectively. Minnesota leads the all-time series with a record of 67-3-3 against the Mavericks.

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 160-366-48 (.321) record in 574 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 freshman 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 has recorded six assists and four goals for 10 points. Nicole Schammel leads the team in points (11), assists (7) and tied in goals (4). Anna Keys has two goals and assists while Lindsey Coleman, Emma Wittchow, Amanda Conway and Amanda Martin each have totaled at least one assist on the season.

Schammel Honored by WCHA: Freshman Nicole Schammel was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week after recording four assists last weekend against Lindenwood including assists on the game-tying and game-winning goals on Friday.

Streaking: Senior Kathleen Rogan comes into this weekend on a four game point scoring streak. In those four games she has recorded three goals and an assist.

MSU vs. Opponents: Minnesota State is averaging 1.25 goals per game this season while allowing 3.85. They are also being outshot and are averaging 19.9 shots compared  to their opponents 41.5 shots per game.

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 lost to St. Lawrence. The Mavericks now stand 91-156-29 all-time at home.  The Mavericks  have called the arena home since their inception in 1998.

Road Warriors: The Purple and Gold are 2-10-1 on the road so far this season and most recently took two out of three games from Lindenwood. 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 Ohio State is 9/10.

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.

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