What's On Tap: Minnesota State will continue its season on Monday as they host St. Cloud State at All Seasons Arena in Mankato. MSU continues its stretch of playing five games in nine days.

The Mavericks (2-23-1, 0-19-1 WCHA) and Huskies (3-16-1, 6-20-1 WCHA) will square off at 7:07 p.m. SCSU defeated MSU earlier this season at All Seasons Arena by a score of 5-1.

Last Time on the Ice: Minnesota State played a couple of contests against No. 3 Wisconsin last weekend at home. The Mavericks were unable to slow down the Badgers who won both games by scores of 3-0 and 5-1, respectively.

Senior Erin Krichiver was tested all night against the Badgers on Friday. She stopped 50 of the 53 shots on the night. But it was UW goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens who stole the show as she made 13 saves to record the shutout.

On Saturday the Badgers once again put a lot of shots on goal but this time it was sophomore Brianna Quade making the stops. Quade tallied a career high 50 saves on the afternoon but UW was relentless. The Mavericks had the lead after one period of play thanks to freshman Lindsey Coleman's first career goal at 13:08 of the period. Coleman found the puck out in front after it went off of teammate Elin Johansson's skate and she hammered home the rebound. The Badgers evened the score at 10:16 of the second period and later Annie Pankowski scored a short-handed goal with 18 seconds remaining in the middle session to put UW up for good. Wisconsin added three goals in the final period to win by a final of 5-1.

Looking at the Huskies: St. Cloud State comes into the weekend owners of an overall record of 3-16-1 and a 6-20-1 record in WCHA play sitting in seventh place in the conference standings. The Huskies most recently played a series against Minnesota on Jan. 23-24 and lost both of those contests by scores of 4-0 and 7-1, respectively.

St. Cloud State is led by head coach Eric Rud who is in his first season at the helm of the Huskies program. His team is led by junior Molly Illikainen (F, 5-9, Grand Rapids, Minn.) who has recorded nine goals and 14 points to lead SCSU in both of those categories. Senior Audrey Hanmer (F, 5-7, Wyoming, Minn.) is second on the team in scoring tallying 4-7--11 in 27 games and senior Abby Ness (F, 5-6, Roseau, Minn.) ranks third on the team scoring three goals, seven assists for 10 total points. Senior goaltender Julie Friend (G, 5-8, Minnetonka, Minn.) owns a 4-12-0 record this season allowing 3.88 goals per game while amassing a save percentage of .891. Junior netminder Katie Fitzgerald has split action with Friend and she has seen action in 13 games. She owns a 2-8-1 record with a 2.93 goals against average and .906 save percentage.

The Badgers are averaging 1.33 goals per game while allowing 3.56 goals per game. They are averaging 23 shots per game while allowing 33.5.

Last Time Around: The Mavericks played a home and home series earlier this season. The Huskies defeated the Mavericks 5-1 in Mankato and the two team skated to a 1-1 tie in St. Cloud.

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 160-372-48 (.319) record in 580 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 16th year as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and boast an 89-293-40 (.262) mark in 420 league contests.

Freshman Impact: Nine 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 five goals for 11 points. Nicole Schammel leads the team in points (13), assists (9) and has four goals. Anna Keys has two goals and two assists while Lindsey Coleman, Emma Wittchow, Amanda Conway and Amanda Martin each have totaled at least one assist on the season. Sara Bustad has recorded one goal and two assists this season as well.

Schammel Leading the Way: Freshman Nicole Schammel leads the Mavericks in scoring this season tallying 4-9--13 in 22 games this season. She also ranks fourth in the WCHA in scoring by freshmen.

Climbing the Ranks: Senior Kathleen Rogan continues to climb the career scoring list at MSU. She only needs five points to move up to fourth place on the list.

Maverick Career Scoring Leaders
1. Maggie Fischer (05-09)    141    57    52    109
2. Christina Lee (06-10)    139    43    52    95
3. Lauren Smith (09-13)    139    44    50    94
4. Kristina Bunker (04-08)    140    31    47    78
5. Kala Buganski (06-10)    136    33    43    76
    Ashley Young (05-10)    122    27    49    76
7. Kathleen Rogan (10-SA)121    38    36    74
8. Tracy McCann (10-14)    141    36    35    71

MSU vs. Opponents: Minnesota State is averaging 1.15 goals per game this season while allowing 4.42.  They are also being outshot and are averaging 18.8 shots compared  to their opponents 43.8 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: Minnesota State will play its next three games at home. MSU dropped its first series at home to start the season against North Dakota at all Seasons Arena and most recently lost to second-rated Minnesota. The Mavericks now stand 91-159-29 all-time at home.  The Mavericks  have called the arena home since their inception in 1998.

Road Warriors: The Purple and Gold are 2-11-1 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:  Three 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 while Minnesota-Duluth comes in at No. 6. In addition Bemidji State and North Dakota are receiving votes.

The Mavericks are 0-18-0 against top-ten ranked opponents this season losing a couple of games against North Dakota to start the season and dropping contests against Mercyhurst, Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Bemidji State.

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