What's On Tap: The eighth-seeded Minnesota State women's hockey team will face the top seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers this weekend in the first round of the WCHA playoffs in Minneapolis, Minn., at Ridder Arena.

The best of three series between the Mavericks (3-30-1, 1-26-1 WCHA) and Gophers (29-2-4, 22-2-4 WCHA) will begin Friday night at 7:07 p.m. with the second game scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 4:07 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will be played on Sunday with the opening faceoff scheduled for 4:07 p.m.

Last Time on the Ice: Last weekend the Mavericks traveled to Grand Forks, N.D., to face the University of North Dakota. The Mavericks lost Friday night's game by a score of 7-0 before dropping Saturday afternoon's game 2-0.

UND came out fast on Friday night and held a 3-0 lead after the opening period of play. North Dakota added another goal in the second period and three more in the third. Sophomore Brianna Quade pushed aside 43 shots in the loss.

On Saturday, MSU netminder Erin Krichiver had 36 saves in the game and was a big part in keeping the Mavericks in the game but UND netminder Shelby Amsley-Benzie had 15 saves for the shutout win.

Looking at Minnesota: The Gophers come into this weekend riding a five-game winning streak. They finished the season with a record of 29-2-4 and a 22-2-4 league ledger to earn the top seed in the WCHA playoffs. This week, the Gophers are ranked No. 2 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey polls.

Minnesota is led by head coach Brad Frost who is in his eighth season at the helm of the program owning an overall record of 253-40-21. Junior Hannah Brandt (F, 5-6, Vadnais Heights, Minn.) has tallied 27-35--62 to lead the league in scoring and ranks second in the NCAA.  Sophomore Dani Cameranesi (F, 5-5, Plymouth, Minn.) has 55 points this season with 21 goals and 34 assists.  

Offensively, Minnesota ranks second in goals per game averaging 4.46 while allowing 1.20 goals per game which is fourth best in the NCAA.

Last Time Around: These two teams last played a home-and-home series on January 16-17 with the Gophers sweeping the Mavericks by scores of 7-3 and 7-1.

The Mavericks have and Gophers have met six times in the playoffs with Minnesota holding a 6-0-0 advantage over MSU.

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 161-379-48 (.315) record in 588 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 16th year as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and boast an 90-300-40 (.257) mark in 428 league contests.

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