What's On Tap: Minnesota State women's hockey faces No. 4 Minnesota in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series for its final two home games of 2016-17 at Verizon Wireless Center on Friday and Saturday. The Mavericks and Golden Gophers play at 7:07 p.m., on Friday and at 3:07 p.m., on Saturday. Minnesota State is celebrating senior day on Saturday. Forward Savannah Quandt (1-1--2), defenseman Anna Fiegert (1-2--3) and goaltender Brianna Quade (3-14-2) will be recognized in an on-ice ceremony following the game.     

Looking Back at Last Weekend: The Mavericks (6-20-3, 3-17-2-0 WCHA) were swept in a two-game WCHA series with No. 1 Wisconsin on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis. The Mavericks lost 5-0 on Friday and 6-1 on Saturday.  

2,000 Career Saves: Senior Brianna Quade (3-14-2) became the fifth goaltender in Maverick history to record 2,000 career saves in last weekend's series at No. 1 Wisconsin. Quade, who now has 2,015 career saves in 70 games played, joined Danielle Butters (2,632), Alli Altmann (2,750), Britni Kehler (3,156) and current Minnesota State women's hockey assistant coach Shari Dickerman (Vogt) (3,590) — the all-time Maverick save leader — as the only Maverick netminders to eclipse 2,000 career saves.

Assisting on the Play:  Sophomore forward Corbin Boyd (2-10--12), who leads the Mavericks and is tied for 27th in the WCHA in assists, tallied her 10th assist of the season against Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon. Boyd's helper came on a power play goal scored by sophomore forward Emily Antony (7-7--12) — the Mavericks' leading scorer.

Sophomore Surge: The Mavericks' sophomore class leads all of the Mavericks' classes in goals (16), assists (26) and points (42). Sophomore forwards Emily Antony (7-7--14) and Corbin Boyd (2-10--12) lead all Maverick sophomores in points in 2016-17. Boyd leads the team in assists and Antony paces the team in goals and points. The Maverick's lone goal last weekend was scored by Antony and Boyd assisted on the play.

Watching AMC: The forward line of sophomores Emily Antony (7-7--14) and Jordan McLaughlin (2-5--7), and junior Lindsey Coleman (5-8--13) has been the Mavericks' most productive offensive unit this season. Antony scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season — a power play goal — at No. 1 Wisconsin on Saturday. Antony leads the Mavericks in points and Coleman is second.  

Clogging the Shooting Lanes: The Mavericks lead the WCHA and are third in the nation with 432 blocked shots in 2016-17. Minnesota State garnered a season-high 23 blocked shots against No. 1 Wisconsin on Friday. On Saturday, the Mavericks blocked 22 shots — tied for the second most blocked shots by the team in 2016-17 — to total 55 blocked shots over the two-game WCHA series. The 55 blocked shots are the most by the Mavericks in a two-game series this season. The top five Mavericks in blocked shots this season are: junior defenseman Anna Keys (59), sophomore defenseman Megan Hinze and senior defenseman Anna Fiegert (41), sophomore forward Jordan McLaughlin (36), and junior defenseman Emma Wittchow (33). 

Defense on Offense: Senior defenseman Anna Fiegert (1-2--3), sophomore defenseman Megan Hinze (5-1--6) — the WCHA Defensive Player of the Month for December — and junior defenseman Anna Keys (2-5--7) have scored the Mavericks last three game-winning goals. Fiegert, Hinze and Keys garnered the game-winning goals against Bemidji State on Dec. 3, former-No. 3 ranked Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 10 and Union on Dec. 17, respectively. 

Scouting Minnesota: The Golden Gophers (19-5-3, 15-4-3-2 WCHA) are 3-1-1 in their last five games, including a two-game series sweep of St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn., last weekend. The Golden Gophers won 2-1 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday. 

The Golden Gophers, who enter the weekend ranked sixth in the nation in goals scored per game (3.37), are led on offense by Kelly Pannek (14-37--51), who leads the nation in assists.
In net, junior Sidney Peters (18-5-2) has tallied a 1.77 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and six shutouts in 2016-17 for Minnesota. 

Last Time Around: The Mavericks are 0-3-0 this season against the Golden Gophers. In their last meeting, the  Mavericks lost 5-3 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Face-Off Classic at Braemar Arena on Jan. 8 in Edina, Minn. 

Minnesota State All-Time: The MSU women's hockey program — started in 1998-99 — is currently in its 19th season of competition and has compiled a 170-440-55 (.297) record in 664 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 18th year as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and hold a 107-342-45 record in league contests. 

Looking Ahead: The Mavericks hit the road to face Ohio State on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio.

Listen to junior defenseman Anna Keys (2-5--7) discuss blocking shots and the upcoming series with No. 4 Minnesota below.