Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's hockey team will play a single nonconference game against the #2 Minnesota Gophers in the Hall of Fame Classic. The game will be played in Prior Lake, Minn., at Dakotah! Ice Center on Saturday with the puck dropping at 3:30 p.m.
 
Minnesota State All-Time: The MSU women's hockey program, which started in 1998-99, is currently in its 22nd season of competition and has compiled a 190-492-66 (.298) record in 748 total games played. The Mavericks are in their 21st year as members in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and hold a 116-391-53 (.254) record in 560 games played.

Last Time on the Ice: Minnesota State (7-9-2, 2-8-2-2 WCHA) took third place at the Windjammer Classic in Burlington, Vt., after dropping the first game to #6/7 Clarkson 4-0, and winning the second game over host Vermont 2-0. 

In game one, the Golden Knights scored two goals in each of the first two periods to secure the 4-0 win. The first goal came at the 7:03 mark in the first period when junior forward Elizabeth Giguere was the beneficiary of a Maverick turnover deep in the defensive zone. The deficit grew to two goals at the 13:37 mark when sophomore forward Taylor Sawka put away a rebound attempt. Giguere scored her second goal of the game at the 3:38 mark in the second period after she skated past two Maverick defenders scoring in the low left corner. The fourth goal of the game for the Golden Knights came with a man advantage as freshman forward Brooke McQuigge put away a loose puck in front of the net at the 15:44 mark.

In game two, it was the Mavericks who put the puck in the back of the net, collecting their fourth shutout as a team this season. The first two periods went scoreless before MSU broke through midway through the third period. Sophomore blueliner Anna Wilgren broke the scoreless tie at the 11:06 mark in the third period with her fourth goal of the season. Skating to the bottom of the left dot, Wilgren fired a wrist shot top shelf past the Catamount goaltender for her team leading third game winning goal of the season. Minnesota State's penalty kill team killed off a crucial penalty with less than three minutes remaining, while Vermont had a six-on-four advantage. The Mavericks added an empty net goal with four seconds left with sophomore winger Claire Butorac scoring her fifth of the season.

In net, sophomore Abigail Levy (3-6-1) started game one against #6/7 Clarkson and made 30 saves in the loss. Freshman Calla Frank (4-3-1) earned the shutout win in the third place game after making 23 saves.

WCHA Rookie of the Week: Calla Frank was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Frank secured her second career shutout after making 23 saves in the third place game against Vermont. Frank now has a 2.82 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage with 227 saves on the season. 

Scouting #2 Minnesota: The Gophers (14-1-3, 9-1-2-1 WCHA) most recently tied with #8 Boston College 2-2 on Friday and then defeated Harvard 4-0 on Saturday last weekend. 

The Gophers' offense is led by senior forward Sarah Potomak, who leads the team with 25 points, is tied for the team lead with 13 goals and also has 12 assists. Junior forward Grace Zumwinkle is also tied for the lead lead with 13 goals, while adding 11 assists for a total of 24 points.

In net, Minnesota features senior Sydney Scobee (13-1-3) who has started 17 of the 18 games. She has a 1.48 GAA, .940 save percentage, 407 saves and four shutouts on the season.

Facing #2 Minnesota: The Mavericks have an all-time record of 3-90-3 against the Gophers. In the most recent match-up this season, the Gophers swept the Mavericks in a WCHA series on Oct. 4-5 by the scores of 6-0 and 7-1 at Mankato Civic Center.

Looking Ahead: Minnesota State will play its last series of the 2019 portion of the schedule before going on winter break. The Mavericks will return home in a nonconference series against Lindenwood on Dec. 14-15. The puck will drop at 2:07 p.m., both days.