Due Up

Minnesota State (10-11-1, 6-11-1 WCHA) resumes Western Collegiate Hockey Association action with a home-and-home series against St. Thomas (4-15-1, 2-13-1 WCHA) this weekend. Game one of the series is slated for 7:01 p.m., CST Friday at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Hts., Minn., before a 1:00 p.m. face-off takes place outdoors at Blakeslee Stadium as part of the Hockey Day Minnesota festivities in Mankato, Sunday.


Last Action

After falling in game one of a series to #4 Minnesota, 7-2, in Mankato, which extended the losing streak in the all-time series to 53 games, the Mavericks salvaged a split against the Golden Gophers with a 5-4 victory in the series finale at Ridder Arena. It marked MSU's first victory over Minnesota since Jan. 20, 2007.


Crowning a King as Forward of the Week

On Monday, the WCHA announced junior Kelsey King as the WCHA Forward of the Week after she put up five points in the home-and-home series before displaying heroics in the series finale. King provided a pair of assists in the series finale before scoring the game-winning goal to give the Mavericks a 5-4 overtime victory at Ridder Arena, Saturday.


Taking on St. Thomas

This marks UST's inaugural season as members of the WCHA. The Mavericks and Tommies share three all-time meetings with the first back on Feb. 24, 1999, where MSU prevailed by a final score of 14-0. In one two-game series this season (Dec. 3-4), the Mavericks routed the Tommies with a 3-1 win at home before shutting out UST 3-0 on the road.

The Tommies are off to a 4-15-1 start overall in their first season competing at the Division I level. A 2-13-1 record in WCHA action has them at the bottom of the conference standings.


Minnesota State All-Time

Minnesota State, which began play in 1998-99, is in its 24th season of competition. The Mavericks have compiled a 213-526-72 (.307) record in 811 games played. MSU is in its 23rd year as members of the WCHA and hold a 131-422-57 (.261) record in 610 conference games played. 

In last season's shortened and pandemic-impacted slate of games, the Mavericks closed out the season with a 7-12-1 record for fifth in the WCHA standings.


The Captains

Senior defenseman Anna Wilgren is serving as captain of the Mavericks this year.

Jessica Kondas and Brittyn Fleming were renamed alternate captains for this season while Claire Butorac was named the Mavericks' newest alternate captain.


To be Frank...

Junior goaltender Calla Frank has appeared and started in all but three games for MSU this season. In December, Frank backstopped the Mavericks to a 4-1-1 record, which included a pair of sweeps over St. Thomas (Dec. 3-4) and St. Cloud State (Dec. 10-11). In both series, Frank blanked the opposition one time for her second and third shutouts of the season, marking the sixth and seventh of her career. Over the course of the six games throughout December, Frank made 140 saves on 146 shots to boast a .959 save percentage with a 0.99 goals-against average over 363:54 minutes of action. As a result, the Hugo, Minn., native was named WCHA Goaltender of the Month for December. So far this season, Frank owns a 9-9-1 record with a 2.98 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.

As a Maverick, Frank has appeared in 55 games and made 51 starts with a career record of 21-27-5, a .908 Sv% and 2.79 goals-against average.


Fleming Finesses

Senior forward Brittyn Fleming returned to Minnesota State's roster this season after cashing in on her extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to last year's student athletes who had seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fleming owns MSU's all-time assists record with 63 helpers in her Maverick career. Fleming is also MSU's leading point-scorer this season with 26 points and a team-high 18 assists over 22 games. She is third on the Mavericks in terms of plus-minus with a +2 rating.

Fleming, who broke the all-time games played record at MSU (146) when she skated in the Dec. 18 game at BSU, is MSU's active career scoring leader with 32-63--95 in 148 career games played. On the all-time MSU scoring list, she is first in assists (63), tied for second in points (95) and eighth in goal-scoring (32).


The Kinger

Junior forward Kelsey King is the Mavericks' leading goal scorer this season with 12 goals in 22 games. King's 109 shots on goal this season also leads MSU in total. Second to King is Fleming with 65 shots on goal this season. King also owns the highest plus-minus rating (+6) of any Maverick on the roster. Last weekend, she collared WCHA Forward of the Week for her effort during the home-and-home series against the Golden Gophers, where she had five points including a pair of goals and three assists. On Saturday, King put up three points with a pair of assists prior to scoring the overtime game-winning goal for a 5-4 MSU victory, which snapped a 53-game losing streak in the all-time series against Minnesota.

King has collared forward of the week honors twice this season. During the Oct. 8-9 series hosting Lindenwood, she scored a career-high four goals and had three assists for a seven-point series against Lindenwood. In the first game of the series, King tied a pair of school records with four goals in a game, becoming the sixth player in program history to do so and the first since Kathleen Rogan (10-2 win over Lindenwood on Sept. 30, 2011), and by posting five points, which put her in a tie as the second athlete to do so alongside Kim Corona (11-0 win over Augsburg on Jan 23, 1999). King's third goal in the game was the eventual game-winner and marked the Mavericks' first natural hat trick since Corona accomplished the feat, which also last occurred on Jan 23, 1999, when MSU defeated Augsburg 11-0. King finished the big weekend with two more assists in the series finale, where the Mavericks won 7-6 in overtime.


More Than Apples for Akervik

Junior Charlotte Akervik leads Maverick defensemen with a career-high 17 points this season. The Eau Claire, Wis., native has seen action in all 22 games for MSU this season and scored a pair of goals to open the scoring in the Mavericks' 5-4 victory over Minnesota, last Saturday. She leads Maverick blueliners with 61 shots on goal.


King Kondas

Last time out, senior defenseman Jessica Kondas put up two points with a goal and an assist on King's overtime game-winner, Saturday at Ridder Arena. The Calgary, Alta., native owns a career-high for points this season with 2-11--13 in 21 games. A fearless presence in the defensive zone, Kondas leads the Mavericks' with 43 blocks this season and currently stands fourth all-time among Maverick shot blockers with 221 in her career.


Padding the Stats

Freshman forward Alexis Paddington leads Maverick rookies with 3-5--8 in 20 games this season. She collected her first goal when she opened the scoring in the Mavericks' 6-2 loss to #1 Wisconsin, Oct. 30.

The Maverick rookie has five assists after providing three in her first series dawning the purple and goal at Merrimack (Sept. 24-25) before collecting two more in MSU's series hosting Lindenwood (Oct. 8-9). As a result of her efforts in both series sweeps for MSU, Paddington was twice named WCHA Rookie of the Week (Sept. 27 and Oct. 11).


Minnesota State's Special Teams

The Mavericks' power-play unit is among the best in the nation with 14 goals in 22 games. In terms of percentage, MSU is third in the conference and sixth in the nation with a 14-for-54 (.259) success rate on the man advantage.

The Mavericks have also been among the most productive offensive units while shorthanded. As a team, Minnesota State is third in the conference and eighth in the nation with a pair of shorthanded goals, both have come off Kelsey King's stick (two vs. Merrimack Sept. 24-25). Among individual standings, King is fourth in the NCAA and second in the WCHA with a pair of short-handed goals.


Looking Ahead

After this weekend, MSU travels to Duluth, Minn., for a pair of WCHA road contests against Minnesota Duluth Friday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Jan 29 at 3:07 p.m. CST.

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