Due Up
Receiving one vote in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll, Minnesota State (12-11-1, 8-11-1 WCHA) continues Western Collegiate Hockey Association play with a series at #5 Minnesota Duluth (14-8-0, 11-7-0 WCHA) this weekend. Face-off for both contests are slated for 3:07 p.m., CST Friday and Saturday at AMSOIL Arena.
Last Action
The Mavericks are coming off a weekend sweep over St. Thomas in which they took game one in Mendota Heights, Minn., 4-1 last Friday, before prevailing with a 3-1 victory over the Tommies to wrap up Hockey Day Minnesota festivities at Blakeslee Stadium, Sunday.
Keeping it Going
MSU now stands 12-11-1 overall with a 8-11-1 record in the WCHA, marking the first time the Mavericks have stood with an over-.500 overall record this far into a season (24 games) since they swept Minnesota (Jan. 19-20, 2007) to move to 13-11-1 during the 2006-07 season.
WCHA Defender of the Week
On Monday, the WCHA announced junior Charlotte Akervik as the WCHA Defender of the Week after she put up four points in the home-and-home series sweep over the Tommies, including a three-point game in the opener with an empty-net goal and two assists, before assisting on King's empty-net goal, which iced Sunday's 3-1 victory for MSU. Additionally, Akervik also tied for the team lead in blocking shots with two and was tied for second with a plus-minus rating of +4. In the series, she put seven shots on goal, which was tops for Maverick defenders.
Akervik leads Maverick defensemen with a career-high 21 points this season. The Eau Claire, Wis., native has seen action in all 24 games for MSU and leads Maverick blueliners with 68 shots on goal.
Taking on #5 Minnesota Duluth
The Mavericks own an 11-78-9 record all time when taking on the Bulldogs. Earlier this season, MSU upset UMD with a 4-2 victory at home over the Bulldogs to close out a series. In game one, UMD came out on top 7-0. When games are played in Duluth, Minn., the Mavericks are 3-41-2 vs. the Bulldogs.
UMD owns a 14-8-0 overall record this season with an 11-7-0 mark in league games. The Mavericks are in pursuit of the Bulldogs in the WCHA standings from the fifth spot. MSU owns a .433 win percentage while UMD currently checks in at fourth with a .611.
Minnesota State All-Time
Minnesota State, which began play in 1998-99, is in its 24th season of competition. The Mavericks have compiled a 215-526-72 (.309) record in 813 games played. MSU is in its 23rd year as members of the WCHA and hold a 133-422-57 (.264) record in 612 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.
One Shy of One Hundred
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 64 helpers in her Maverick career. Fleming is also MSU's leading point-scorer this season with 30 points and a team-high 19 assists over 24 games. She is second on the Mavericks in terms of plus-minus with a +6 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 35-64--99 in 150 career games played. On the all-time MSU scoring list, she is first in assists (64), second in points (99) and tied for sixth in goal-scoring (35).
The Kinger
Junior forward Kelsey King is the Mavericks' leading goal scorer this season with 13 goals in 24 games. King's 119 shots on goal this season also leads MSU in total. Second to King is Fleming with 78 shots on goal this season. King also owns the highest plus-minus rating (+11) of any Maverick on the roster. Two weeks ago (Jan. 14-15), 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 earned 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.
To be Frank...
Junior goaltender Calla Frank has appeared and started in all but four 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 10-9-1 record with a 2.88 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
As a Maverick, Frank has appeared in 56 games and made 54 starts with a career record of 22-27-5, a .909 Sv% and 2.76 goals-against average.
King Kondas
Two weeks ago in the series finale at Minnesota on Jan. 15, 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 23 games. A fearless presence in the defensive zone, Kondas leads the Mavericks' with 45 blocks this season and currently stands fourth all-time among Maverick shot blockers with 223 in her career.
Padding the Stats
Freshman forward Alexis Paddington leads Maverick rookies with 3-6--9 in 24 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 six 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 & Oct. 11).
Minnesota State's Special Teams
The Mavericks' power-play unit is among the best in the nation with 14 goals in 24 games. In terms of percentage, MSU is third in the conference and sixth in the nation with a 14-for-55 (.255) 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 10th 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 plays host to Ohio State for a pair of WCHA bouts, Feb. 4-5 at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
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