Off the Hop
#8 Minnesota State (3-3-0 overall, 0-0-0 CCHA) starts Central Collegiate Hockey Association action this weekend with a pair of home games vs. Bowling Green (2-4-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday. Face-off between the Mavericks and the Falcons at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center (4,832) in downtown Mankato is slated for 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m., Saturday.

Mavericks vs. Falcons
In a series that dates back to the 2008-09 season, Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 22-10-3 vs. Bowling Green. The Mavericks, who stand 12-5-0 vs. the Falcons in games played at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, have won the last nine meetings between the two schools.

Last Time Out
The Mavericks are 3-3-0 overall and 0-0-0 CCHA after a pair of one-goal losses at St. Cloud State last weekend. Senior center Sam Morton and junior defenseman Tony Malinowski scored in Friday's 3-2 loss and Morton, junior center David Silye and junior winger Josh Groll tallied in Saturday's 4-3 loss.

The weekend sweep by the Huskies marked the first time Minnesota State has been swept since Dec. 14-15, 2018 when Bowling Green picked up claimed a pair of 4-1 victories over the Mavericks in a league series played at Bowling Green.

Polls
Minnesota State, which was rated #2 on both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls last week, are rated #8 in both polls this week.  The Mavericks have been rated in the top 10 in all six polls so far this season.

Maverick Hockey History
Now into the 54th year of its existence, Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1013-672-158. The Mavericks are in their 27th year as members of NCAA Division I and are in their second season as members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Behind the Bench
Minnesota State has gone 277-99-24 under the tutelage of head coach Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State '93), who is in his 11th season behind the Mavericks' bench. Including a pair of trips to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Hastings has led the Mavericks to eight NCAA tournament appearances and no program in the nation has won more games (274) during his time behind the MSU bench.

In addition to his role as the head coach of the Mavericks, Hastings also spent three weeks in February as a member of the Team USA coaching staff at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He also was named to the Team USA coaching staff for the 2022 IIHF Men's World Championship held in Finland in May.

Big Mac
Minnesota State won the MacNaughton Cup as 2021-22 CCHA regular season champions - marking the fifth season in a row the Mavericks has captured a league regular-season title and sixth time in the last nine years. Minnesota State also captured the Mason Cup last season as CCHA tournament champions.

Sam I Am
Senior center Sam Morton, who leads Minnesota State in scoring  with 5-2-7 in six games played, enters the series with Bowling Green riding a five-game point-scoring streak. For the season the Lafayette, Colo., native, who leads the Mavericks with three power play markers this year, has won 43 of 71 faceoffs for a .606%.

Morton, who is in his third season with the Mavericks (he started his college career at Union), has tallied 19-22--41 in 61 games at MSU.

Sil-Yeah
Junior center David Silye had registered 2-3--5 in six games played this year.  Silye, a product of Penticton of the British Columbia Hockey League who spent the 2020-21 season at Clarkson before transferring to Minnesota State, has totalled 10-12--22 in 49 games with the Mavericks.  Silye has won 57 of 87 faceoffs for a .655% this year.

Livingstone, Hirose Rise Up
Junior defensemen Jake Livingstone and Akito Hirose continue their rise up Minnesota State's career scoring by defensemen list.

Livingstone, last year's CCHA Defenseman of the Year, has 2-3--5 and leads the Mavericks with 11 blocked shots in six games played this year.  His 50 points on 15 goals and 25 assists in 78 games places him 14th on the school's career scoring by defensemen list (NCAA DI-era).

Hirose, who has 0-6--6 in six games played in 2022-23, owns 3-44--47 and is +43 with 44 blocked shots in 72 career games and is 15th on the MSU's career scoring list. His six assists on the season stand tied for fifth in the nation amongst all defensemen.

AC
Fifth-year senior defenseman Andy Carroll enters this weekend's games vs. Bowling Green with 9-32--41 and is +63 with 88 blocked shots in 136 career games played.  The Northfield, Minn., native is Minnesota State's active career games played leader.

Wingin' It
Junior winger Josh Groll recorded the second multi-point game of his Minnesota State career when he had a goal and an assist in last Saturday's game at St. Cloud State (he had two assists in a 4-3 NCAA first round win over Harvard last spring).

Groll, who spent the 2020-21 season at the University of Michigan, has 3-1--4 in six games with the Mavericks this season. In 46 games at Minnesota State the San Diego, Calif., native has posted 7-9--16.

Enter Sandman
Senior forward Ryan Sandelin has registered 2-1--3 in six games played on the season.  The Hermantown, Minn., native has 31-19--50 in 96 career games played.

Best Shot
The Mavericks have had 20 players on  the roster who have put at least one shot on goal this year. Senior forward Ryan Sandelin leads MSU with 24 shots on goal and is followed by Sam Morton with 19 and defenseman Jake Livingstone has 16.

Ring the Bell
Sophomore defenseman Steve Bellini picked up the first two points of his college career when he was credited with an assist in both games at St. Cloud State last weekend.  A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Bellini has played in 14 career games.

Captaincy
Senior forwards Cade Borchardt and  Brendan Furry are serving as this season's team captains (both are in first year as a captain).  Senior forward Sam Morton is in his first year as an alternate captain, as is junior defenseman Jake Livingstone.

Nationally-Speaking
Minnesota State ranks third in the nation with a 59.1 faceoff winning percentage.  The Mavericks rank second in the country in terms of fewest shots allowed per game with a 22.2 mark.

The Last Time
The last time Minnesota State didn't appear in the USCHO top 20 was the second poll of the 2017-18 season (Oct. 9, 2017).  Since then, the Mavericks have appeared in the USCHO poll 115 consecutive times.

On the Docket
Following the two games with Bowling Green this weekend, the Mavericks have a home-and-home series with St. Thomas scheduled for Nov. 4-5.  A pair of home games vs. Northern Michigan Nov. 18-19 comes prior to a pair of road games at Michigan Tech (Nov. 26-27), two home games vs. Ferris State (Dec. 2-3), road games at Bowling Green (Dec. 9-10) and a pair of home games vs. Bemidji State (Dec. 15-16) to close out the pre-Holiday part of the schedule.