#11/13 Minnesota State Continues Central Collegiate Hockey Association Action This Weekend with Home Series vs. Ferris State
  Silye Named CCHA Forward of the Week After Three-Point Weekend at Michigan Tech, Leads Mavericks in Scoring with 16 Points in 14 Games
   Livingstone Moves into 12th Place on Minnesota State's Career Scoring by Defensemen List
  Sandelin Gets 1-1--2 in 2-2 Overtime Tie at Michigan Tech

Off the Hop
#11/13 Minnesota State (8-5-1 overall, 5-2-1 CCHA) continues Central Collegiate Hockey Association action this weekend with a home series vs. Ferris State (4-6-2, 2-3-1 CCHA) Friday and Saturday. Face-off between the Mavericks and the Bulldogs at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center (4,832) in downtown Mankato is at 7:07 p.m., Friday and 6:07 p.m., Saturday.

Mavericks vs. Bulldogs
In a series that dates back to the 1992-93 season, Minnesota State stands 32-9-2 in the all-time vs. Ferris State.

The Mavericks, who have won the last three meetings between the two schools (and 18 of the last 19 games), own a 18-1-1 all-time home record vs. the Bulldogs.

Last Time Out
The Mavericks went 0-1-1 in a two-game road series at Michigan Tech last weekend.

A Minnesota State comeback fell just short in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Huskies. Junior center David Silye had a hand in both Maverick goals in the game. Freshman forward Christian Fitzgerald tallied his second goal of the season in the game and sophomore netminder Keenan Rancier was credited with 30 stops.

Silye also scored in Saturday's game and with the Mavericks trailing late in the third period, senior forward Ryan Sandelin scored a power play marker at 19:20, sending the game into overtime.  Neither team scored in the extra session and the game goes into the books as a 2-2 tie.  The Mavericks got goals from Silye and Fitzgerald in claiming a 2-1 shootout win. Rancier had 27 saves in the game (along with three of four stops in the shootout).  

Polls
Minnesota State is rated #11 in this week's DCU/USCHO poll and #13 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national poll. The Mavericks have been rated in the top 10 in all 11 polls so far this season.

Maverick Hockey History
Now into the 54th year of its existence, Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1018-674-159. 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 282-101-25 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 (282) 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.

Scintillating
Junior center David Silye, who was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association Forward of the Week following his performance following the two games at Michigan Tech, has jumped to the top of Minnesota State's scoring chart with 11-5--16 in 14 games played on the season.

Silye, a native of Arnprior, Ont., enters the series with Ferris State riding a three-game point-scoring streak (3-2--5) and he as scored at least one point in six of the last seven games.

Silye, who was also CCHA Forward of the Week after a two-game sweep over St. Thomas (Nov. 4-5), leads Minnesota State in points (16) goals (11), power play goals (5), shooting percentage (.43) and faceoff wins (152).

Livingstone, Hirose Continue Rise up Defensemen Scoring List
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 3-11--14 on the season (he leads the Mavericks in assists and ranks second in points). He leads the Mavericks with 22 blocked shots in 14 games played this year and enters the series with Ferris State having scored at least one point in seven of the last eight games.

His 59 points on 16 goals and 43 assists in 87 games places him 12th on the school's career scoring by defensemen list (NCAA DI-era).

Hirose has 0-8--8 in 13 games played in 2022-23.  Hirose owns 3-46--49 and is +46 with 51 blocked shots in 79 career games.  The Calgary, Alta., native stands 15th on the MSU's career scoring by defensemen list.

Fitzgerald Fitting In
Freshman forward Christian Fitzgerald enters the series with Ferris State having registered 2-3--5 in the last six games.

For the season he has 2-7--9 in 122-3--5 in the last six games. The Coquitlam, B.C., native scored his second goal of the season in last Friday's 3-2 loss at Michigan Tech, then tallied a shootout goal in Saturday's 2-2 tie.

Net Gain
Sophomore netminder Keenan Rancier has started the last five games for Minnesota State and during that time has forged a 2-2-1 record with a 1.89 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

For the season, Rancier, who played junior hockey with Minot of the North American Hockey League and Estevan of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League prior to joining Minnesota State last year, has a 4-4-1 record for 2022-23, along with a 2.18 GAA and .912 sv%.

Gamer
Defenseman Andy Carroll is Minnesota State's career games played leader with 144.   A fifth-year senior, the Northfield, Minn., native has 9-38--47 and is on the verge of entering the top 15 on Minnesota State's career scoring for defensemen list.

Charting
Senior forward Cade Borchardt picked up an assist in last Saturday's 2-2 overtime tie at Michigan Tech and has posted 2-9--11 in 14 games played this year.

With 26-50--76 in 96 games played, Borchardt stands as Minnesota State's career active leading scorer.  The Burnsville, Minn., native enters the series vs. Ferris State having tallied 1-6--7 in the last seven games played.

Taking a Shot
The Mavericks have had 23 players on  the roster who have put at least one shot on goal this year. Senior forward Ryan Sandelin leads MSU with 52 shots on goal and is followed by junior defenseman Jake Livingstone, who has 37 and junior center Ondrej Pavel with 35.

Sands of Time
Senior forward Ryan Sandelin, who had a goal and an assist in last Saturday's 2-2 overtime tie at Michigan Tech, enters the games vs. Ferris State having tallied 3-2--5 in the last six games played. For his four-year career, the Hermantown, Minn., native has chalked up 34-22--56 in 104 games played.

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 leads the nation with a 58.4 faceoff winning percentage (468 Ws, 333 Ls).  The Mavericks are tied for 19th in scoring offense (3.21) and are tied for ninth in scoring defense (2.29).

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 118 consecutive times.

On the Docket
Following the 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.