Due Up

Minnesota State (14-17-1, 8-17-1 WCHA) kicks off Western Collegiate Hockey Association postseason action with a quarterfinal series at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (22-9-1, 19-8-1 WCHA), this weekend.

Face-offs for the best-of-three series are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.


Last Time Out

MSU closed out the regular season with a pair of shutout victories over Bemidji State, 2-0 and 5-0, to improve to 14-17-1 overall with a 10-17-1 record in the WCHA. The Mavericks locked up fifth in the league standings with their game-one victory, Friday.


The Burke Wall

Senior netminder Chantal Burke made her Maverick debut in last weekend's series hosting Bemidji State, starting in goal both games before earning a shutout in each contest. Burke made 28 saves in game one, Friday, before posting a second 19-save shutout to lead the Mavericks to the sweep over the Beavers, Saturday. She was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week for her efforts.


Taking on #5 Minnesota Duluth

The Mavericks own an 11-80-9 record all time when taking on the Bulldogs. Earlier this season, MSU upset UMD with a 4-2 victory at home to split the series after UMD took game one, 7-0. In the last meetings (Jan. 28-29), the Mavericks were swept in Duluth by the Bulldogs by final scores of 4-2 and 5-3. Overall this season, the Bulldogs own the series advantage with a 3-1 record. When games are played in Duluth, Minn., the Mavericks are 3-43-2 all-time vs. the Bulldogs.

UMD owns a 22-9-1 overall record this season and enters the postseason as the fourth-seed after mustering a 19-8-1 mark in league games during the regular season.


Minnesota State All-Time & in the Playoffs

Minnesota State, which began play in 1998-99, is in its 24th season of competition. The Mavericks have compiled a 217-532-72 (.308) record in 821 games played. MSU is in its 23rd year as members of the WCHA and hold a 135-428-57 (.264) record in 620 conference games played. 

MSU owns an all-time postseason record of 3-34. The Mavericks last playoff win came on March 1, 2014, by way of a 3-0 victory over Wisconsin in game two of a best-of-three series. Their two wins prior to that came on Feb. 28 and March 1, 2009, at St. Cloud State (2-1 and 1-0), which led MSU to its first-ever postseason series victory. In three all-time postseason meetings, MSU is 0-3 against UMD. The last time MSU and UMD met for a playoff matchup was Feb. 25-26, 2011.


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.


The 100-Point Club

Senior forward Brittyn Fleming became the second women's hockey player in school history to eclipse the 100-point plateau when she recorded an assist and a goal in the Mavericks' 4-2 loss to UMD, Jan. 28. Fleming owns MSU's all-time assists record with 69 helpers and is also the leading point-scorer this season with 40 points and a team-high 24 assists in 32 games.

Fleming, who cashed 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, broke MSU's all-time games played record when she skated in her 146th career game, Dec. 18, 2021, at BSU. She is the Mavericks' active career scoring leader with 40-69--109 in 158 career games played. On MSU's all-time scoring list, she is first in assists (69), tied for first in points with Maggie Fisher (109 points from 2005-09) and fifth in goal-scoring (40).


King of the Hill

Junior forward Kelsey King is the Mavericks' leading goal scorer this season with 16 goals in 32 games and is currently second in points with 16-21--37. King's 146 shots on goal this season also leads MSU in total. She also owns the highest plus-minus rating (+11) of any Maverick on the roster. In the Jan. 14-15 home-and-home series against Minnesota, she collared WCHA Forward of the Week after putting up five points, which included a pair of goals and three assists. In the series finale at Ridder Arena, King had three points with a pair of assists before scoring the overtime game-winner for a 5-4 MSU victory, which snapped a 53-game losing streak for MSU 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.


Bobber in the Pond

Junior forward Kennedy Bobyck is third on the Mavericks for points this season. She's set career-highs for goals (nine), assists (16) and points (25). The native of Regina, Sask., owns a career line of 13-24--37 in 88 games wearing the purple and gold.


To be Frank...

Junior goaltender Calla Frank has appeared and started in all but six 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 HCA and WCHA Goaltender of the Month for December. So far this season, Frank owns a 10-15-1 record with a 3.45 goals-against average and .892 save percentage.

As a Maverick, Frank has appeared in 62 games and made 60 starts with a career record of 22-33-5, a .903 save percentage and 3.02 goals-against average.


Akervik in the Action

Junior Charlotte Akervik is MSU's top offensive defenseman statistically this season as she sits at fourth on the roster in each scoring category with a career-high 8-16--24 in 29 games played. The Eau Claire, Wis., native tied Anna Wilgren's single-season record for points by a defenseman set back during the 2019-20 season when she registered her 24th point with an assist in the Mavericks 5-0 victory over the Beavers, last Sunday. She also leads MSU blueliners with 76 shots on goal and a +3 rating.


Kondas Keeps on Keepin' On

Similar to Fleming, senior defenseman Jessica Kondas opted to use her extra year of eligibility to compete this season with the Mavericks. The Calgary, Alta., native owns a career-high for points this season with 3-13--16 in 30 games. A fearless presence in the defensive zone, Kondas leads the Mavericks' with 64 blocks this season and currently stands third all-time among Maverick shot blockers with 242 in her career.


Padding the Stats

Freshman forward Alexis Paddington improved her lead over Maverick rookies when she put up two points, including the game-winning goal and an assist, in MSU's 5-0 victory over BSU, last weekend. She continues to lead MSU freshmen with 5-7--12 in 30 games.


Minnesota State's Special Teams

The Mavericks' power-play unit is among the best in the nation with 17 goals in 32 games. In terms of percentage, MSU is third in the conference and sixth in the nation with a 17-for-73 (.233) success rate on the man advantage.


Looking Ahead

With a series win this weekend, Minnesota State would make it's second appearance in the WCHA semifinal round. The WCHA Final Faceoff is scheduled for March 5-6 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

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