Due Up

Minnesota State (12-15-1, 8-15-1 WCHA) continues on in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend with its final road series of the regular season, taking on #3 Wisconsin (21-4-4, 16-4-3 WCHA). Face-offs are scheduled for 6:00 p.m., CST Friday and 4:00 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis.


Last Time Out

MSU now stands 12-15-1 overall with an 8-15-1 record in the WCHA after it was swept at home last weekend by No. 5-rated Minnesota Duluth by final scores of 5-0, Friday, and 7-1, Saturday.

Prior to their current four-game losing streak, the Mavericks stood with an over-.500 record for the first time while being more than 20 games into a season since they swept Minnesota (Jan. 19-20, 2007) to move to 13-11-1 during the 2006-07 season.


Taking on #3 Wisconsin

In the all-time series vs. the Badgers, the Mavericks are 3-93-3. Earlier this season during a series played Oct. 29-30 in Mankato, MSU dropped both games against UW, 2-1 and 6-2. MSU's last win over the Badgers came back during the 2019-20 season when the Mavericks upset the nation's top team 3-1 at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center on Feb. 8, 2020. In games played at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis., MSU is 2-54-1 with its last win on March 1, 2014, which resulted in a 3-0 win for the Mavericks.

UW is 21-4-4 this season with a 16-4-3 mark in WCHA league action. The Badgers are currently sitting at third in the WCHA standings with a .739 win percentage. MSU owns a .361 win percentage in league games while checking in at fifth in the 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 215-530-72 (.307) record in 817 games played. MSU is in its 23rd year as members of the WCHA and hold a 133-426-57 (.262) record in 616 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.


The 100-Point Club

Senior forward Brittyn Fleming became the second women's hockey player in school history to eclipse the 100-point mark when she recorded an assist and a goal in the Mavericks' 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs, Jan. 28. Fleming owns MSU's all-time assists record with 66 helpers and is also the Mavericks' leading point-scorer this season with 33 points and a team-high 21 assists in 28 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 36-66--102 in 154 career games played. On MSU's all-time scoring list, she is first in assists (66), second in points (102) and tied for fifth in goal-scoring (36).


King of the Hill

Junior forward Kelsey King is the Mavericks' leading goal scorer this season with 13 goals in 28 games and is currently second in points with 13-16--29. King's 132 shots on goal this season also leads MSU in total. She also owns the highest plus-minus rating (+9) 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.


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 10-13-1 record with a 3.24 goals-against average and .897 save percentage.

As a Maverick, Frank has appeared in 60 games and made 58 starts with a career record of 22-31-5, a .905 Sv% and 2.91 goals-against average.


Akervik on the Spot

Junior Charlotte Akervik is Minnesota State's top offensive defenseman statistically this season as she sits at third on the roster in each scoring category with a career-high 8-15--23 in 27 games played. The Eau Claire, Wis., native is two points away from eclipsing Anna Wilgren's 24-point mark set during the 2019-20 season, which stands as the single-season record for points by a defenseman. She also leads Maverick blueliners with 75 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 3-12--15 in 27 games. A fearless presence in the defensive zone, Kondas leads the Mavericks' with 58 blocks this season and currently stands third all-time among Maverick shot blockers with 236 in her career.


Padding the Stats

Freshman forward Alexis Paddington leads Maverick rookies with 4-6--10 in 28 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 15 goals in 28 games. In terms of percentage, MSU is fourth in the conference and seventh in the nation with a 15-for-68 (.221) success rate on the man advantage.


Looking Ahead

Following this weekend's action, MSU hosts Bemidji State, Feb. 18-19, at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center to close out the regular season. The WCHA Tournament begins with a best-of-three quarterfinals round Feb. 25-27. 
 

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