MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State (2-2-0) travels to chilly Grand Forks for a series against No. 4 North Dakota (3-1-0) Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 6:07 p.m. Both games will be carried on AM 1420 KTOE. The Fighting Hawks have 14 new players this season and the Mavericks feature 10. Of the newcomers for UND, seven arrived as freshmen and seven came via the transfer portal. The last time the Mavericks played at Ralph Engelstad Arena, the teams split the series on October 19-20, 2018.

Last Weekend

• Ryan Lautenbach scored twice and Minnesota State struggled on the power play, leading to a 6-3 defeat against Massachusetts Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in men's hockey non-conference play.
• The No. 19 Mavericks rallied to tie the game 3-3 in the second period but went 0-for-6 with the man advantage as MSU fell for the first time in 2023-24. Both teams posted 31 shots on goal but a pair of third period Minuteman tallies helped seal the game.
• Despite the loss, Luc Wilson and Adam Eisele recorded two-point nights with a goal and an assist each.
• UMass finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Michael Hrabal (UMass) stopped 28 shots in goal while Alex Tracy made 25 saves for the Mavericks in his third straight start.
• Saturday, the Mavericks fell 1-0, despite outshooting the Minutemen 32-15.
• UMass recorded 28 blocked shots and Aydar Suniev scored the only goal of the game at 11:22 of the second period on a one timer, assisted by Aaron Bohlinger and Lucas Mercuri.
• MSU went 0-for-8 on the power play.

Scouting the #4 Fighting Hawks

• The rivalry continued between North Dakota and Minnesota last weekend in Grand Forks and the Fighting Hawks split with the No. 1 ranked Gophers at home, losing 4-0 Friday, then bouncing back for a 2-1 win Saturday.
• With 14 newcomers, the Fighting Hawks feature a young and talented group. 
• Saturday, UND received both goals from its freshmen, including Jayden Perron, who deflected a shot through less than six minutes into the second period and Jake Livanavage, who fired a puck from an awkward angle into the crease, then found its way in. It was Livanavage's first career goal. North Dakota improved to 8-7-2 since 2014 against No. 1 ranked teams. UND led shots 34-22 and evened up faceoffs 24-24. Carson Albrecht blocked three shots. 
• The Fighting Hawks were up one position to No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls Monday. The last time the Fighting Hawks were ranked higher than fifth in the nation was Oct. 10, 2022 (third).
• Goaltender Ludvig Persson (Hindås, Sweden) was honored by the NCHC for the second straight week, earning the conference's goaltender of the week award following a .925 save percentage and 2.01 GAA over the two contests.
• The Swede currently paces the NCHC in both save percentage (.937) and goal against average (1.51) among goalies with more than a single game played. 
• Persson was a steady force between the pipes for Miami (Ohio), playing 82 games over three seasons. He came to UND ranking fourth all-time in Miami history with 2,451 saves and was named the team's most valuable player in 2020-21 and 2021-22. 
• The Fighting Hawks missed the NCAA Tournament for only the third time in the last 20 seasons last spring. UND's last NCAA Championship came in 2016.
• NoDak wraps up a six game homestand to start the season this weekend, their longest homestand to start a season since 2003-04.
• Senior forward Riese Gaber was voted team captain for the 2023-24 season. Gaber served as an assistant captain in 2022-23 and is assisted this year by graduate student forward Carson Albrecht, junior forward Louis Jamernik V, fifth year defenseman Keaton Pehrson and junior forward Jake Schmaltz.
• So far, Gaber leads the squad with 2-2--4 and a plus-3 rating.

Last Time We Met

• Minnesota State and North Dakota played a two game series Oct. 18-19, 2019 in Mankato.
• On Friday, the Mavericks rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game 4-4. Freshman forward Nathan Smith had a goal and three assists in his college debut.
• MSU took the following game 2-1 after trailing 1-0 in the first period in front of 5,038 fans.
• Dryden McKay made 34 saves and Lucas Sowder assisted on a Marc Michaelis second period goal.

A Quick Check of the Polls

• Minnesota State has been Nationally ranked as high as No. 20 in the USCHO Division I Ice Hockey Poll and No. 19 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Rankings Poll.
• The Mavericks are receiving votes in both polls this week.
• Minnesota received 42 first place votes (USCHO.com) to remain the No. 1 team in the country for week four.
• No CCHA teams cracked the nation's Top-20 on Monday. Michigan Tech was selected to win the CCHA this season in both coaches and media CCHA preseason polls.
• The Mavericks checked in sixth and fourth in those respective polls. 

Eisele for the Net

• Sophomore forward Adam Eisele leads the Mavericks with four points. The Lake Elmo, Minnesota native posted a goal and an assist in Friday night's 6-3 loss to Massachusetts.
• Eisele joined the Mavericks as a freshman last season and posted four goals, six assists and ten points with a plus-8 rating.
• Eisele centers MSU's second line with left wing Luc Wilson and right wing Brett Moravec, the team's most offensively productive trio so far.

Tracking Tracy

• With Keenan Rancier working his way back from injury, Alex Tracy has been Minnesota State's go-to goaltender to start the year.
• Tracy backstopped the Mavericks to an opening weekend sweep of St. Cloud State, leading to his selection as CCHA Goaltender of the Week.
• Tracy took the loss Friday after making 25 saves. Saturday, Tracy allowed one goal on 14 shots but made a pair of critical third-period stops on odd-man rushes to keep the Mavericks within one tally of tying the game.
• He currently holds a 2.48 goals against average with an .899 save percentage.
• Tracy has one career shutout.

Captains

• Fifth year senior forward Sam Morton (Lafayette, Colorado) was named team captain for the 2023-24 season.
• Alternate captains include sophomore Mason Wheeler (Rosemount, Minnesota), fifth year senior forward Jordan Steinmetz (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin) and senior defenseman Tony Malinowski (Clarkston, Michigan).

CCHA Scores Last Week Friday:

• Wisconsin -4, Michigan Tech -2
• Western Michigan -5, Bowling Green -2
• Ferris State -9, Grand Valley State -0 (Ex*)
• Massachusetts -6, Minnesota State -3
• Minnesota Duluth -4, Bemidji State -0
• St. Thomas -4, Lindenwood -4
• Arizona State -3, Northern Michigan -2

CCHA Scores Last Week Saturday:

• Wisconsin -5, Michigan Tech -2
• Bowling Green -2, Western Michigan -5
• Lake Superior State -6, Simon Fraser -4
• Minnesota Duluth -5, Bemidji State -4 OT
• UMass -1, Minnesota State -0
• St. Thomas -3, Lindenwood -1
• Arizona State -5, Northern Michigan -1

CCHA Matchups Friday:

• Lake Superior State at Clarkson 7 p.m. ET
• Michigan Tech at St. Lawrence 7 p.m. ET
• Ferris State at Northern Michigan 7:07 p.m. ET
• St. Thomas at Bemidji State 7:07 p.m. CT
• Minnesota State at North Dakota 7:07 p.m. CT
• Augustana at Denver 8 p.m. CT

CCHA Matchups Saturday: 

• Ferris State at Northern Michigan 6:07 p.m. ET
• Michigan Tech at Clarkson 7 p.m. ET
• Lake Superior State at St. Lawrence 7 p.m. ET
• Minnesota State at North Dakota 6:07 p.m. CT
• St. Thomas at Bemidji State 6:07 p.m. CT
• Augustana at Colorado College 7 p.m. CT