MANKATO, Minn. - Fresh off a five-point road weekend, Minnesota State men's hockey gets its shot at the CCHA's current top club, St. Thomas, Friday at Mayo Clinic HSEC, then at St. Thomas Arena Saturday night.

Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. The Mavericks (6-6-2, 4-3-1 CCHA) are third in the conference standings with 14 points while the Tommies (8-7-1, 6-4-0 CCHA) sit first with 18 points. MSU won three of four meetings with UST last season, including both matchups on the road. Both games will be on KTOE 1420 AM radio and FOX 9+ television as well as locally on The Circle 7-3.

If You're Going

• Friday night's promotions include a Teddy Bear Toss (for charity) and Chuck A Puck. Stomper Clause will also make his annual holiday appearance!

Last Time Out

• Lucas Sowder and Sam Morton scored in a shootout to help the Mavericks prevail 3-2 last Friday at over Lake Superior State at Taffy Abel Arena. MSU outshot the Lakers 37-33 and goaltender Alex Tracy stopped 31, plus all three in the shootout. Sowder and Jordan Steinmetz scored in regulation for the Mavericks.
• Saturday, Mason Wheeler scored his first career goal in his 51st MSU appearance and the Mavericks won 4-3. Keenan Rancier reached back for a critical save in the closing minutes and MSU finished 6-6 on the penalty kill. Morton tallied his team-leading 11th goal on the power play and Adam Eisele made it 2-0 18 seconds into the second period. Wheeler's marker made it 3-1 and Kaden Bohlsen shoveled a third period goal through to make it 4-2. 

The Series 

• Minnesota State leads the all-time series 25-10-2 with matchups leading back to 1971-72.
• In their last 10 meetings, MSU has won nine of ten. The only loss came 3-2 on Feb. 3, 2023, the first loss in Mankato to UST since 1985 and fifth all-time.
• MSU scored three first period goals to win 5-2 in the last matchup between squads, Feb. 4 in St. Paul. Jake Livingstone, Brenden Olson, Zach Krajnik, Andy Carroll and Brendan Furry scored for the Mavericks. Keenan Rancier made 11 saves for the win.

Scouting the Tommies

• Since their transition to Division I in 2021-22, the Tommies have progressed to relevancy faster than many rivals in the CCHA may have secretly wished.
• It took eight games that season to pick up win No. 1 in Division I and the squad has steadily improved, finishing 11-23-2 in 2022-23, including 10-14-2 in the CCHA. 
• This season, UST received one first place vote in the CCHA preseason coaches' poll and recorded an opening night win over then No. 8 St. Cloud State (5-4 in overtime).
• Rico Blasi is in his third season as Head Coach. Blasi brough three decades of experience as a Division I hockey player, grad asst. coach and head coach and administrator to the position.
• During his 20-year era as Miami (Ohio) University head coach (1999-2019), Blasi and his Redhawks earned 10 NCAA tournament appearances highlighted by one championship game berth (2008-09) and one other Frozen Four appearance (2009-10).
• Blasi was selected as National Coach of the Year in 2005-06.
• The Tommies fell at Ferris State 5-2 Friday, then bounced back for a 7-1 victory Saturday, which was the most goals scored in a game in the Division I era. Five different players scored and Mack Byers posted the first hat trick in school history.
• Sophomore forward Lucas Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.) leads the Tommies in points (8-12--20), followed by junior forward Liam Malmquist (4-11--15). 
• UST features a true goalie tandem with sophomore Aaron Trotter (3.10 GAA, .897 SV%) getting the nod in nine starts and junior Jake Sibell (1.75 GAA, .936 SV%) with seven starts. Trotter posted a 42 save effort in a win over Bowling Green on November 13 and secured all 11 wins for the Toms in 2022-23.
• The Tommies average 3.19 goals per game (third) and 2.63 goals against (first). 
• The team's holds a 16.2 percent power play (fifth) and 75.4 percent penalty kill (fifth) and leads the league with three shorthanded goals. St. Thomas is last in the CCHA with 10.13 blocked shots per outing.
• Picked to finish fifth in the CCHA Preseason, two places above their 2022-23 ledger.
• Seven transfer players joined UST in 2023-24, including six hailing from the state of Minnesota. All told, the newcomers brough 436 collective games of collegiate experience.

Wheeling and Dealing

• Two weeks after his defensive partner Evan Murr earned the award, sophomore Mason Wheeler (Rosemount, Minnesota) was named CCHA Defenseman of the Week for the first time in his career. 
• He has appeared in all 14 games this fall and has one goal, two assists and three points. Wheeler's first career goal came Saturday at Lake Superior State when he fired a long wrist shot from the point. The Mavericks went on to win 4-3 to take five of six points in the series.
• Head coach Luke Strand commented on Wheeler's performance after the game, "I couldn't be happier for Mason. His staple is he's hard to play against. He plays that gritty style. To be rewarded with a goal was meaningful for our group and it came at a really important time of the game as well."
• Wheeler leads the team with 19 blocked shots this season and holds a plus-4 rating with five penalty minutes and eight shots on goal. He appeared in 37 games in 2022-23 as a freshman and held a plus-9 rating with five assists. He finished sixth on the squad in blocked shots with 29.

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 were not receiving votes in either poll this week. North Dakota (12-3-1) ascended to the top position with 33 first place votes, followed by Boston College (12-3-1), Boston University (11-4-1), Denver (11-4-1) and Quinnipiac (11-4-1). MSU is 28th in the pairwise rankings.

Morton's Minutes

• Sam Morton seven game point streak was snapped against Michigan Tech, but the Maverick captain was back on the scoresheet Saturday with a goal against Lake Superior State.
• His 11 goals this season rank tied for second in the CCHA. Morton is also fourth in points (16), sixth in shots (50) and eighth in faceoff win percentage (.542).

Dynamic Duo

• For the second straight weekend, coach Strand went with a goaltending split against an opponent.
• Alex Tracy ranks fifth in the CCHA with a 2.80 goals against average with 12 games played. 
• Keenan Rancier allowed three goals with 26 saves for his first win of the season Saturday.
• In three games he holds a 3.12 goals against average and has played 38 games in a Maverick uniform over a three year span.

MSU By The Numbers

• Goals for: 3.21 (2nd)
• Goals against: 2.93 (2nd)
• Shots on goal: 29.21 (5th)
• Power Play Percentage: .163 (4th)
• Penalties per Game: 3.67 (7th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: .792 (3rd)
• Faceoff Win Percentage: .487 (6th)
• Blocked Shots per Game: 11.64 (4th)

2023-24 CCHA Standings

Team	CCHA PTS	GP	W/L/T	OW-OL	SW	GF-GA	GP	Overall	GF-GA
St. Thomas	18	10	6-4-0	0-0	0	34-23	16	8-7-1	51-42
Michigan Tech	16	8	5-3-0	1-2	0	23-21	17	7-7-3	45-50
Minnesota State	14	8	4-3-1	1-1	1	30-23	14	6-6-2	45-41
Bemidji State	13	8	4-4-0	0-1	0	25-30	14	5-9-0	37-53
Northern Michigan	12	8	4-4-0	1-1	0	22-26	16	6-8-2	46-56
Lake Superior State	12	10	4-5-1	2-1	0	33-33	16	7-8-1	53-51
Bowling Green	9	8	3-5-0	1-1	0	22-23	16	5-11-0	39-49
Ferris State	8	8	3-5-0	2-1	0	18-28	14	5-8-1	36-52

 

Special Teams Report

• The Mavericks went 0-1 on the power play Friday and 1-4 Saturday. Morton's extra man tally came at 16:03 of the first period and was the first goal of the game for either team. 
• LSSU scored on MSU's only penalty kill Friday, but the Mavericks stifled the Lakers on all six changes Saturday. Rancier made six saves on the PK.

FloHockey.TV

• All Minnesota State home and CCHA games during the 2023-24 season will be live streamed on FloHockey.tv. Fans can purchase either annual ($150) or monthly ($30) subscriptions and will have access to all CCHA games along with the full USHL, Atlantic Hockey and ECHL schedule. Download the FloSports app today on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and the App Store.

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 Matchups Friday:

• Ferris State at Bowling Green 7:07 p.m. ET
• Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech 7:07 p.m. ET
• St. Thomas at Minnesota State 7:07 p.m. CT
• Lake Superior State at Bemidji State 7:07 p.m. CT

CCHA Matchups Saturday:

• Ferris State at Bowling Green 7:07 p.m. ET
• Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan 6:07 p.m. ET
• Lake Superior State at Bemidji State 6:07 p.m. CT
• Minnesota State at St. Thomas 7:07 p.m. CT