Off the Hop: On March 23, #9/10 Minnesota State (25-12-1) will make its fifth trip to the NCAA Division I championship since 2018 when the Mavericks meet up with #6 St. Cloud State University (24-12-3). The first round of the NCAA Division I Fargo Regional will be held at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. between the third-seeded Mavericks and second-seeded Huskies.
The other first round game in the Fargo Regional features University of Minnesota, the top overall seed in the tournament, against Canisius. The winners of the two contests will play Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for the region championship and a spot in the Frozen Four, which is set for April 6-8 in Tampa, Fla.
NCAA Postseason: Minnesota State is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament and owns a 5-8 record in NCAA postseason games. The Mavericks played in the 2003 East Regional in Providence, R.I., the 2013 Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio, the 2014 Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass., the 2015 Midwest Regional in South Bend, Ind., the 2018 West Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., the 2019 East Regional in Providence, R.I., the 2021 West Regional in Loveland, Colo., and the 2022 Regional in Albany, N.Y. MSU has won the last two regional tournaments it has appeared in, earning berths to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh (2021) and Boston (2022). Last season the Mavericks lost the NCAA Championship Game to Denver by the score of 5-1.
Senior Akito Hirose has five points, all assists, in seven NCAA games to tie with senior Brendan Furry, who has two goals and three assists for five points in seven contests, for the most points in NCAA games among active Mavericks. Seniors Sam Morton and Ryan Sandelin each have two goals (both have a game-winner) and two assists for four points in seven appearances.
St. Cloud State has reached the NCAA postseason for the fifth consecutive season and 17th time in program history.
Back-to-Back Tournament Champs: The Mavericks won their second consecutive Mason Cup Championship when they defeated Northern Michigan University 3-2 in overtime. Last season MSU beat Bemidji State 2-1 in overtime to claim the postseason trophy. Minnesota State now has five conference tournament titles in the program’s Division I history (2013-14, 2014-15, 2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23). The Mavericks have advanced out of the first round in 11 straight seasons, which includes a 2-0 sweep of Lake Superior State in the quarterfinal round this season. MSU has played in six conference tournament championship games in the Division I era. In addition to the five wins, the Mavericks also played in the title game in 2015-16.
Mavericks vs. Huskies: In the NCAA Division I era, the Mavericks are 19-35-5 against the Huskies, which includes going 0-2 in a road series earlier this season. MSU lost 3-2 and 4-3 in those meetings. In the two games, senior forward Sam Morton scored twice, junior forward David Silye had a goal and an assist and sophomore defenseman Steven Bellini had two assists.
Minnesota State is 1-4 in the last four meetings against SCSU, which includes the only time the two teams have met at the NCAA Division I Tournament. The Mavericks suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Huskies in the semifinal game of the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 8, 2021. Up 4-3 in the third, SCSU scored midway through the period to tie the game and then netted the game-winner with just 53 seconds remaining in regulation to advance to the championship.
MSU owns the nation’s best power play, as the Mavericks tout a 28.1 percentage on the man advantage. St. Cloud State ranks sixth nationally on the power play (25.3%) but sits 55th in penalty killing percentage (76.1%). Possession will play an important role, as Minnesota State leads the nation in face off percentage at 60% (1262 won, 843 lost) and SCSU is seventh at 53.3% (1249-1094). The Mavericks will put their 3rd-best scoring defense (2.03 oppga) up against the Huskies’ 11th-best scoring offense (3.28 gpg).
Home Ice Advantage: Over the course of 21 home dates, Minnesota State averaged 4,533 fans which is 93.8% capacity of the 4,832 seat Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The Mavericks have reached 90% or higher capacity 13 times this season, with seven games reaching “standing room only capacity” and four of those being sell outs. The Mavericks rank 12th nationally in average attendance and lead the CCHA in attendance per game. In terms of capacity percentage, the Mavericks ranked tenth nationally and are one of 12 teams with more than 10 home games to have an average capacity of 90% or higher.
20-Plus Dubs: With MSU’s 4-1 win at Bemidji State (Feb. 17), the Mavericks secured their 23rd 20-win season, and the 12th in the Division I era. Head coach Mike Hastings is tied with Don Brose with 11 20-win seasons, while Troy Jutting had one. Hastings and the Mavericks have hit the 20-win plateau in every season he has been with the program. The 25 wins this season is tied for 11th most in program history (7th in the Division I-era) with the 1978-79 squad.
What2Watch4: The active maverick roster has a combined 74 games of NCAA Tournament experience under its belt, with seven players (Akito Hirose, Andy Carroll, Sam Morton, Brendan Furry, Ryan Sandelin, Jake Livingstone and Cade Borchardt) all having played in seven games ... Senior Brendan Furry and junior Akito Hirose have five career NCAA Tournament points ... Furry is 2-3--5 in seven games while Hirose is 0-5--5 in seven games ... Seniors Ryan Sandelin and Sam Morton along with junior Ondrej Pavel each have recorded a game-winning goal ... Senior Andy Carroll will finish his career third all-time in career games and has played in 168 contests ... Jack McNeely is second all-time with 174 games from 2017-22 ... Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone has 80 career points, is tied with Steven Johns (2001-05) for sixth all-time ... Ben Christopherson (1997-01) scored 82 points in his career and is fifth all-time ... Livingstone’s four points against Ferris State in the CCHA tournament was the most scored by a Maverick this season … Junior defenseman Akito Hirose is 10th all-time in career scoring by a defenseman with 68 points ... Hirose is nine points away from ninth all-time with 77 points ... Daniel Brickley scored 77 points from 2015-18 ... Senior defenseman Andy Carroll is 12th all-time in career scoring by a defensemen with 64 points ... Carroll is two points shy of tying Ben Youds (2007-11) for 11th all-time with 66 career points … Senior forwards Cade Borchardt and Brendan Furry each have 85 career points which is tied with Mick Berge (2005-09) ... Akito Hirose is the team’s active leader in assists with 61 … Four Mavericks have accumulated 75 or more points in their career as seniors Brendan Furry and Cade Borchardt each have 85, while junior Jake Livingstone has 80 and senior Ryan Sandelin has 76 … Jake Livingstone (128) and Andy Carroll (112) are the only two active Mavericks with over 100 career blocked shots … The Mavericks have scored the game’s first goal 17 times this year with junior David Silye scoring a team-high five of those goals ... Seven Mavericks have played in over 100 career games led by Andy Carroll’s 168 career games ... Carroll is joined by Ryan Sandelin (127), Cade Borchardt (120), Jake Livingstone (110), Brendan Furry (110), Sam Morton (107) and Akito Hirose (103) as active Mavericks with 100+ games played ... Senior Lucas Sowder will join that club in his next game played ... Senior forward Ryan Sandelin is the only Maverick with 300 career shots (335)… Seniors Cade Borchardt (268), Andy Carroll (237), Sam Morton (200) Brendan Furry (217) and junior Jake Livingstone (209) join Sandelin as the only Mavericks with 200+ career shots … For the season, Ryan Sandelin has a team-high 140 shots, which is 45 more than junior Jake Livingstone who is second on the team in shots with 95 ... Junior David Silye is two points shy of becoming the 13th player under Head Coach Mike Hastings to score 40 or more points in a season ... Silye’s teammates Brendan Furry (13-31--44 in 2021-22) and Cade Borchardt (15-26--41 in 2021-22) are the only active Mavericks in that group ... Minnesota State’s next shorthanded goal will be its first shorthanded goal of the season … Junior forward David Silye’s 12 power play goals ranks tied for second in the nation and is the most by a Maverick since JP Lafontaine tallied 14 on the man advantage in 2013-14 ... Freshman Simon Tassy scored his first career goal in MSU’s 6-1 win over Lake Superior State ... Freshmen Campbell Cichosz and Mason Wheeler are the lone active skaters without a scoring tally this year … Minnesota State is 15-3 in the new calendar year and have won five in a row entering the NCAA tournament … The Mavericks have scored multiple power play goals on 11 occasions this season, which includes five of the last six games (10 goals) … In the last eight games the team has scored 11 power play goals and allowed their opponents just two goals with the man advantage … Head Coach Mike Hastings has 299 career wins as the Mavericks’ bench boss.
