Off the Hop: #12/13 Minnesota State (23-12-1 overall, 16-9-1 CCHA) advanced out of the first round of the conference tournament for the 11th straight season to reach the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs semifinal. The #1-seeded Mavericks will host #6-seeded Ferris State University (14-18-4, 9-14-3 CCHA) March 11 in a single elimination game at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Puck drop against the Bulldogs is set for 6:07 p.m.
Conference Tournament Time: The Mavericks are the reigning Mason Cup Champions after defeating Bemidji State 2-1 in overtime in 2021-22. With the win, MSU claimed its fourth conference tournament title in the program’s Division I history (2013-14, 2014-15, 2018-19, 2021-22). Minnesota State has 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.
Ferris State comes to Mankato after posting an upset of #3-seed Bowling Green, 2-0 (4-3 and 2-1).
Mavericks vs. Bulldogs: All-time, the Mavericks own a 34-11-2 advantage over the Bulldogs. The teams split the four-game season series, as both squads swept their road contests. Minnesota State lost 2-1 and 3-2 at home before going on the road and winning 4-1 and 5-1. Minnesota State is 21-5 against Ferris State since 2016-17. In the four games against the Bulldogs this season, junior center David Silye had four goals and one assist, while senior forward Ryan Sandelin posted two goals and two assists for four points.
Statistically speaking, Minnesota State leads the nation in face off percentage at 59.8 % (1153 won, 781 lost), while FSU is 35th at 49.7%. MSU touts the second-best power play percentage (27.8%) in the nation, while the Bulldogs rank near the bottom of Division I in the category with a 13.4 percentage. The Mavericks have a 1.19 scoring margin to rank eight nationally. FSU has a -0.94 scoring margin.
Home Ice Advantage: Through 17 home dates, Minnesota State is averaging 4,522 fans which is 93.6% capacity of the 4,832 seat Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The Mavericks have reached 90% or higher capacity 11 times this season, with six games reaching “standing room only capacity” and three of those being sell outs. The Mavericks rank 13th nationally in average attendance and lead the CCHA in attendance per game. In terms of capacity percentage, the Mavericks sit eighth nationally and are one of nine 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 23 wins this season is tied for 13th most in program history (8th in the Division I-era).
What2Watch4: Senior Andy Carroll is third all-time in career games played with 166 ... Jack McNeely is second all-time with 174 games from 2017-22 ... Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone has 75 career points, which ranks ninth on the school’s all-time scoring chart by a defenseman … He is two points from a tie with Daniel Brickley (2015-18) for eighth … Junior defenseman Akito Hirose moved into 10th all-time in career scoring by a defenseman with 68 points ... Hirose trails teammate - and linemate - Jake Livingstone by seven points for ninth ... Senior defenseman Andy Carroll is 12th all-time in career scoring by a defensemen with 62 points ... Carroll is four points shy of tying Ben Youds (2007-11) for 11th all-time with 66 career points … Senior forward Cade Borchardt is tied with Ben Christopherson (1998-01) for 32nd all-time (Division I Era) with 83 points ... With his next point, Borchardt will tie Geoff Irwin (2006-10) for 31st all-time (Division I Era) ... Senior Brendan Furry is tied with Pete Holoein (199-01) and Rylan Galiardi (2007-11) for 35th all-time (Division I Era) in career scoring with 81 points ... Akito Hirose is the team’s active leader in assists with 61 … Last weekend, junior Jake Livingstone joined the 75-point club for his career ... Livingstone joins Brendan Furry (81) and senior Cade Borchardt (83) as the only Mavericks with 75 or more career points … Senior Ryan Sandelin is one point shy of 75 for his career ... Jake Livingstone (124) and Andy Carroll (111) 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 ... Last weekend, junior Akito Hirose became the sixth active Maverick to join the 100-career game club as he has now appeared in 101 games... He joins senior Brendan Furry (108), junior Jake Livingstone (108), senior Sam Morton (107), Ryan Sandelin (125), Cade Borchardt (118) and Andy Carroll (166) as active Mavericks with 100+ games played ... Senior forward Ryan Sandelin is the only Maverick with 300 career shots (328)… Seniors Cade Borchardt (262), Andy Carroll (230), Sam Morton (200) Brendan Furry (208) and junior Jake Livingstone (201) are the only Mavericks with 200+ career shots … For the season, Ryan Sandelin has a team-high 133 shots, which is 47 more than freshman Christian Fitzgerald who is second on the team in shots with 86 ... Junior David Silye is three 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 11 power play goals ranks tied for fourth 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 Friday’s 6-1 win over Lake Superior State ... Freshman Campbell Cichosz is the lone active skater without a scoring tally this year … Minnesota State is 13-3 in the new calendar year … The Mavericks have scored multiple power play goals on 10 occasions this season, which includes the last three games (7 goals).
Last Time Out: The Mavericks swept #8-seed Lake Superior State March 3-4 in the quarterfinal round of the CCHA playoffs. MSU posted a 6-1 home win Friday before edging the Lakers 2-1 in the finale Saturday.
Friday, six different players recorded a point for Minnesota State. Junior forward David Silye got things started just 3:13 into the contest with his 22nd goal of the season on an assist from senior defenseman Andy Carroll. Carroll then got into the goal column with a power play tally that handed the home team a 2-0 lead after the first. Another power play goal in the second and then a flurry of three goals within six minutes in the third pushed the Mavericks to the 6-1 victory. Freshman forward Christian Fitzgerald led the team with a goal and two assists. Silye would add a helper to join Carroll as the other two players with a multi-point effort.
Saturday’s affair had much more drama. Fitzgerald opened the scoring in the second with a power play goal, but the Lakers responded a minute and a half later to tie the game 1-1. It remained that way until senior forward Ryan Sandelin played the hero with a power play goal with just 1:17 remaining in regulation. Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone had an assist on each Maverick goal, while Fitzgerald picked up an assist on the game-winner.
Sophomore goaltender Keenan Rancier grabbed the win in each contest. He made 17 saves each evening.
For the weekend, Fitzgerald totaled five points (2-3--5) and earned CCHA Forward of the Week honors. It was his second league award of the season, as he collected a Rookie of the Week award on Dec. 12.
Polls: Minnesota State stayed put at #12 in the USA Today/USA Hockey national poll and at #13 in the USCHO rankings. The Mavericks have been ranked in all 23 of the USCHO polls this year.
CCHA Players of the Week: Minnesota State led the league with 18 player of the week awards this season. Ten different players were honored, as the Mavericks claimed six forward, seven defensive, two goaltender and three rookie of the week honors in 2022-23. Freshman forward Christian Fitzgerald grabbed the last of the awards (forward of the week – March 6) with a five-point effort during the opening round of the CCHA playoffs.
The Last Time: Minnesota State is ranked #13 in this week’s USCHO Top-20 poll. The last time Minnesota State didn’t appear in the USCHO Top-20 was the second poll of the 2017-18 season (Oct. 9, 2017). Since then, the Mavericks have appeared in the USCHO poll 129 consecutive times.
Players of the Month: Four different Mavericks have been named player of the month by the CCHA, the last to do so being junior defenseman Akito Hirose who was named CCHA Defenseman of the Month in January. Minnesota State leads the league in players of the month with four.
Flanagan Award: Associate Head Coach Todd Knott was named the 2023 Terry Flanagan Award winner by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The Terry Flanagan Award honors an assistant coach’s career body of work.
The Six-Peat: With a 3-2 victory Feb. 25 against then-#11 Michigan Tech, the Mavericks claimed their sixth straight outright MacNaughton Cup. MSU is now the only team among any conference to ever win six straight conference titles. Last season’s championship was the first time a program claimed five straight outright (Boston University had a five-year run that included shared titles), now with six, the Mavericks are alone in the record books for most consecutive championships.
Faceoffs: Minnesota State has won 1,187 of the 1,985 faceoffs it has participated in this year for a nation-leading percentage of 59.8%. Junior David Silye has won 419 of the 668 faceoffs he has participated in to sit eighth nationally in faceoffs won. In MSU’s series against Michigan Tech (Feb. 24-25), Silye finished 33-of-39 in faceoffs, including 18-of-20 in the contest on Feb. 24.
The Extra Man: The Mavericks have scored a power play goal in 13 of their last 16 games and in that span have 19 power play goals (7 in the last three games). With 40 power play goals, MSU ranks third nationally. The team’s 27.8 power play percentage is good for second in the nation. Minnesota State scored four power play goals in a win against Minnesota Duluth Oct. 14 and netted three power play goals twice, including Feb. 25 to clinch the regular season title.
Junior forward David Silye’s 11 power play goals ranks tied for fourth in the nation and is the most by a Maverick since JP Lafontaine tallied 14 on the man advantage in 2013-14. The 11 power play goals are the fourth most by a player in the school’s Division I-era.
In League Play: Junior David Silye finished the CCHA regular season as the goal champion with 19. His 29 points was second. He posted a league-leading 10 power play goals. Junior defenseman Jake Livingstone produced 17 assists to rank tied for third in the conference. Junior Ondrej Pavel owned the conference’s best face-off percentage at .623, while Silye was second with a .622 percentage. MSU led the league with 33.3 shots on goal per game. The team’s 27.7 power play percentage was a conference best.
Maverick Hockey History: Now into the 54th year of its existence, Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1033-681-159. The Mavericks are in their 27th year as members of NCAA Division I and are in their second season as members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
To the Quads: Junior defenseman Jake Livingston had a season-high seven-game scoring streak (1-8--9) from Oct. 28 through Nov. 25, which is the longest such streak on the team. Seniors Andy Carroll and Ryan Sandelin, and juniors Akito Hirose and David Silye each had a six-game scoring streak to tie for the second-longest scoring run this year.
