MANKATO, Minn. - Deadlocked at the top of the CCHA standings, Minnesota State meets St. Thomas for a home-and-home series beginning Friday at St. Thomas Ice Arena at 7:07 p.m. The Mavericks split with the Tommies on Dec. 8-9 and each team won on their home ice. Now, with just eight games remaining in the regular season, each point is critical as the Mavericks pursue their seventh straight MacNaughton Cup. Both games can be heard on AM 1420 KTOE and watched via FloHockey.tv.

Last Time They Met

• Minnesota State skated to a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas in Mankato on Friday, December 8. The Mavericks played a complete defensive game and limited the Tommies to 17 shots and a scoreless third period.
• Luciano Wilson scored the game winning goal on the power play in the first period and nine different Mavericks recorded a point on the scoresheet.
• "Our guys were connected on the offensive side and the defensive side," said head coach Luke Strand. "That put us in a good spot as far as managing pucks and then it gave us some organized play. They (St. Thomas) can skate and make plays so if you give them time and space, they are a deadly, deadly team."
• The Tommies got revenge on Saturday in Mendota Heights as they scored two third period goals to win 2-1. Noah Prokop scored the game winning goal at the 16:16 mark of the third.
• "We played a game we really liked for two and a half periods," reflected head coach Luke Strand. "At the moments of truth, we didn't get our jobs done. St. Thomas did a nice job of continuing to add pressure. It is a sour way to end the first half of our conference schedule. We let valuable points slip away tonight."

Tracy In the Cage

• Sophomore goaltender Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) appeared in five games in January for the Mavericks and allowed six goals on 107 shots for a .944 save percentage. 
• Tracy appeared in both games last weekend against Northern Michigan and picked up his third career shutout (second of the season) Saturday in a 4-0 win. Tracy stopped all 18 Wildcat shots. 
• For the season, Tracy ranks second in the CCHA in goals against average (2.30) and fourth in save percentage (.915). As a team, the Mavericks lead the conference in goals allowed per game (2.42). 
• For his efforts, Tracy was awarded CCHA Goaltender of the Month on Wednesday.

Morton Continues Hobey Bid

• Morton (Lafayette, Colorado) continued to score at a consistent pace in January, recording at least one point in seven of eight games. 
• Morton leads the conference in scoring (19), points (28), shots (109), shots per game (4.19), faceoff wins (253) and plus/minus (+13). 
• Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominated, Morton also ranks sixth in Division I goals and power play goals (8) and is fourth in faceoffs won (253). 
• He carries a five game point streak into Friday night's Tommies tilt and was named CCHA Forward of the Month for January.

Murr Leads the Freshmen

• Murr led all CCHA blueliners with six points in January, scoring a goal and recording five assists. 
• He also posted defenseman bests in plus-minus (+5) and multi-point games (2), while notching 11 shots on goal and four blocks in the Mavericks' end. 
• He helped set up both goals in a 2-1 win at Augustana on January 6, before dishing out two more helpers in a 4-1 victory at Bowling Green on January 20.

A Check of the Polls

• Minnesota State received four national votes in Monday's USCHO.com Division I men's hockey Top-20 rankings poll.
• The Mavericks have received votes on 12 occasions and did so for the fifth straight week since the holiday break.
• The MSU has been ranked as high as No. 20/19 in the nation (week two).
• The Mavericks continued to lead the CCHA in the Pairwise Rankings at No. 27. 
• Fellow CCHA foes St. Thomas (8) and Michigan Tech (3) also received votes this week.
• The Mavericks did not receive votes in this week's USA Hockey/The Rink Live Division I poll. No. 1 Boston College garnered 47 first place votes to top the USCHO.com poll. North Dakota (2), Boston University, Wisconsin and Denver rounded out the top-5.

Scouting the Tommies

• With their USA Hockey National Development Team exhibition cancelled on Jan. 27, the Tommies haven't seen the ice since Jan. 20. 
• That weekend saw them split with the Wildcats, including a 3-2 loss Friday, then a 3-1 win Saturday in Marquette.
• In the latter, Lucas Wahlin, Cooper Gay and Ryan O'Neill each scored and Jake Sibell won his seventh game of the season with 26 saves in goal.
• Sibell is on the Mike Richter watch list as he leads the conference with a 1.77 goals against average and .936 save percentage. Sibell has 12 games played and 19 goals against in 644 minutes of ice time.
• Sophomore forward Lucas Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.) leads UST with 10 goals along with 13 assists. He skated in 26 games as a freshman with six goals and 15 assists for 21 points.
• Junior forward Liam Malmquist (Edina, Minn.) is a close second with five goals and 14 assists for 19 points.
• Senior forward Mack Byers (Long Lake, Minn.) leads the team with a plus-10 rating. Byers has nine goals, six assists and 15 points.
• Following a slow start in early season action, which included sweeps at the hands of Minnesota and Bemidji State, the Tommies posted a five game win streak in November.
• UST won three of four in January, including a pair of wins at home over Michigan Tech.
• Head coach Rico Blasi is in his third year of St. Thomas after he was chosen to lead the program into the Division I era. Blasi came to UST with three decades of experience as a Division I hockey player, grad assistant coach, head coach and administrator. He spent 20 years as Miami (Ohio) head coach and his teams earned 10 NCAA appearances highlighted by one championship game berth and two Frozen Four appearances.
• The Tommies won three games in their first season at the Division I level. Last season the team finished 11-23-2 (10-14-2 CCHA) and fell to Michigan Tech in the CCHA quarterfinals.
• Already with 12 wins overall, the Tommies also have a victory over No. 8 ranked St. Cloud State on October 7 in overtime.

Last Year They Met

• The Mavericks seized three of four matchups in 2022-23, including a pair of wins at Saint Thomas Ice Arena. 
• Memorably, the Mavericks defeated St. Thomas 7-1 at Blakeslee Stadium on Jan. 22, 2021 for Hockey Day Minnesota. David Silye scored a hat trick in front of 10,022 fans as the snow floated down.

All-Time Against St. Thomas

• Minnesota State leads the all-time series 26-11-2 in games dating back to 1971-72. More recently, the Mavericks have won nine of the last ten.
• The lone exception was St. Thomas over Minnesota State 3-2 in 2022-23.

MSU Team Summary

• Goals for: 3.15 (1st)
• Goals against: 2.42 (1st)
• Shots on goal: 30.73 (3rd)
• Power Play Percentage: .196 (4th)
• Penalties per Game: 3.96 (5th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: .802 (3rd)
• Faceoff Win Percentage: .507 (3rd)
• Blocked Shots per Game: 11.38 (6th)

Last Time Out

• The Mavericks pushed Northern Michigan to a 2-2 tie Friday but lost in a shootout 2-1.
• The team bounced back Saturday for a 4-0 shutout. Ten players scored points for MSU and 4,981 fans attended at Mayo Clinic HSEC.
• Tyler Haskins scored his third goal of the season and Zach Krajnik marked his first tally of the year, against the same team he scored an overtime game winner in the CCHA Championship in 2022-23.

CCHA Matchups Friday:

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

CCHA Matchups Saturday:

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