MANKATO, Minn.--- Minnesota State (10-17-0, 4-16-0 WCHA) will travel to No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (13-11-2, 10-10-0 WCHA) for its final road series of the 2023-24 season. The Mavericks have accumulated a 5-8-0 record while managing a 47-51 scoring margin away from the Mayo Clinic HSEC. At home, the Mavericks own a 3-8 record and a 26-31 scoring margin. Action on Friday is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday from AMSOIL Arena.

Last Time Out:
No. 5 Minnesota swept Minnesota State in finals of 4-3 and 2-1 in a home-and-home series for the second time this season.

On Friday, the Gophers downed Minnesota State after a late third-period goal to ride a 4-3 victory at Ridder Arena.The Mavericks found themselves down three goals in the second period to then notch three unanswered goals to silence the Gopher crowd.  

Senior Jamie Nelson notched her 14th and 15th on the season within the first seven minutes of the final period giving MSU life. At the 7:05 mark of the period, freshman Jenessa Gazdik sent a shot over the shoulder of Minnesota's Lucy Morgan for her third tally on the season and first power-play marker of her collegiate career.

The Gophers would answer back on the power-play at with eight minutes remaining in regulation to shut down the Mavericks' comeback to secure their 19th victory of the season.

On Saturday, the Mavericks found themselves in their third overtime game this season and the first time against Minnesota since January 15, 2022.

The Gophers started fast as they found the contest's first marker under three minutes into regulation. The Mavericks fought to climb back outshooting Minnesota 6-5 in the first period.

After a scoreless second period, senior Kennedy Bobyck was able to solve Minnesota's Skylar Vetter at the 9:17 mark of the third period for her fifth tally of the season. On the play, sophomore Lilie Ramirez notched her eighth helper and junior Jessica Boland collected her fifth helper of the year.

After senior Sydney Langseth's 17th faceoff win to start overtime play - 70.8 percent win ratio on the day- the Mavericks coughed up the puck resulting in a two-on-one leading to Minnesota's game-winning-goal to steal the victory against the Mavericks.

Taking on UMD:  
Minnesota Duluth (13-11-2, 10-10-0 WCHA) is three points behind No. 10 St. Cloud State for fourth place in the WCHA standings.

Minnesota possesses one of the top penalty-killing units in DI Women's Hockey and the best in the WCHA. Nationally, the Bulldogs PK unit ranks sixth in the nation with a .890 percentage.  

Headlining the Bulldogs' offense are seniors Mannon McMahon and Reece Hunt who are the only UMD players who have topped the 20-point plateau this season. MSU senior Sydney Langseth will have competition in the faceoff dot against UMD's McMahon who owns 348 faceoff wins which ranks fifth nationally. Lanseth's 337 wins sit sixth nationally.

Minnesota Duluth has relied on its elite goaltending from sophomore Hailey MacLeod and freshman Eve Gascon who have combined for a 1.54 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. Nationally, both UMD goaltenders land in the top 10 in save percentage with MacLeod (.951) ranking fifth and Gascon (.945) placing seventh. MacLeod has been dominant as she also owns a 1.336 goals against average which ranks eighth in DI Hockey.