MANKATO, Minn. - The MacNaughton Cup will be up for grabs next weekend, making this week's final home series against Lake Superior State critical for a Maverick team currently tied for second place in the CCHA standings. The Lakers visit Mankato Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 6:07 p.m. The former features a celebration of the team's senior players. Both games will be on AM 1420 KTOE radio and streamed via FloHockey.tv. Local television broadcast will be on The 365.

Minnesota State did not play last weekend, but other CCHA teams competed, clearing up the playoff picture. Bemidji State (11-7-2, 13-15-2) holds the top position with 37 points. Minnesota State (11-7-2, 15-11-4), St. Thomas (11-8-1, 13-15-2) and Bowling Green (11-8-1, 13-16-1) have all accumulated 35 points. Michigan Tech (9-9-2, 12-13-1) is also still in contention with 30 points in fifth place.

Teams are awarded three points for each conference win in regulation, two points for an overtime or shootout win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. The Mavericks travel to Bemidji State in the final week of the regular season March 1-2. The MacNaughton Cup, presented to the CCHA regular season champion is located in a trophy case at Mayo Clinic HSEC and has remained in the Mavericks' possession each of the past six seasons (an NCAA record for consecutive conference titles).

Having lost each of their top-6 forwards from 2022-23, first-year head coach Luke Strand and his staff assembled a group of returners who took up the mantle and supplemented the roster with talented freshmen and transfers from other Division I programs. The Mavericks were projected to finish fourth in the CCHA preseason coaches' poll in October.

CCHA teams struggled in non-conference play on the whole this season, meaning the winner of the conference tournament will likely be the only bid to the NCAA tournament in 2023-24. The Mavericks put themselves in strong position by going 5-1-2 in the month of January, including a home sweep over Ferris State. MSU is 7-6-1 at home, 8-5-3 on the road and 1-3-3 in overtime.

More recently, the Mavericks split a home-and-home series with St. Thomas Feb. 2-3, then split at Michigan Tech Feb. 9-10 during the Huskies' Winter Carnival series.

Last Time Out

• Kaden Bohlsen scored twice and the Mavericks polished off a 4-2 victory over Michigan Tech on Feb. 10 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Nearing the halfway mark of the first period, Adam Eisele stripped the puck from Matthew Campbell in the corner and fed it in front for a one-timer by Josh Groll.
• Blake Pietila made the initial save but Brian Carrabes cleaned up the rebound for his seventh of the season at 8:22.
• Similar to Friday night, the Huskies wasted little time in response.
• Following a long cross-ice pass through the neutral zone from Jed Pietila, Tyson Bronte charged up the right side and ripped a shot over the glove of goaltender Alex Tracy.
• The goal came just 1:19 after Carrabes' marker for a 1-1 tie.
• Later, Sam Morton circled in the offensive zone and put away his CCHA-leading 20th goal of the season in the low slot.
• The play started behind the Husky goal. Morton made space and chipped it to Evan Murr.
• The two switched places and Morton broke for the goal to receive the return pass from Murr at 4:25.
• The goal marked the 40th of Morton's career. Luc Wilson (10) also assisted as the Mavericks took a 3-1 edge into the final period.
• The Huskies pulled to within one 4:53 into the third period. Levi Stauber drew a right circle faceoff back to Marcus Pedersen, who blasted it through the middle.
• Michigan Tech continued to pressure for the equalizer late and the Mavericks went shorthanded with under four minutes remaining due to a too many men on the ice minor penalty.
• With the net empty the Mavericks killed it off and Kaden Bohlsen put the final exclamation on the win, scoring with 3.2 seconds remaining.

Morton Continues Hobey Bid

• With the team idle over the weekend, Morton slipped to ninth in Division I with 20 goals (0.67 goals per game). His 30 points trails only LSSU's Jared Wescott in the CCHA.
• Morton was named CCHA Forward of the Month in January, with at least a point in seven of eight games.
• He still leads the conference in scoring (20), shots (127) and total faceoff wins (635). 

In Tracy We Trust 

• Sophomore Alex Tracy has 25 games and 23 starts for the Mavericks in goal. The Chicago native holds a 2.34 goals against average (second) and .912 save percentage (fifth).
• Last weekend, he made 48 saves against 52 shots to the Huskies for a .923 save percentage.
• He also added three additional stops in an exhibition shootout Saturday (used to determine the winner of the Michigan Tech Winter Carnival series). Tracy also picked up his first career assist against St. Thomas.

If You're Going

• The Mavericks will feature a special Senior Night presentation Friday night prior to puck drop.
• Chuck A Puck will occur between the second and third period of Saturday night's game.

Active Point Streaks

• Kaden Bohlsen (3 games, 3-1--4)
• Josh Groll (3 games, 1-2--3)

A Check of the Polls

• Minnesota State received national votes (2) in Monday's USCHO.com Division I men's hockey Top-20 rankings poll.
• The Mavericks have received votes on 15 occasions and did so for the eighth straight week since the holiday break.
• 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. 28. 
• Fellow CCHA foe Bemidji State (3) also received votes this week. No. 1 Boston College (23-5-1) garnered all 50 first place votes to top the USCHO.com poll. Boston University, Denver, Michigan State and North Dakota rounded out the top-5.

Scouting the Lakers (9-11-1, 13-17-1)

• First year player Jack Blanchett (Monroe, Mich.) was named CCHA Defenseman of the Week on Monday. Blanchett scored his second career goal on Friday against Augustana, the first game-winning-goal of his career. 
• The Lakers are in sixth place with 28 points and 5-10 away from home.
• LSSU collected a 3-0 win at home against Augustana Friday, then suffered a 3-0 loss Saturday to the Vikings. The Lakers come to Mankato having lost four of their last five. They average 3.00 goals per game along with 29.2 shots.
• LSSU was projected to finish last in the CCHA preseason coaches' poll. 
• Senior Jared Wescott leads the team with 16 goals (second to Morton), 15 assists and 31 points (leads CCHA). Wescott has three game-winning-goals and a team-high 86 shots on goal with a plus-4 rating. Wescott also has one hat trick on the year.
• Sophomore Connor Milburn ranks second on the squad with 12 goals, 15 assists and 27 points. His plus-10 rating is a team-best and tied for third-best in the CCHA.
• Junior Tritt Dawson leads the league with eight power play goals. Dawson has 12 goals, nine assists and 21 points this season (third on team).
• Goaltender Ethan Langenegger holds a .905 save percentage (sixth) and 2.94 goals against average (seventh) with 27 games played and 23 starts.
• Damon Whitten is in his 10th season at the helm. He has led the Lakers to six WCHA playoff appearances, including the WCHA Championship in 2021. The Lakers made an NCAA appearance for the first time in 25 years during the 2020-21 campaign.
• Last season, the Lakers finished 9-25-2 overall, 8-17-1 CCHA and lost to Minnesota State 6-1 and 2-1 in the CCHA Quarterfinals in Mankato March 3-4, 2023.

Season Series Against the Lakers

• The Mavericks traveled to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Dec. 1-2. The teams tied 2-2 in the Friday night tilt and MSU won the shootout 2-0 with goals from Lucas Sowder and Sam Morton. The Lakers outshot the Mavericks 17-2 in the third period but goaltender Alex Tracy stood tall with three stops in the shootout.
• Saturday, Mason Wheeler scored his first career goal and MSU won 4-3 at Taffy Abel Arena.
• Keenan Rancier reached back for a memorable save in the closing minutes and MSU killed all six minor penalties. Sam Morton posted his 11th goal of the season on the power play. Adam Eisele and Kaden Bohlsen also found the scoresheet.

All-Time Against Lake Superior State

• MSU is 31-4-2 against the Lakers all-time in games dating back to 2013-14.
• The Mavericks have not lost in the last seven matchups (6-1-0).

MSU Team Summary

• Goals for: 3.10 (1st)
• Goals against: 2.50 (1st)
• Shots on goal: 30.7 (3rd)
• Power Play Percentage: 19.6% (4th)
• Penalties per game: 3.90 (5th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: .810 (3rd)
• Faceoff Win Percentage: .505 (3rd)
• Blocked Shots per Game: 11.13 (7th)

CCHA Players of the Week (2023-24)

• Evan Murr (Defenseman) Jan. 29
• Lucas Sowder (Forward) Jan. 22
• Josh Groll (Forward) Jan. 15
• Evan Murr (Defensemen) Jan. 8
• Keenan Rancier (Goaltender) Jan. 8
• Adam Eisele (Forward) Jan. 3
• Mason Wheeler (Defenseman) Dec. 4
• Evan Murr (Rookie) Nov. 13
• Alex Tracy (Goaltender) Oct. 16

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 Scores Last Saturday

• Augustana -3, Lake Superior State -0
• Bowling Green 3, St. Thomas -1

CCHA Matchups Friday:

• Northern Michigan at Ferris State 7:07 p.m. ET
• Michigan Tech at Bowling Green 7:37 p.m. ET
• Lake Superior State at Minnesota State 7:07 p.m. CT
• Bemidji State at St. Thomas 7:07 p.m. CT
• Alaska Anchorage at Augustana 7:07 p.m. CT

CCHA Matchups Saturday:

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