MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State men's hockey earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed Northern Michigan in the CCHA quarterfinals beginning Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The series is best two of three and the Mavericks have hosted the first round conference series every year since 2011-12.

Minnesota State begins the postseason seeking a third consecutive Mason Cup Championship and the Mavericks knocked Northern Michigan out of the playoffs each of the last two years, including a 3-2 overtime victory in the CCHA Championship in 2022-23 in Mankato. Even so, the Wildcats enter the postseason on a 3-0-2 run, including a sweep over Bowling Green on the final regular season weekend. 

The teams squared off twice in January, skating to a 2-2 tie on Friday night. The Mavericks capped a 4-0 shutout the next day.

For the Mavericks

• Fifth year standout and team captain Sam Morton (Lafeyette, Colo.) leads the CCHA in goals (22), faceoffs won (397), power play goals (nine) and shots (282), The Hobey Baker Award candidate mustered five shots but no points last weekend at Bemidji State.
• Left wing linemate Lucas Sowder (Gr. - Tampa, Fla.) left Friday night's game in the second period and did not return Saturday. Sowder ranks second on the team in scoring (11-14--25).
• Freshman Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.) leads CCHA rookie defensemen in points (6-19--25) with a plus-4 rating and 25 blocked shots.
• Second line sophomore center Adam Eisele (Lake Elmo, Minn.) ranks fourth on the squad with seven goals, 15 assists and 22 points. With Sowder absent Saturday night, junior Josh Groll (San Diego, Calif.) was elevated to the top line with Morton and Luc Wilson (who switched to the left side). 
• The Mavericks rank third in goals per game (2.94) and second in goals against (2.65). 
• MSU is 8-7-1 at home this season and 34-7-0 in home conference tournament games over the past 10 years.
• Last year, the Mavericks were the No. 1 seed and defeated Lake Superior State in two games in the CCHA quarterfinals.
• The team went on to defeat Ferris State in the semifinals 7-2 and Northern Michigan in the Championship 3-2 OT.
• Zach Krajnik scored the overtime game-winning-goal and the Mavericks lifted the Mason Cup in front of 4,805 fans in Mankato.
• Keenan Rancier started in net, stopped a penalty shot from NMU Andre Ghantous, and turned aside 30 shots for the win.

Last Time Out

• The Mavericks suffered a pair of defeats at Bemidji State over the weekend, including a 6-0 score Friday night and a 2-0 score Saturday at Sanford Center. The Beavers were presented with their second MacNaughton Cup Friday night, having dethroned the Mavericks as the top team in the regular season for the first time in seven seasons.
• Friday, the teams skated scoreless through the first period before BSU exploded for five second period markers. Alex Tracy took the loss in goal after allowing four goals on 27 shots. Keenan Rancier entered in the second period and stopped seven shots. MSU went 0-3 on the power play.
• The Beavers' stifling style extinguished the Mavericks again Saturday in a 2-0 shutout. Mitch Wolf scored the eventual game-winner 3:15 into the second period and the Beavers added an empty net tally late. The Mavericks went 0-2 on the power play and posted 22 shots on goal, but BSU blocked 20 more attempts and Gavin Enright tended goal for the clean sheet. 
• The losses dropped MSU from second to fourth in the CCHA standings.

Scouting the Wildcats

• After a weekend sweep of Bowling Green, the Wildcats jumped into fifth place in the CCHA standings to end the season, drawing a matchup against the Minnesota State Mavericks in the opening round of the CCHA Playoffs.
• Over their last eight games, NMU boasts nine power play goals (33-percent), the fourth best PP in the country over that span.
• Hobey Baker candidate Andrew Ghantous (8-23--31) leads the CCHA in assists and is second in points with eight points over his last seven games (1-7--8).
• The fifth year senior leads all active NCAA skaters in career points (52-103--155) in 168 collegiate games. He is second in NMU history in career games played and has 11 points in 19 games against the Mavericks.
• Aiden Gallacher leads the CCHA in blocks (76) which is fourth best in Division I. 
• The 'Cats are the second best team in the faceoff circle (51.9-percent) in the conference. 
• Head coach Grant Potulny took over before the 2017-18 season. Last year, NMU reached 20 wins for the second consecutive campaign and finished 21-17-0 (14-12-0 CCHA).
• The Wildcats defeated Bemidji State on home ice, then shut out Michigan Tech in Houghton to advance to the CCHA Championship for the second time in three years.

A Check of the Polls

• Minnesota State did not receive national votes in Monday's USCHO.com Division I men's hockey Top-20 rankings poll for the first time in the last ten weeks.
• The Mavericks have received votes on 16 occasions. 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 also received votes this week. No. 1 Boston College (25-5-1) garnered all 50 first place votes to top the USCHO.com poll.

Special Teams Report

• Minnesota State ranks fourth in the CCHA on the power play (20.3-percent) and third on the penalty kill (81.7-percent).
• Northern Michigan ranks second with an extra man (.233) and seventh on the kill (.754). The Wildcats average 13:18 of penalty time per contest, ranking last in the category in the league.

Around the League

• Jackson Jutting (BSU) won CCHA Forward of the Week while teammate Mitch Wolfe took home Defenseman of the Week honors.
• NMU goaltender Beni Halasz comes to Mankato as the reighning CCHA goaltender of the week.
• Halasz went 2-0-0 with league-bests in goals-against average (0.50) and save percentage (.979), helping the Wildcats to a sweep of Bowling Green last weekend.
• Stopping 47-of-48 shots in the series, he earned his second shutout of the year and fifth of his career on Saturday, making 20 saves in a 1-0 victory.
• Branden Piku (LSSU) recorded his first collegiate multi-goal games to win CCHA Rookie of the Week on Monday.

The All-Time Series

• Minnesota State leads the all-time series against NMU 31-9-4 in games dating back to 2013-14. The teams have met four times in the playoffs since 2017-18.

History of the Mason Cup

• The Mason Cup is awarded to the champion of the CCHA Tournament and was awarded until 2001 until the original CCHA folded at the end of the 2012-13 season. 
• The CCHA was revived in 2020 by seven schools which left the WCHA.
• The cup was created in honor of Ron Mason, who coached three different CCHA teams but is most remembered for his time at Michigan State. Mason ended his coaching career in 2002 and, at the time of his retirement, was the winningest coach in NCAA history with 924 victories.
• The Mavericks have won the Mason Cup twice. Northern Michigan has never won it.

FloHockey.TV

• A reminder to all fans that the CCHA and FloSports have exclusive distribution rights to all postseason games. As such, there will be no local linear coverage on KEYC-The Circle or via the MSU Channel. Subscriptions for this weekend's games are available at FloSports.com.

Back-to-Back Tournament Champs

• The Mavericks won their second consecutive Mason Cup Championship when they defeated Northern Michigan University 3-2 in overtime (Mar. 18, 2023). In 2021-22, 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 2022-23 quarterfinal series.
• MSU has played in six conference tournament championship games in the Division I era. In addition to their five wins, the Mavericks also played in the title game in 2015-16. 

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, Minne sota), fifth year senior forward Jordan Steinmetz (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin) and senior defenseman Tony Malinowski (Clarkston, Michigan).

CCHA Scores Last Friday

• Bowling Green -1, Northern Michigan -4
• St. Thomas -2, Michigan Tech -0
• Lake Superior State -4,  Ferris State -1
• Bemidji State -6, Minnesota State -0
• Alaska -2, Augustana -2

CCHA Scores Last Saturday

• Northern Michigan -1, Bowling Green -0
• Michigan Tech -6, St. Thomas -0
• Bemidji State -2, Minnesota State -0
• Alaska -2, Augustana -0

CCHA Matchups Friday

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

CCHA Matchups Saturday

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