MANKATO, Minn. - No. 12 Minnesota State resumes CCHA play Friday and Saturday at Northern Michigan, but not before Head Coach Luke Strand returns to De Pere, Wisconsin as the Mavericks play a scrimmage/exhibition Tuesday night at St. Norbert College at 6 p.m.

It will be the first meeting between the two teams and, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette, St. Norbert's first time hosting a Division I opponent in a men's team sport since 1997. The game is the second scrimmage/exhibition tune up for MSU, which defeated Manitoba 6-1 at home on Dec. 30 in front of 1,750 fans. The Mavericks are unbeaten over their previous 11 regular season contests after polishing off a home sweep of Lake Superior State before the break 3-2 and 6-1. The Mavericks played the Wildcats to a 1-1 ties on Nov. 16. 

ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• The Mavericks are 34-9-5 all-time against Northern Michigan. MSU is 8-0-2 over their previous ten meetings. Prior to a 1-1 tie on Nov. 16, MSU won 3-0 on Nov. 15 in Mankato. The Mavericks are 11-4-3 in Marquette since 2013.

SCOUTING ST. NORBERT

• Head Coach Luke Strand served as an assistant coach at St. Norbert in 2002-03.
• The Green Knights are have a strong season, with a 12-3-0 overall record, including 10-1-0 at home.
• St. Norbert has lost three straight, two against Division III ranked opponents, including 4-1 last time out against No. 15 UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 4.
• Head coach Tim Coghlin holds a 660-180-60 record in 30 seasons in De Pere. His win total is the most in NCAA Division III hockey history.
• Last season, the Green Knights finished 23-7-0 and defeated St. Olaf in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament before bowing out to No. 4 Adrian College in the quarterfinals 5-3.
• Liam Fraser leads the team with 14 goals and Logan Dombrowski has a team-high 24 points.

SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• One of the Wildcats' best games this season came against the Mavericks on Nov. 16. Following the 1-1 tie, Jakub Altrichter scored the only goal in the shootout to give NMU two points. Ryan Ouellette made all three saves along with 26 in regulation to help secure the extra point.
• On Friday night, the Mavericks downed NMU 3-0 with goals from Will Hillman, Ralfs Bergmanis and Jakob Stender. Bergmanis notched a multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
• The Wildcats put forth a solid effort at the Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 29-30 in Grand Rapids. 
• NMU fell 2-0 to top-ranked Michigan State in the semifinals, then lost 4-3 to rival Michigan Tech 4-3 in overtime in the third place bout. Tanner Latsch and Grayden Slipec both scored in the third period to force overtime.
• Slipec (Fr., F, Surrey, B.C.) leads the team with eight points (3-5--8). Other players with a team-high three goals include sophomore Matthew Romer (3-3--6), freshman Aidyn Hutchinson (3-1--4), redshirt sophomore Tanner Latsch (3-1--4) and freshman defenseman Anthony Cliche (3-0--3).
• The Wildcats have not won since tying the Mavericks in November, a streak of eight straight losses. The team collected its only regulation victory over Alaska Anchorage at Berry Events Center on October 19.
• NMU hockey alum Dave Shyiak was named head coach in June, 2024 following the departure of Grant Potulny (head coach, Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL). Shyiak played four seasons (1987-91) at NMU and captained the 1991 National Championship team.
• Goaltender Ryan Ouellette was recognized as CCHA Goaltender of the Week. He held a .953 save percentage at the GLI Holiday Tournament, stopping 41-of-43 shots against No. 1 Michigan State on Sunday. He closed the game with 32 straight saves to keep the Wildcats within striking distance late.
• Defenseman Tynan Ewart earned CCHA Defenseman of the Week after he led conference blueliners in points (2), assists (2) and blocked shots (8). He posted four blocks to help force overtime against Michigan Tech on Monday.

TOP OF DIVISION I

• The Mavericks currently allow the fewest goals per game to opponents (1.50) in Division I ahead of Maine (1.74) and Michigan State (1.85). 
• Defenseman Mason Wheeler ranks sixth in CCHA blocked shots (37).
• Defenseman Campbell Cichosz and forward Josh Groll are tied for second in the conference in plus/minus at +14.
• Center Adam Eisele is second in the conference in faceoff percentage (.572) with 174 wins in 19 games.

EXHIBITION EXPRESS

• With no scheduled regular season action between December 14 and January 10, Coach Strand scheduled exhibition games against Manitoba and St. Norbert.
• Every skater on the roster, excluding Tyler Haskins (injured) saw the ice against the Bisons in a 6-1 win at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center last Monday.
• Alex Tracy tended the crease in the first period, then gave way to Eli Pulver, who allowed one goal in his first game action of the year. Zach Krajnik led the team with two goals and one assist. 

TRACKING TRACY

• Junior Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) leads the nation in goals against average (1.389), ahead of Ohio State's Kristoffer Eberly (1.502) and Maine's Albin Boija (1.615). His save percentage is also the best in college hockey (.945) ahead of Augustana's Josh Kotai (.944).
• He has started all 20 games and has 14 wins, which is tied for first in the nation with Matt Davis (Denver). 
• At 1209 minutes of time on ice, Tracy has surrendered just 28 goals with three shutouts. 
• His 484 saves ranks 12th in the nation.
• Tracy has allowed three goals just three times. 
• Tracy is tied for ninth among active goaltenders in Division I with six career shutouts, 18th in career goals against average and 12th in career save percentage.
• Tracy earned his third CCHA Goaltender of the Week honor on November 25.

HEADED TO THE POLLS

• Idle Minnesota State men's hockey stayed to No. 12 in this week's USCHO.com Division I national rankings poll (Jan. 6).
• The Mavericks also slotted in at No. 12 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll on Monday. Michigan State retained the top position in the nation after winning the Great Lakes Invitational last weekend.
• Fellow CCHA institutions Michigan Tech and Augustana also received national votes but were not inside the national top-20.

BEST OF DECEMBER

• The Mavericks went 4-0-0 in December, including conference home sweeps over Bowling Green and Lake Superior State.
• Senior left wing Rhett Pitlick leads the Mavericks with 19 points. He ranked tied for fourth in CCHA goals (8) and tied for sixth in assists (11). Pitlick's four game-winning goals top the CCHA and his three power play goals ranks tied for fifth.
• Top liners Pitlick and Josh Groll are tied for second with a plus-14 rating, just behind Payton Matsui (Augustana) at plus-15.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

• The Mavericks are 8-47 (.170) on the power play this season.
• Rhett Pitlick posted MSU's first power play goal of the season in the first period against Merrimack College (Oct. 11), assisted by Josh Groll and Evan Murr.
• The Mavericks have killed 48-58 penalties. 
• MSU was the 30th best team in Division I (fourth in CCHA) last year on the power play (.200) and the 21st best team on the penalty kill (.817), second in the CCHA.
• The Mavericks ranked third in the CCHA for fewest penalties per game (3.59) last year. They are currently taking 3.35 penalties per game, third fewest behind Bemidji State (2.65) and Michigan Tech (3.20).

OTHER TEAM NOTABLES

• MSU is the seventh oldest team in Division I at an average age of 22.7 years.
• The Mavericks have the second largest senior class in Division I (nine players). MSU also has the second fewest freshmen (four).