MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State men's hockey (1-1-2) opens its home slate on Friday, Oct. 24 when it welcomes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (0-4-0) to Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. The No. 20 ranked Mavericks return to Mankato following back-to-back overtime ties at No. 17 Wisconsin last week. Friday night's festivities include a banner drop ceremony prior to a 7:07 p.m. start, recognizing last season's CCHA MacNaughton Cup and Mason Cup Championships. Saturday, the team recognizes its senior members and their contributions to the program before the puck is dropped at 6:07 p.m. RPI comes in search of its first victory, after starting out with losses to Miami (Ohio), No. 9 Boston College and No. 14 Providence College. The Mavericks finished 17-4-3 at home in 2024-25.

ALL TIME SERIES

• Minnesota State holds a 3-2-1 all-time record against RPI. The Mavericks are 1-0-1 at home and last hosted the Engineers on Oct. 19-20, 2012. In 2023-24, the Mavericks traveled to Troy, N.Y. and fell 4-3 in overtime on Friday, then bounced back for a 4-2 win on Saturday.
• MSU won the first meeting between the teams 1-0 on Oct. 7, 2011.

LAST WEEKEND

• Playing Wisconsin to a 1-1 overtime tie on Thursday at Kohl Center, Luigi Benincasa scored the only MSU goal in the second period. Tristan Lemyre and Jacob Conrad assisted at 12:59. Then the Badgers tied the game 7:17 into the third period.
• Benincasa gained two additional scoring chances in overtime and MSU led OT shots on goal 3-1 before Wisconsin won a four-round exhibition shootout.
• UW outshot the Mavericks 30-22 and neither team scored on the power play.
• The Mavericks scored first again on Friday, with a pair of first period power play markers.
• Benincasa found the net again at 9:58 and Charlie Lurie made it 2-0 at 13:28.
• Similar to Thursday, Quinn Finley got the Badgers on the scoreboard in the second and former Maverick Simon Tassy tipped in a point shot to knot it 2-2.
• After overtime, both goaltenders made six consecutive saves in an exhibition shootout before UW prevailed in round seven.
• The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 40-32. Benincasa led MSU with six shots on goal.

TRUST IN TRACY

• Senior Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for the eighth time in his career on Monday.
• Tracy totaled 50 saves against 53 shots in the series at Wisconsin for a .943 save percentage.
• Last season, Tracy was named CCHA Goaltender of the Week four times. His 12 third-period stops on Thursday helped the Mavericks preserve a 1-1 overtime tie on the road.

IT'S LUIGI TIME!

• Benincasa's big weekend included a pair of goals and nine shots on goal against Wisconsin.
• With a pair of assists at Omaha on Oct. 11, Benincasa leads the squad with four points in four games.
• The Edmonton, Alberta native has seen his time on ice increase to start the year, including top line minutes at center between a combination of Sawyer Scholl, Tristan Lemyre and Alex Zetterberg.
• Benincasa transferred to the Mavericks from Ferris State last season and played in 39 games as a sophomore with six goals and 18 assists (tied for third on the team).
• Last year, he centered the second line which included Zach Krajnik and Kaden Bohlsen, both of whom graduated and signed professional contracts.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

• Associate Head Coach Troy G. Ward has the Maverick power play executing at a 31.8-percent clip, with seven goals in 22 opportunities.
• The Mavericks scored four power play goals at Omaha on Oct. 11 and added two more Friday night at Wisconsin.
• MSU's penalty kill has also been efficient, with successful kills on 11 of 13 shorthanded situations. In similar fashion to last year, Mason Wheeler and Campbell Cichosz led the team in blocked shots, with eight and six, respectively.

MAVERICK LEADERSHIP

• Senior defenseman Mason Wheeler was named team captain on Sept. 18, 2025. He took the mantle from Josh Groll (2024-25) and Sam Morton (2023-24).
• Wheeler served the past two seasons as assistant captain. In his fourth season with the Mavericks, Wheeler was a 2024-25 CCHA Scholar Athlete.
• He skated in 39 games with six assists and six points.
• He also led the team with 69 blocked shots (fourth in CCHA), including a season-high seven blocks against North Dakota on Oct. 19.
• Wheeler entered the year with 113 games played in Purple and Gold.
• Assistant captains are senior defenseman Campbell Cichosz, junior defenseman Evan Murr, junior forward Luigi Benincasa, and junior forward Fin Williams.

HEADED TO THE POLLS

• Minnesota State men's hockey was ranked No. 20 by USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live this week.
• Michigan State ascended to the top of the rankings, followed by Western Michigan and Michigan.
• The Mavericks were the only team in the CCHA to be ranked inside the top-20 this week. However, Michigan Tech, St. Thomas, Augustana and Ferris State received votes.
• Minnesota State was ranked No. 20/19 in national rankings polls last Monday.

TRACY CHOSEN FOR SPENGLER CUP

• Senior Alex Tracy was selected to participate in the 2025 Spengler Cup, joining a squad of college hockey players representing NCAA Division I hockey in the prestigious men's tournament. 
• Held annually in Davos, Switzerland, since 1923, the six-team invitational tournament traditionally features club and national teams from Europe and North America. It is hosted by the Swiss professional team HC Davos each year from Dec. 26-31 at Eisstadion Davos.
• The United States Collegiate Selects will face Team Canada to open play Spengler Cup play on December 26.
• Each team will play a minimum of three contests and maximum of five during the six-day event.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS

• Eric Lang was named head coach of RPI in April after serving as head coach at American International College since 2016.
• Lang won 155 games at AIC, including seven combined regular season and postseason Atlantic Hockey championships.
• The Engineers have faced a grueling non-conference schedule so far and fell to No. 14 Providence 5-1 on Saturday at Houston Field House. Goaltender Carson Dorfman made 33 saves in his first full 60-minute outing of the season, including 16 in the second period.
• RPI brought in 19 newcomers this fall, including ten freshmen and nine transfers. The group features 10 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, combining NCAA and junior hockey experience as well as international student-athletes from Europe's junior circuits.
• RPI concluded its season last spring with an opening round loss in the ECAC playoffs to Harvard. RPI finished 12-21-2 in 2024-25 under head coach Dave Smith and struggled at home (3-12-1). 
• Former Maverick and graduate student Luc Wilson leads RPI with three points in four games (three assists). Wilson notched a pair of assists in a season opening contest against Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 10. Wilson played 89 games in Purple and Gold from 2022-25 and totaled 15 goals, 24 assists and 39 points.
• The Engineers have utilized all three goaltenders on the roster. Dorfman (soph., Hermitage, Tenn.) played for the Sioux City Musketeers and holds a .906 save percentage. Junior Bruno Bruveris (Riga, Latvia) transferred from Miami (Ohio) and appeared in two games with nine goals against. Freshman Nate Krawchuk allowed five goals and made 20 saves in his first start against Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 11. 
• RPI holds a rich hockey history with teams dating back to 1901. RPI's last winning season came in 2019-20 (17-15-2).

MANKATO CHOSEN AS IIHF HOST

• Mankato was named as one of Minnesota's host communities for the World Juniors Pre-Tournament Series presented by Delta Dental of Minnesota.
• Several exhibition games will be played throughout Minnesota as part of the exciting lead up to the 2026 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship which will take place Dec. 26, 2025 - Jan. 5, 2026, in the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
• Details regarding pre-tournament game schedules in Mankato, ticketing information, and related events will be released in the coming days.

COLLEGE HOCKEY INC NOTES

• Defenseman Mason Wheeler entered the season with a career +36 rating, 10th in NCAA Division I and No. 1 among active CCHA players and sixth among defensemen.
• Evan Murr entered the season with seven career power play goals, which ranks tied for fifth among active NCAA Division I defensemen. Murr's four game-winning goals are also tied for third among active Division I blueliners.
• Mason Wheeler began 2025-26 with 113 games played, tied for fourth among active NCAA Division I defensemen.
• Alex Tracy started 2025-26 ranked seventh among NCAA Division I goaltenders in games played (76), fifth in goals against average (1.91), third in save percentage (.926), second in shutouts (8), and seventh in minutes played (4463:53). Tracy is among three returning Hobey Baker Top-10 finalists (Aiden Fink, Penn State, Mac Gadowsky, Penn State).
• The Mavericks have the second fewest returning goals on the roster in NCAA Division I (21) behind Miami (OH) with 13.
• MSU has qualified for the NCAA Tournament seven times over the past 10 seasons, tied for third in NCAA Division I.
• MSU also has the most wins of any NCAA Division I program over the past 10 seasons.

NON-CONFERENCE

• The Mavericks have eight non-conference games scheduled for the season. The campaign began at Omaha Oct. 10-11.
• MSU traveled to Wisconsin Oct. 16-17.
• Minnesota State hosts RPI Oct. 24-25.
• The Mavericks appear in the Coachella Cactus Cup Jan. 2-3. MSU will play University of Massachusetts-Lowell in the semifinals, with the finals the following day at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

• Minnesota State's roster features student athletes from four different countries.
• United States (16)
• Canada (8)
• Latvia (2)
• Sweden (1)

MAVERICK HOCKEY HISTORY

• In its 57th year of existence (27th in Division I), Minnesota State owns an all-time record of 1079-706-166 (.610).
• The Mavericks are in their fifth season as members of the CCHA and have had five head coaches since 1969.
• Don Brose (1969-83, 1984-00) is the all-time winningest head coach with 535 wins, including the 1980 NCAA Division II National Championship.