MANKATO, Minn. - No. 16 ranked Minnesota State men's hockey flies to face Lake Superior State for a two-game CCHA series this week. The Mavericks (4-2-4, 1-1-2) earned a pair of overtime ties against Bowling Green at home on Nov. 7-8. Friday resulted in a 4-4 overtime tie. MSU won the shootout. Saturday ended in a 1-1 overtime tie and the Falcons prevailed in a shootout. With overtime in five of the first 10 games of the regular season, the Mavericks hope to take the maximum number of points at Taffy Abel Arena.

Lake Superior State (3-6-1, 0-4-0) swept Stonehill College to begin the year, then struggled against Lindenwood and Bowling Green. Last week, the Lakers fell to Bemidji State on the road 4-1 Friday and 3-2 Saturday in overtime. LSSU is in search of its first CCHA victory as well as its first home victory against the Mavericks.

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Minnesota State holds a 38-5-2 overall record against Lake Superior State in games dating back to 2014.
• Last season, the Mavericks won two CCHA Mason Cup quarterfinals over the Lakers.
• The Mavericks won 4-1 on Friday, March 7 in Mankato, then 3-2 on Saturday, March 8 to advance.
• The Lakers were seeded No. 8 in the tournament. Minnesota State went 4-0 in the regular season against LSSU.

LAST WEEKEND

• No. 16 Minnesota State men's hockey rallied and tied Bowling Green 4-4 in overtime Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Luigi Benincasa and Evan Murr scored to help the Mavericks win a shootout. Senior Tristan Lemyre (Mirabel, Quebec) led MSU with two goals and two assists, marking the first four-point game in his collegiate career. Senior defenseman Campbell Cichosz (Albert Lea, Minn.) also contributed a goal and an assist.
• In a five-goal first period, the Mavericks scored three straight to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.
• Minnesota State tied Bowling Green 1-1 in overtime Saturday at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Bowling Green seized the extra point in a shootout. After a scoreless third period, the Mavericks and Falcons each recorded two shots in overtime. Brett Pfoh scored on his round one shootout attempt for BGSU and Steinman kept MSU off the ledger on three attempts.
• Bowling Green outshot Minnesota State 32-27.
• The Mavericks posted 10 penalties for 28 minutes.
• The Falcons finished with seven penalties for 22 minutes.
• Alex Tracy made 31 saves for MSU. Steinman stopped 26.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Mavericks are averaging 2.6 goals per game and 28.3 shots per game. Twelve of the team's 26 goals have come on the power play.
• Junior Luigi Benincasa (Edmonton, Alberta), Tristan Lemyre (Mirabel, Quebec) and Liam Watkins (Okotoks, Alberta) lead the team with 10 points apiece. Lemyre has the most goals with five, including two on Friday against Bowling Green on a season high five shots.
• Junior Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.) leads MSU defensemen with three goals and three assists. He also leads the team with 29 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 Oct. 20. 
• Tracy totaled 48 saves against 53 shots for a .906 save percentage in two starts against the Tommies.
• Tracy is currently fifth in CCHA goals against average (2.13) and save percentage (.920). Tracy and Augustana goaltender Josh Kotai are the only netminders to appear in 10 games this season.

MURR NAMED DEFENSEMAN OF THE MONTH

• Minnesota State junior defenseman Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minnesota) was named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's October Defenseman of the Month on Tuesday (Nov. 4).
• Murr paced league blueliners in goals (3) and shots (23) during the month of October, while finishing second in points (5), power-play goals (1) and game-winners (1).
• He was +1 in seven games for the Mavericks, blocking six shots defensively.
• Earning his second consecutive Defenseman of the Month award dating back to last season, he finished October on a four-game point streak.
• Murr is in his third season at Minnesota State. Last season he was named CCHA Defenseman of the Year. Tuesday marked the third time in his career he has been named CCHA Defenseman of the Month.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

• Associate Head Coach Troy G. Ward has the Maverick power play executing at a 26-percent clip, with 12 goals in 46 opportunities. The power play went 1-2 on Friday and 0-6 on Saturday against Bowling Green.
• The Mavericks scored a season high four power play goals at Omaha on Oct. 11. 
• All three of Charlie Lurie's goals have come on the power play.
• Last season, Lurie skated in 20 games for Omaha and scored three of his four goals on power play.
• He leads all Maverick players in power play goals.
• MSU's penalty kill ranks fifth in the nation at 90.3 percent efficiency.

WORLD JUNIORS PRE-TOURNEY SERIES SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR CITY OF MANKATO

• The 50th anniversary of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will take place Dec. 26, 2025 – Jan. 5, 2026, in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the leadup to the tournament, teams from around the world will compete in the World Juniors Pre-Tournament Series, presented by Delta Dental of Minnesota, hosted by four Minnesota communities representing the State of Hockey: Mankato, Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester.
• As a part of this series, Mankato will host Team Denmark's official pre-tournament camp at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center and will host a pair of highly anticipated games; one between Switzerland and Minnesota State men's hockey (Dec. 16, 7 p.m.), and another between Denmark and Canada (Dec. 23, 7 p.m.). Tickets are now available.

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. 16 by USCHO.com and No. 18 by USA Hockey/The Rink Live in NCAA Division I National polls on Monday.
• The Mavericks ranked in the same positions last week.
• Michigan State remained the top-ranked team in the nation for a third straight week in both polls.
• This week, the Spartans were a unanimous selection. Michigan, Minnesota Duluth, Denver and Penn State rounded out the top five.
• The Mavericks were the top-ranked team in the CCHA and second ranked team from the state of Minnesota behind No. 3 Minnesota Duluth. Michigan Tech, Bemidji State and Augustana received national votes.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS

• William Ahlrik scored with the LSSU net empty on the power play Saturday night against Bemidji State. The goal sent the Lakers to overtime, where they eventually lost 3-2 to the Beavers. Calem Mangone assisted on Ahlrik's important goal.
• The Lakers fell to Bemidji State 4-1 on Friday.
• Ahlrik (Soph., Forward, Tidaholm, Sweden) leads the Lakers and ranks tied for sixth in the CCHA with 11 points.
• Ahlrik and Adam Barone (Soph., Defenseman, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) are both tied for third in the CCHA with eight assists apiece.
• Mangone (Fr., Forward, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) also ranks fifth in the conference in shots on goal (31).
• Head coach Damon Whitten is in his 12th season at LSSU, the longest tenure of any head coach in program history.
• He has led the Lakers to six WCHA playoff appearances, including the 2021 WCHA Championship.
• He also guided LSSU to its first NCAA appearance in 25 years during the 2020-21 campaign. That season, the Lakers also won the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) Tournament.
• The Lakers fell to MSU in the CCHA quarterfinals last season and finished with a 12-22-2 overall record (10-15-1 CCHA) and won just four home games.
• In 2023-24, LSSU went 17-20-1, 11-12-1 CCHA. The team defeated St. Thomas in three games in the CCHA quarterfinals but fell 4-1 to Bemidji State in the Mason Cup Semifinals.

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.