MANKATO, Minn. - No. 14 Minnesota State men's hockey brings a four-game win streak to the Upper Peninsula this weekend as the Mavericks face Northern Michigan at Berry Events Center Friday at 6:07 p.m. CT and Saturday at 5:07 p.m. in a CCHA tilt.

The teams split a series in Marquette last season in January. MSU (8-2-4, 5-1-2 CCHA) enters the weekend in third place in the CCHA standings behind Bemidji State (9-5-2, 7-1-2) and Bowling Green (5-4-3, 5-2-3) but hold two games in hand on both. Northern Michigan is searching for its first win of the season. The Wildcats fell to Bemidji State 6-2 and 7-3 on the road last week. Two years ago, Minnesota State ended Northern Michigan's season in the 2023-24 CCHA Quarterfinals in Mankato.

Fans can listen to the games for free on AM 1420 KTOE (Matt Dean, play-by-play) or watch on MidcoSportsPlus.com.

Minnesota State holds a 31-9-5 record all-time against Northern Michigan. That includes a 12-5-3 record on the road and 25-8-5 record in conference matchups. The Mavericks are 7-1-2 against the Wildcats over the previous 10 bouts. MSU won the last meeting 6-1 on Jan. 11, 2025 in Marquette, Michigan.

LAST WEEKEND

• The Mavericks completed a home sweep over Michigan Tech with a 3-2 score Saturday and 3-0 final Friday. MSU did not allow a goal at even strength and Alex Tracy was named CCHA Goaltender of the Week after he totaled 39 saves for a .951 save percentage. Tracy also picked up his ninth career shutout Friday with 12 stops. Reid Morich and Alex Zetterberg both notched their first career goals at MSU. 
• On Saturday, Jacob Conrad, Evan Murr and Zetterberg all tallied goals, including a pair to open the third period. Tracy made 27 saves to preserve the lead late. With one assist Friday and two assists Saturday, Luigi Benincasa extended his point streak to five games.
• The Mavericks have lost just one game in regulation through their first 14 contests.

LEADERS

• The Mavericks are averaging 2.7 goals per game and 28.7 shots per game.
• Junior Luigi Benincasa (Edmonton, Alberta) leads the squad with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists). Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.) leads MSU defensemen with 13 points (six goals, seven assists). Murr ranks tied for fifth in NCAA Division I defenseman points. Cole Hutson (Boston University) leads the category with 18 points.

TRUST IN TRACY

• Senior Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for the 11th time in his career on Nov 24 (third time this season, second week in a row). 
• He leads the CCHA in goals against average (1.88) and ranks third in save percentage (.930).
• Nationally, Tracy ranks third in NCAA Division I total saves (358), 13th in goals against average and 15th in save percentage.
• Tracy leads all-active NCAA Division I goaltenders with 53 career wins.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

• The Mavericks have killed 38 of 43 penalties (.881), seventh best in NCAA Division I. MTU scored two power play goals on Saturday. 
• Associate Head Coach Troy G. Ward has the Maverick power play executing at a 23-percent clip, with 13 goals in 56 opportunities. The power play went 1-1 on Friday and 0-2 on Saturday.
• 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.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

• The Wildcats last win in regulation came on Jan. 18, 2025 at Bemidji State (W, 3-1). Though NMU did take Colorado College to overtime on Oct. 17. 
• Sophomore Jakub Altrichter (Prague, Czechia) leads the squad with three goals and five assists. He posted one goal and one assist on Saturday at Bemidji State.
• Freshman Tobias Pitka (Poprad, Slovakia) ranks second in points with six (three goals, three assists).
• The Wildcats have a pair of goaltenders with significant minutes. Freshman Oliver Auyeung-Ashton (Coquitlam, British Columbia) has eight games played, including six starts and holds a 2.68 goals against average and .932 save percentage. Junior William Gramme (Stockholm, Sweden) started both games at Bemidji State last weekend. He currently holds a 4.66 goals against average and .891 save percentage in eight starts.
• The Wildcats surrendered five of 13 goals on the power play to BSU last weekend.
• Sophomore Grayden Slipec (Surrey, British Columbia) and freshman Peter Cisar (Bratislava, Slovakia) remain out of the lineup due to injury. Slipec led NMU with 10 goals and 19 points last season, including six power play goals and two game winning goals. Cisar played his junior career in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms, Fargo Force and Madison Capitols and won the Clark Cup in 2024-25.
• NMU features an international roster, with 18 players from outside of the U.S. A young Wildcat team holds six seniors, four juniors, eight sophomores and nine freshmen.
• Head Coach Dave Shyiak played for the Wildcats and was named the fourth head coach in program history in June of 2024. He captained the 1991 National Championship team and returned to NMU to begin his coaching career as an assistant (1995-2002) before being promoted to associate head coach (2002-05).

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. 14 by USCHO.com and No. 14 by USA Hockey/The Rink Live in NCAA Division I National polls on Monday. The Mavericks ranked No. 14/14 last week. Michigan rose to the top spot in both rankings polls. Wisconsin moved up five spots to No. 2, followed by Michigan State, Denver and Minnesota Duluth.

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.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

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