MANKATO, Minn. - No. 14 Minnesota State faces a challenging road series this week as it heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on Augustana Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 6:07 p.m. The Mavericks hold a 6-1-2 record away from Mankato but Augustana has yet to lose in regulation in Midco Arena (5-0-2) this season. Both games will be available to stream on midcosportsplus.com and listen via AM 1420 KTOE.

The matchup features two of the top goaltenders in college hockey with junior Josh Kotai for Augustana (1.99 GAA, .936 save percentage) against senior Alex Tracy for Minnesota State (1.81 GAA, .934 save percentage). The two are also future teammates for the slate of collegiate athletes set to compete in the 2025 Spengler Cup (Davos, Switzerland).

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Minnesota State holds a 3-0-1 all-time record against the Vikings with the first meeting on Jan. 5, 2024.
• Augustana sponsored hockey for the first time three years ago and immediately became an NCAA Division I member.
• The Mavericks swept the season series with the Vikings last season with 2-1 and 4-1 wins at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

LAST WEEKEND

• Senior Tristan Lemyre (Mirabel, Quebec) scored twice to help MSU past Ferris State 5-1 on Friday. Alex Tracy notched 22 saves as the Mavericks won their seventh straight game. Jack Smith, Fin Williams and Jakob Stender also scored goals.
• Ferris State ended MSU's win streak 4-1 on Saturday, handing the Mavericks just their second regulation loss of the season (Oct. 10 vs. Omaha). Jack Smith scored the only MSU goal in the third period. Martin Lundberg turned aside 19 shots for the Bulldogs. Tracy stopped 19 pucks for Minnesota State.

TEAM LEADERS

• The Mavericks are averaging 2.8 goals per game and 29 shots per game.
• Senior Tristan Lemyre (Edmonton, Alberta) leads the squad with 19 points (10 goals, nine assists). Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.) leads MSU defensemen with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists). Murr also ranks first in the CCHA and fifth in NCAA Division I defenseman points. Cole Hutson (Boston University) leads the category with 20 points.

TRUST IN TRACY

• Senior Alex Tracy (Chicago, Ill.) earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for the 12th time in his career on Dec. 1 (fourth time this season, third week in a row). 
• He leads the CCHA in goals against average (1.78) and ranks second in save percentage (.934). Nationally, Tracy ranks second in NCAA Division I total saves (465), ninth in goals against average and seventh in save percentage.
• Tracy was also named CCHA Goaltender of the Month for November. Starting all nine games in November, he totaled 246 saves for a .939 save percentage. 
• His shutout at Northern Michigan moved him into a tie for third place on the MSU men's hockey all-time career shutouts chart with 10 (Stephon Williams).

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

• The Mavericks have killed 45 of 54 penalties (.833), 11th best in NCAA Division I. The penalty kill went 3-5 at Northern Michigan.
• Associate Head Coach Troy G. Ward has the Maverick power play executing at a 26.8-percent clip, with 19 goals in 71 opportunities. The power play went 2-3 on Friday and 0-4 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. Tristan Lemyre leads the team with four power play goals.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS

• Augustana defeated Bemidji State 3-1 on Friday at Midco Arena. Saturday's game was postponed to Sunday, due to poor ice conditions. The teams played to a 4-4 overtime tie and Bemidji State took the shootout 2-0. Josh Kotai made 35 saves in regulation and overtime for Augustana.
• Freshman Leo Bulgakov (Minsk, Belarus) leads the team with six goals, six assists and 12 points. Bulgakov came to Augustana from the Aberdeen Wings (NAHL), where he posted 96 points in 113 games over two seasons.
• Augustana, in its third season of NCAA Division I hockey, is averaging 2.6 goals per game and 2.0 goals to opponents, second in the CCHA only to Minnesota State (1.94). The Vikings also boast the best penalty kill in the CCHA with an .886 efficiency. Augustana has also taken the fewest penalties in the league (50). 
• Augustana ranks last in the CCHA in faceoff win percentage (.468) and eighth in blocked shots (10.93). 
• Last season, the Vikings finished 18-13-4 overall, including 9-5-2 in CCHA contests. The squad swept No. 12 Omaha last October but fell in the CCHA quarterfinals to Bemidji State in three games, including a 3-2 overtime loss on March 9 in Sioux Falls.
• Head coach Garrett Raboin spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota before being named the head coach of the Vikings for its inaugural collegiate season in 2022-23. In his first year, Augustana went 12-18-4 and saw four players sign ECHL contracts.
• Raboin is a St. Cloud State graduate (2010) and was an All-American for the Huskies. He coached for an additional six seasons at SCSU before transitioning to Minnesota.

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 available at the Mayo Clinic HSEC box office.

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. 13/13 last week. Michigan kept the top spot in both rankings polls for a second week, followed by Wisconsin and Michigan State.

MURR TAKES IN BACK-TO-BACK CCHA DEFENSEMAN OF THE MONTH HONORS

• Junior Evan Murr (Stillwater, Minn.) led Maverick defensemen with three goals and eight assists in November and was also CCHA Player of the Month in October. He posted three assists in wins against Lake Superior State (Nov. 15) and Northern Michigan (Nov. 28). Murr also totaled 25 shots and seven blocks.
• His plus-12 rating ranks third in the CCHA. Murr passed Akito Hirose (2020-23) for 16th on MSU's all-time career leaderboard for defenseman points with 69 last weekend.

LEMYRE SCORES EARLY AND OFTEN

• Tristan Lemyre leads Minnesota State and ranks tied for third in the CCHA with 10 goals on the season to go with eight assists through 18 games. 
• Lemyre was named CCHA Forward of the Week for the first time in his career last Monday. He played 42 games at Western Michigan last season, but has seen his role elevated to the top-six forwards this fall with time on the power play and penalty kill.

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.

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.