ELMIRA, N.Y. - A most logical climb to the top was completed in March when the Mavericks captured the NCAA Division II national championship in Elmira, NY.

The Mavericks had finished third in the national tournament in 1978 and second in 1979. The 1980 team adopted the slogan, "Going for the Gold" and, by golly, they got it. A 5-2 triumph over Elmira College followed an 8-1 thrashing of defending national king Lowell. Lowell had knocked off MSU for the title to close the 1979 season, while Elmira had downed MSU to open the 1980 campaign.

The most remarkable aspect of the championship is that is came in front of 4,000 partisan Emira fans in the Ralph Murray Athletic Center. But, by tournament end and despite being dissappointed in their local heroes, the Elmira fans were too impress with the Minnesotans complete domination to be disgruntled. The overflow crowd cheered the Mavericks as they took a victory lap, and burst into a deafening roar of appreciation when MSU goalie Steve Carroll was announced as the tournament Most outstanding Player.

Carroll twisted, flopped and dove his way to 84 saves in two games. In 1979 he made 101 saves in the national tournament. "Gump" stopped 18 shots in the middle period against Lowell when the Chiefs outshot Mankato 19-3. In the finale, kicked out 20 saves in the second period when Elmira held a 21-10 advantage in attempts.

"It's not how many shots we take," joked Steve Forliti, "it's how many go in the net."

Forliti had two goals and an assist in the victory over Lowell, and added an assist against Elmira to finish the year with 76 points in MSU's 40 games.

Weinkauf, earlier named with Carroll as an NAIA All-American, was one of nine Mavericks making their third national tourney appearance. He assisted on three of MSU's 13 goals and acted as the "playmaker" on the ice. Mankato used the same strategy in both games - knock 'em down early and keep 'em down. Friday the Mavericks jumped to a 5-0 lead over Lowell, and Saturday were up 4-0 over Elmira. Friday's leaders were linemates Paul Mattson, Greg Larson and Larry Lonng with three goals. Saturday Larson scored two more goals, but a pair of seldom-heard-from youngsters provided the margin of victory. 

Freshman Mike Hill scored just his third goal of the year a 2-0 lead and sophomore Tom Hederick notched his fifth goal of the season for the game-winner.

MSU's winning streak began on February 8 with an 11-3 win over UW-Superior. During the streak MSU held a monstrous 109-33 edge in scoring, including six games in double figures. The last was a 14-6 thrashing of powerful St. Scholastica in the Western College championship.

As usual the Mavericks struggled through the first two months of the season, carrying a mediocre 11-6 record into the holiday break. Losses to Elmira and Merrimack to open the year were looked at by some as indicators of the Mavericks hope in the national tournament - dismal.

But MSU's rebound by taking convincing wins over Hamline and St. John's and squeaking away with a 4-3 overtime decision over Gustavus Adolphus. Looking ahead to Air Force Academy, the Mavericks lost 6-4 to a vastly improved St. Olaf team before sweeping a series from the Division I cadets.

Another major upset, this time to Iowa State, forced the Mavericks to look ahead. They won five in a row, including big games with St. Cloud State, a challenger to the western throne. Then came the 1-2 trip to the Duluth area which included the first two season losses to St. Scholastica.

The 14-day holiday break appeared to be the medicine MSU needed, and the Mavericks came back to post an 18-3-1 record in the new year. For nine games, MSU didn't lose as they defeated powerhouses like Gustavus, River Falls and St. Cloud. With a 19-6-1 record, the Mavericks were ranked second in the nation and looking good.

But the 20th win was elusive, and Mankato dropped three games to River Falls, St. Scholastica and Hamline (in overtime) before defeating Superior 11-3 to begin the current win string.