MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State women's hockey team will face the St. Thomas Tommies in a home and home series this weekend. They will play in St. Paul on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Tommie Ice Plex, while puck drop for Saturday is set for 2 p.m. at the Mayo Clinic HSEC. Both games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.

About the Mavericks:
The Mavericks are 4-4-1 so far this season, and 0-4 in the WCHA and are returning to WCHA play after competing in the Ice Breaker tournament in Boston this past weekend. The Mavericks went 1-0-1 in the tournament, and faced off against Robert Morris and Yale.

Against RMU, Kaydence Roeske started in net making 31 saves and allowing three goals. After falling behind 1-0, Anika Stromme scored her first collegiate goal off a shot from the point and Ayla Puppe scored four minutes later on the power play to make it 2-1. The Colonials would tie it up before Zoe Lopez and Puppe would score within a minute of each other stretching the MSU lead to two. Lucie Tenenbaum and Mercury Bischoff would both add empty-net goals to help the Mavericks win 6-3, and advance to the championship game.

In the championship game the Mavericks took on No. 14 Yale for the first time ever. It was a hard-fought game that eventually needed overtime and a shootout to determine a winner. Audrey Garton scored first, breaking away and potting a goal as a Maverick penalty expired, marking the first time the Mavericks have scored first this season. The Bulldogs would score the next three goals, building a 3-1 lead early into the third period. Makayla Moran would climb the Mavericks back within one as she went backhand to forehand, deking the goaltender and depositing the puck into an empty net.

Hailey Hansen, who made 25 saves, would eventually vacate the crease as MSU looked to find the tying goal in the final minutes, and they did just that. Lopez was able to dig a puck out of a net front scrum and tie the game up with 22 seconds left. After a scoreless overtime where both teams traded chances, Yale would win 2-1 in the shootout, winning the Ice Breaker Tournament.

After a successful 1-0-1 weekend at the Ice Breaker the Mavericks snuck in an extra game against No. 15 Boston College in their first meeting since 1998. It was a physical game throughout and was scoreless through the first. Jaya Schippel got the start making nine saves in the first, before making 19 more in the second, and finishing with 40 total. In the second period Ava Thomas would score on a redirected shot to put BC in front. MSU responded midway through the third period as Bischoff would grab a rebound off her own shot and score a wrap around goal to tie it up. Both teams remained scoreless as overtime was needed for a second straight game.

Overtime was controlled by the Mavericks as they put up seven shots in the first three minutes of the extra frame. Thomas would come within inches of winning the game for the Eagles, ringing a short side shot off the post and out before Sophie Stramel would gain possession of the puck, which eventually landed on the stick of Lopez who scored the overtime winner. The thrilling 2-1 win is the Mavericks first ranked win of the season.

Scouting St. Thomas:
The Tommies enter the weekend with a 3-5-0 record, and are 1-5-0 in the WCHA. They faced St. Cloud State last weekend and were swept. In the first game the Tommies would score the first two goals including a short-handed goal by Whitney Horton, building a 2-0 lead after the first period. The Huskies would rally for two straight, sending the game to OT where they would score the game winner, as St. Thomas fell 3-2 in OT. The second game of the series had just one goal, as the Huskies scored midway through the third period in a 1-0 shutout. Daniela Novakova made 27 saves in the loss for the Tommies.

On the season Horton and Cara Sajevic lead the team in scoring with eight points, while Chloe Boreen and Julianna Gazdik both have seven. Horton and Boreen are tied for the team lead with four goals. Gazdik has been excellent on the defensive end, blocking 19 shots this season.

Dani Strom has played a majority of the time in net, starting in seven games. She has posted a .899 save percentage and a 2.61 GAA while holding a 3-4 record.

All-Time vs. the Tommies:
The Mavericks lead the all-time series 16-6 but the last 10 meeting have been dead even at 5-5. Last year MSU won three of the four matchups, splitting at home and sweeping the road series. In the last meeting MSU won 4-3 getting goals from Puppe, Stramel, and Bischoff, the Tommies scored with eight seconds left to send the game to OT and Kianna Roeske ended the game with her OT goal. Since St. Thomas made the jump to Division I the Mavericks lead the series 15-6, with their only other meeting coming in 1999. MSU is 8-3 at home and 8-2 on the road, while losing the only neutral site game.