Michigan Tech defeated Minnesota State 3-2 Saturday. The Huskies, who took three of four games from the Mavericks this season, including two on opening weekend way back in October, led 3-0 and held off a late charge as the Mavericks got goals from Jason Wiley and Kael Mouillierat.
The night's most telling stat? Tech blocked 23 shots. Many of those were simply pucks shot and passed into players legs, skates and sticks.
"The rink's 100 feet wide, and a shin pad is only 8 inches wide," MSU coach Troy Jutting said. "Those are scoring opportunities, and then we've got a battle in front of the net."
The loss sent the Mavericks back to 11th place in the Pairwise rankings. They jumped up to a tie for eighth after Friday's win.
Now, MSU will host Minnesota in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, starting Friday. Minnesota State is hosting a first-round series for the first time since 2002-03, and Minnesota is on the road for the first round for the first time since 1999-2000.
Other matchups include Alaska-Anchorage at Colorado College, Michigan Tech at North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth at Denver and Wisconson at St. Cloud State.
9 comments:
YES!
The Mavs' loss forced me to pull for UND (of all the terrible things in life to have to admit) to strangle a tie from St. Cloud on Saturday night to get my dream matchup next weekend...
Here's hoping to a GREAT series! Hopefully, this matchup will set the tone for a more exciting relationship between these natural rivals.
Well you dream Scalet Gopher is going to be reality. Hey after next weekend you can put your gopher jersey away for the season like the rest of the team and cheer for the mavs as they make there way to there first national title. Since your a Gopher Fan do you also cheer for the NY Yankee's
Absolutely not.
I cheer for the Gophers because they are my alma mater. It's a good reason.
Side note: Correct spelling: Yankees, not 'Yankee's.'
I think it's a relevant point though: I dislike the Yankees because they spend more than my/our squad (the Twins) and are forced to take fewer risks. The Gophers hockey program has built up a reputation for playing hockey the right way and only recruiting kids from inside state lines. I think that's noble and makes my squad that much easier to root for.
I understand that the Mavs have fewer recruiting resources, but I think that's just the nature of the beast playing DI hockey in the Gophers' back yard. The Mavs are indeed what was 'left over.' That's why Mav fans make such a big deal about a fluky year when the Mavs really play well and put it together and the Gophers struggle. It's understandable, though.
Shane: I just bought 9 tickets in the fourth row on Ticketmaster. Is there really so little interest in the MSU hockey squad that people don't want to come out for this historic series? (I'd be proud to boast about this MSU-M team and show my support...)
That’s the problem with your program this year you have all MN guys. When you won the titles recently it wasn’t the case.
Deer Scarlet Gofer:
Thanks for looging on to this here web sight and four helping me and the othur folks down heer in Mankato with our gramer and speling and allso for helping us to undurstand why the gofers are still beter than the Mavericks this yeer with all them statistiks and stuff. Me and all my uther cusins down heer really apreciate the fact that big city folk like you can help us out lik that.
Yeah, that's what I meant...
Your right on the lack of support for the Mavs. However I just looked and tried on ticketmaster to get 2 tickets (which I already have) and it is showing standing room only.
I think each year the mavs continue to get more and more of a following. It's hard to compare the support when you are comparing schools like UND and the gophers which have had D-1 programs for much longer.
But look at college hockey country wide. It would be nice to see more of a following all over. From fans to the media. The only time ESPN shows score is during the Frozen Four.
By the way SG do you have a cape or a flag that you wear to games?
Well put, mavfan1. I really think that media outlets would be pleasantly surprised at the interest they could drum up if more college hockey was available on TV. I'd like to see Mankato, St. Cloud or UND on FSN when the Gophers are off or on the dreaded Big Ten Network.
For the record, I was unable to find tix on Ticketmaster for the Saturday game around 8:00 this evening. The tickets I found must have been returned.
No capes. Just because I love the Gophs doesn't mean I'm an idiot.
(I guess I'm leaving the door wide open there...)
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