It's game day in Mankato, with MSU taking on UNO in the first leg of this year's Spirit of the Maverick Trophy series. While there has been some scrutiny about Minnesota State's defense and even goaltending of late, it has had trouble scoring, too, getting just two goals in each loss during the six-game losing streak.
I'll put the lines up later today, but coach Troy Jutting said Mike Zacharias will start in goal tonight after missing his first start in 49 games Tuesday at Yale.
Omaha, meanwhile, is off to its best start in program history. Last year, they broke MSU's 11-game unbeaten streak in the series. "We're definitely not getting Mankato at what you'd call an ideal time," coach Mike Kemp told the Omaha World-Herald. "I'm sure they're upset after not having any success out East, and I know they're going to be very hungry to get things turned around back on their own rink."
In other WCHA news ...
Minnesota defeated Brown Friday night, but the Gophers' bigger concern is the health of coach Don Lucia, who missed the game with an undisclosed illness.
North Dakota squeaked by Bemidji State to improve to 10-10-1. Denver advanced to the championship of the Denver Cup, but Friday's 3-2 shootout win over Holy Cross technically goes down as a tie. Wisconsin wasn't quite so fortunate, as it had its seven-game unbeaten streak snapped by Northern Michigan. Duluth defeated UMass.-Lowell 2-1 at the Shillelagh Tournament near Chicago. Perhaps the best part of that story is the Bulldogs' chance to go see Thursday's NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Senior Matt Greer wrote an account of the exprience for the Duluth for the Duluth News-Tribune.
PucKato got to see an outstanding women's hockey game Friday between the sixth-ranked Gustavus Adolphus women's team and No. 1 Amherst. The Gusties looked like the top-ranked team in the country, though, with a 3-0 win over the Lord Jeffs. Gustavus outshot Amherst 37-17, including a dominant 22-2 advantage in the second period.
On Thursday, the Freep had a story about ex-Mankato West and future Minnesota State forward Corey Leivermann, who is playing for Fargo of the United States Hockey League. The story was written before the Force's game Wednesday night. Leivermann scored two goals on New Year's Eve and had an assist on Friday. Both were wins. By the way, former Scarlets goalie Tyler Bruggeman was on the road trip and dressed for both games but did not play.
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