Freddy's three thoughts ...
1. Goalie split: Minnesota State lost and won at Michigan Tech, playing on Sunday and Monday. The Mavericks outshot the Huskies 81-43 in the series but had trouble solving goaltender Blake Pietila throughout. Pietila made 43 saves in Game 1 and won 3-1. He didn't allow a goal until Dallas Gerads' extra-attacker goal with 1:16 remaining. On Monday, Pietila made 35 saves, but the Mavericks (2-1-0) got two pucks by him in the second period, enough for Dryden McKay to earn a 19-save shutout victory. It was McKay's second shutout of the young season and the 16th of his college career.
2. New faces: Todd Burgess and Cade Borchardt each scored his first goal in an MSU uniform on Monday. Burgess is a graduate transfer from RPI. He has played on the Mavericks' most-productive line thus far with Jake Jaremko and Reggie Lutz. The Ottawa Senators draft pick, who has three points in three games, now has 23 collegiate goals. Borchardt, meanwhile, played in just 10 games as a rookie last season but has played in all three this year, earning a spot vacated by the departure of four graduated seniors.
3. Up next: Minnesota State announced on Monday that it has found an opponent for next weekend and will host Milwaukee School of Engineering, a Division III team, on Saturday and Sunday. A few WCHA teams have played D-III opponents thus far to fill some dates in this unusual schedule. MSU really has no one to play outside of its league, with its closest foes from the Big Ten and NCHC currently not playing out-of-conference competition. St. Thomas, which will be D-I and in the CCHA with the Mavericks next season, won't begin play until January at the earliest.
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