Live coverage: MSU at Tech, Game 2

The Mavericks look to keep their season alive when they face the Huskies in the second game of their WCHA playoff semifinal series. Michigan Tech won Friday's opener 5-1 and can close out MSU with a win tonight. If Minnesota State wins, a decisive third game will be played Sunday night. Follow the action below tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE

20-Michaelis, 15-Franklin, 10-Knutson
6-Tuomie, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
23-Rivera, 16-Nelson, 12-Coatta
9-Gerard, 26-French, 27-Schwalbe

11-Flanagan, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 18-Scheid
4-Lewis, 24-Hookenson

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Madry, A. Nelson, Stepan, Vanko

MICHIGAN TECH

10-Jackson, 25-Neville, 7-Sturos
9-Gillies, 20-Smith, 11-L'Esperance
27-Heinonen, 15-Lucchini, 6-Leibinger
14-Gould, 16-Blacklock, 13-Beretta

2-Watson, 5-Reinke
22-Hanna, 3-Roy
12-Auk, 4-Birks

37-Redmond
35-Wintjes
31-Kero

Gusties make D3 women's Frozen Four

The Gustavus Adolphus women's hockey team upset No. 3-ranked Wisconsin River Falls on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the Frozen Four.

Katilyn Kline's power-play goal with 3:53 remaining in the third period broke a tie game and led to the Gusties' 3-2 win. It was Gustavus' second goal of the period. River Falls, which had beaten the Gusties twice in December, had taken a 2-1 lead early in the third.

The Falcons outshot the Gusties 40-20, but goaltender Amanda DiNella, made a career-high 38 saves.

Allie Lewis and Kristen Cash had the other goals for Gustavus, which was playing in its first NCAA tournament since 2013.

Gustavus (18-6-3) will face Adrian (27-2-0) on Friday at Adrian, Mich. Plattsburgh State (26-1-1) and Norwich (23-5-1) will play in the earlier semifinal.

Huskies 5, Mavericks 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. First, the good news: Under the old, Final Five format, the semifinals were a one-game, single-elimination affair. But now it's a best-of-three series, so the Mavericks aren't done yet. They have a chance to get back in this thing. They'll have to win two in a row in hostile territory, though. "Our start will be important, the way we come out" defenseman Carter Foguth said. "If we can get ahead or get some momentum going, that may give us an advantage. We have to take care of our chances tomorrow."

2. Tough third period: Things snowballed on the Mavericks in the third period. It was a tight, 1-1 game up until then. Reid Sturos partial breakaway broke the stalemate, and, as coach Mike Hastings said, the Mavericks didn't really punch back. Jake Jackson made it 3-1 just 3:24 later and, "all of a sudden the hill starts to look a little steeper," Hastings said. A Gavin Gould breakaway and a length-of-the-ice penalty-kill clear into an empty net with 4:40 to play finished things off.

3. Best players, step forward: Hastings mentioned that his team's "horses" need "to run a little bit more than they did tonight. Our best players probably have to be a little bit better." Indeed, the top line of C.J. Franklin, Marc Michaelis and Zeb Knutson was -3 as a group and had just five shots on goal, four by Knutson. Brad McClure got off just two shots and was -1. Defenseman Daniel Brickley was also -3.

Read my game story here.


Meanwhile in Bemidji, Bowling Green won the first game of the series in overtime with the Falcons' Kevin Dufour completing his hat trick in OT. The Beavers now are in the same boat as the Mavericks, needing to win Saturday night to keep their season alive.

Live coverage: MSU at Michigan Tech, WCHA semifinals

The Mavericks and the Huskies will begin the semifinal round of the WCHA playoffs at 6:07 p.m. today in Houghton, Mich. The winner of the best-of-three series will move on to next week's league championship game. Follow along with the action below tonight's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE

20-Michaelis, 15-Franklin, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
6-Tuomie, 16-Nelson, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 26-French, 9-Gerard

11-Flanagan, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 18-Scheid
4-Lewis, 24-Hookenson

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Madry, A. Nelson, Schwalbe, Manko

MICHIGAN TECH

10-Jackson, 25-Neville, 7-Sturos
9-Gillies, 20-Smith, 11-L'Esperance
27-Heinonen, 15-Lucchini, 6-Leibinger
14-Gould, 16-Blacklock, 13-Beretta

2-Watson, 5-Reinke
22-Hanna, 3-Roy
12-Auk, 4-Birks

37-Redmond
35-Wintjes
31-Kero

Friday Morning Skate

It's semifinal weekend in the WCHA, and Minnesota State is in Houghton to take on Michigan Tech in the best-of-three series. The Mavericks are hoping to get through this weekend and into the Broadmoor Trophy title game for the fourth year in a row. They won two the first two they played in and then lost one, which still stings a bit, captain Carter Foguth said this week.

Minnesota State and Tech are pretty similar teams, Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said in this week's College Hockey Gameday. Hastings also said: "There are not a lot of differences from this standpoint: Their best players are playing very well. They're getting very good goaltending and special teams. ... Their depth; it's not just one guy. They've got four lines and six defensemen, and if you focus on one line or one defenseman or one pair of defensemen, you're going to lose some of the others."

One sign of the Huskies' depth is the recent emergence of senior forward Reid Sturos, who has six points in his last three games and is tied for the team's scoring lead.

It is strange — and yet another reminder of what once was — that there's not a Final Five this weekend. The winner of the Minnesota State-Michigan Tech series will face the winner of the Bemidji State-Bowling Green taking place in Bemidji.

The Beavers are known for their defense, which starts with All-WCHA goaltender Michael Bitzer. But the players in front of him are impressive, too. One of the unheralded pairs of defensemen on the team is that of Dan Billett and Tommy Muck.

As for the Falcons, they have a special defenseman in Sean Walker. Also, their special teams are playing well right now.

Staying on the subject of special teams, USCHO's preview of the semifinal weekend focuses on them. College Hockey News also previews the weekend.

Outside of the WCHA, the Gustavus Adolphus women's team is in the NCAA tournament, something it was hoping for after getting upset in the semifinals of the MIAC tournament. The Gusties practiced for a week, not knowing if it was preparing for anything. It was, and they'll play at No. 3 Wisconsin-River Falls tonight.

Five Mavericks make All-WCHA

Minnesota State players were selected for the 2016-17 All-WCHA teams, including forward Marc Michaelis and defenseman Daniel Brickley, who were First Team picks.

Michaelis, a freshman, is the WCHA’s top overall scorer with 36 points and was second in conference play with 28 this season. He was also chosen for the WCHA's Rookie Team. Brickely, a sophomore, leads all league defensemen in scoring with 30 points.

Mavericks junior forwards C.J. Franklin and Brad McClure earned spots on the Second Team and Third Team, respectively. They have 31 and 28 points, respectively, which rank sixth and 10th in the conference. Ian Scheid, the top-scoring freshman defenseman in the WCHA with 23 points, joined Michaelis on the Rookie Team.

Here are the All-WCHA teams:

First Team: Forwards—Gerald Mayhew, Ferris State; Mitch McLain, Bowling Green; Marc Michaelis, Minnesota State. Defensemen—Daniel Brickley, Minnesota State; Matt Roy, Michigan Tech. Goaltender—Michael Bitzer, Bemidji State.

Second Team: Forwards—C.J. Franklin, Minnesota State; Mitch Hults, Lake Superior State; Phillip Marinaccio, Bemidji State; Corey Mackin, Ferris State. Defensemen—Shane Hanna, Michigan Tech; Sean Walker, Bowling Green. Goaltender—Atte Tolvanen, Northern Michigan.

Third Team: Forwards—Brad McClure, Minnesota State; Dominik Shine, Northern Michigan; Gerry Fitzgerald, Bemidji State. Defensemen—Mark Friedman, Bowling Green; Kurt Gosselin, Alabama Huntsville. Goaltender: Justin Kapelmaster, Ferris State.

Rookie Team: Forwards—Marc Michaelis, Minnesota State; Darien Craighead, Northern Michigan; Max Humitz, Lake Superior State. Defensemen: Ian Scheid, Minnesota State; Alec Rauhauser, Bowling Green; Mitch Reinke, Michigan Tech; Zach Whitecloud, Bemidji State. Goaltender—Angus Redmond, Michigan Tech.

The WCHA’s individual award winners will be announced next week.

Mavericks get two commitments

Minnesota State recently received two verbal commitments from recruits, including a native of Germany who eventually will join his fellow countrymen and former teammates Marc Michaelis and Tuomie, with the Mavericks.

Julian Napravnik is a skilled forward with the Des Moines Buccaneers from Bad Nauheim, Germany who played with Michaelis and Tuomie with Jungadler Mannheim.

“(The Mavericks) have dynamic players already, and they’re getting another one in (Napravnik),” Buccaneers coach Nate Weossner said in a press release. “He’s the type of kid that can be a game changer at any time; he’s the kind of guy that you gotta watch out for because he’ll make a play at any second. I think he’s just going to be a good fit for them.”

The 5-foot-11 Napravnik has 16 goals and 31 points in 42 games for Des Moines this season. The 19-year-old is in his first year in the USHL.

The Mavericks also received a commitment from 17-year-old defenseman Tony Malinowski of the Oakland Junior Grizzlies AAA team in Michigan. The 6-3, 185-pounder, has 18 points in 32 games this season. He is a native of Clarkston, Michigan.

Meanwhile, Mankato native Tyler Jutting, the son on former Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting, has committed to play hockey at Air Force, he tweeted last week.

Tyler Jutting played two seasons at Mankato West until moving to Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault. Currently, the 6-4, 203-pound defenseman plays junior hockey for the West Kelowna Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League.