Mavericks 2, Huskies 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Playoff atmosphere: The official attendance was 2,672 on Friday, which isn't a huge crowd. Again, it doesn't help when the students are on spring break. However, with a nice contingent of Tech fans in Mankato, including the school's pep band, which had a cool battle of the bands with the Maverick Machine during pregame, the game felt like a playoff game. That continued to be the case during the close, 2-1 game in which both goaltenders played well and neither team gave up a lot.

2. Third line comes through (again): The game was scoreless until 1:34 remained in the second period. That's when Mavericks freshman center Jared Spooner scored his fourth goal and 19th point of the season. Spooner fired on goal as he skated into the offensive zone while his linemates, including Nick Rivera, who assisted on the goal, went off for a change. Spooner and Rivera each had four points in last weekend's playoff series against Alaska.

3. Almost penalty-free: There were just two penalties called in the game, although it certainly seemed like some whistles were being swallowed late. The Mavericks killed off their penalty and scored on their power play, with Jake Jaremko finishing off a nice play with Parker Tuomie at 1:22 of the second period for a 2-0 lead. "I don't think we've played in game up until this point where there were only two penalties," coach Mike Hastings said. "To be able to make that count and find a way to extend a lead is really important."

Read my game story here.

In Friday's other WCHA semifinal game, Northern Michigan defeated Bowling Green 6-1 to take a 1-0 lead in that series.

Live: MSU vs. Michigan Tech, Game 1

The No. 3 Mavericks and the Huskies will play Game 1 of their best-of-three WCHA playoff semifinal series at 7:07 p.m. tonight at the Verizon Center. Follow along with the action below tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE
20-Michaelis, 15-Suess, 6-Tuomie
16-Lutz, 5-Jaremko, 10-Knutson
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 19-McClure
22-Gerads, 26-French, 12-Coatta

8-Brickley, 18-Scheid
2-Mackey, 25-Zmolek
4-Lewis, 24-Hookenson

37-LaCouvee
39-Pawloski
29-Nelson

Scratches: Bigelbach, Cooper, Duehr, Gerard, McNeely, Schwalbe, Vanko

MICHIGAN TECH
14-Gould, 11-L'Esperance, 15-Lucchini
18-Reitmeier, 8-Steman, 17-Misiak
28-Baltus, 20-Smith, 10-Jackson
23-Brice, 16-Blacklock, 13-Beretta

6-Watson, Birks
12-Auk, 27-Meek
2-Donohue, 5-Reinke

31-Kero
30-Munson
35-Beydoun

****

Friday Morning Skate

It's WCHA semifinal weekend and the No. 3 Mavericks are hosting Michigan Tech in a best-of-three series at the Verizon Center. Should be a good one.

Minnesota State had nine players on the WCHA's all-conference team. That alone shows you how deep they are. However, they go even deeper than that, which might be the key to any postseason success they have this year.

This series is a rematch of last year's semifinals, which the Huskies won in Houghton. And looking over that roster, even though they have just one all-league player, there are a lot of familiar names there. Read about that and more in my College Hockey Gameday.

The other semifinal will between Northern Michigan and Bowling Green in Marquette, Mich. The Mining Journal has a preview. The Falcons hope they can redeem themselves after getting swept by the Wildcats in mid-January.

USCHO previews the WCHA semifinals here, and College Hockey News previews them here. CHN also has a story about Bowling Green's quest to win a WCHA championship.

Nine Mavericks make All-WCHA

Nine Minnesota State players were named All-WCHA on Thursday, with senior forward C.J. Suess and sophomore forward Marc Michaelis getting named to the first team.

Defenseman Daniel Brickley made the second team, while forward Zeb Knutson, defenseman Ian Scheid and goaltender Connor LaCouvee all made the third team. Forwards Jake Jaremko and Reggie Lutz and defenseman Connor Mackey were all named to the all-rookie team.

Here are the All-WCHA teams:

FIRST TEAM

F-C.J. Suess, Minnesota State

F-Marc Michaelis, Minnesota State

F-Troy Loggins, Northern Micihgan

D-Zach Frye, Alaska

D-Alec Rauhauser, Bowling Green

G-Atte Tolvanen, Northern Michigan

SECOND TEAM

F-Mitch McLain, Bowling Green

F-Adam Rockwood, Northern Michigan

F-Josh Kestner, Alabama Huntsville

D-Daniel Brickley, Minnesota State

D-Philip Beaulieu, Northern Michigan

G-Michael Bitzer, Bemidji State

THIRD TEAM

F-Zeb Knutson, Minnesota State

F-Darien Craighead, Northern Michigan

F-Robbie Payne, Northern Michigan

D-Ian Scheid, Minnesota State

D-Ryker Killins, Ferris State*

D-Mitch Reinke, Michigan Tech*

G-Connor LaCouvee, Minnesota State

ROOKIE TEAM

F-Jake Jaremko, Minnesota State

F-Brandon Kruse, Bowling Green

F-Steven Jandric, Alaska*

F-Max Johnson, Bowling Green*

F-Reggie Lutz, Minnesota State*

D-Connor Mackey, Minnesota State

D-Eric Sinclair, Alaska Anchorage

G-Eric Dop, Bowling Green

* denotes tie

LaCouvee named Richter semifinalist

Minnesota State senior goaltender Connor LaCouvee was named as a one of t10en semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award which honors the most outstanding goaltender in men's college hockey.

LaCouvee leads the nation in wins with 22. He is 22-3-1 with a .917 save percentage and a 1.75 goals-against average.

The other semifinalists include Cornell's Matthew Galajda, St. Cloud State's David Hrenak, Denver's Tanner Jaillet, Clarkson's Jake Kielly, Notre Dame's Cale Morris, Colgate's Colton Point, Northeastern's Cayden Primeau, Ohio State's Sean Romeo and Minnesota Duluth's Hunter Shepard.

Let's Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation are co-sponsors of the fifth-annual award. The five finalists will be announced on Thursday, March 22, with the winner presented on Friday, April 6 at the Frozen Four in St. Paul.

Busy Monday

Here are few items of note from Minnesota State today ...

WCHA recognizes Spooner
Mavericks freshman forward Jared Spooner had four assists and was plus-6 last weekend against Alaska, earning himself WCHA Rookie of the Week honors. The Bismarck, N.D., native had three assists on Friday and one on Saturday. This was his first weekly honor of the season.

Other WCHA award winners were: Northern Michigan junior Troy Loggins (offensive) and sophomore Philip Beaulieu (defensive) and Bowling Green sophomore Ryan Bernard (goaltender).

Mavs stay at third
Despite slipping a spot to fifth in the Pairwise rankings, MSU stayed at No. 3 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey polls this week.

Ticket info
Minnesota State announced ticket information for this weekend's WCHA semifinal games against Michigan Tech:

Season ticket holders can get their normal seat location between now and noon Wednesday. They can get a special package rate of $36 for Friday and Saturday with Sunday's game included in the price if necessary. They can also purchase their tickets, as well as additional tickets, online. After noon Wednesday, remaining open season-ticket seats will be opened up for sale to the general public.

Single-game tickets are also available now. They are $20 for adults and $12 for youth at the Verizon Center box office and through Ticketmaster. Student tickets are available for $5 at the MSU athletics office.

Mavericks to face Huskies in WCHA semis

Minnesota State will host Michigan Tech in the semifinals of the WCHA playoffs starting Friday at the Verizon Center.

The top-seeded Mavericks found out their fate after second-place Northern Michigan defeated Alabama Huntsville 5-2 on Sunday in Marquette, Michigan, to avoid an upset and win that quarterfinal series 2-1.

“We’ll see who it is,” Hastings said on Saturday night after the Mavericks swept Alaska. “Guys need a day off to get rested. The guys did a good job of taking care of their business, and now we just gotta stay focused on recovery and preparation once we find out who we’re playing.”

That will be the Huskies, whom the Mavericks faced just once this season, back on Oct. 27-28 in Mankato. Minnesota State swept that series, winning 3-1 and 5-3.

Michigan Tech, the playoffs' fifth seed advanced to the semfinals after sweeping fourth-seeded Bemidji State in Bemidji on Friday and Saturday.

Northern Michigan, meanwhile, will host third-seeded Bowling Green in the other WCHA semifinal.

The semifinals are another best-of-three-games series. The two winners will play a single championship game for the Jeff Sauer Trophy on Saturday, March 17, at the home of the higher seed.