Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...
1. First loss: The Mavericks are 3-1 after the first four games of the season, sweeping Boston University and splitting at North Dakota. That's probably a record most would be happy with after seeing those blue bloods on the schedule. "I’m proud of our group," coach Mike Hastings said. "We came into a pretty tough place and won a game and had an opportunity to do the same on Saturday." The Mavericks definitely could be 4-0 or 3-0-1. A rookie mistake by freshman goalie Dryden McKay with the puck behind the net led to the Fighting Hawks' game-winning goal.
2. Another Coatta: Max Coatta had a goal and an assist for a five-point weekend. He made a nice pass through traffic to set up freshman forward Julian Napravnik's first collegiate goal and later scored his third power-play goal of the weekend, which tied the game at 2-all after North Dakota jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Coatta now has six points, which is tied for the team lead with Marc Michaelis and Parker Tuomie, who was held off the score sheet for the first time this season.
3. Another buzzer beater: For the second Saturday in a row, the Mavericks beat the clock for a goal as the second period wound down. This time it was Marc Michaelis, who scored a short-handed breakaway with 0.4 seconds remaining to tie the game at 3-all. It was Michaelis' third goal of the season but the first that wasn't an empty-netter. The Mavericks weren't able to grab momentum from the goal and grab the lead in the third period, instead, giving up a goal, Cole Smith's second of the game.
Read my game story here.
Around the WCHA: Mercyhurst 3, Ferris State 1 ... St. Cloud State 5, Northern Michigan 0 ... Arizona State 5, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Alaska 3, Denver 3 (OT)
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Live: Minnesota State vs. North Dakota
The Mavericks will go for the series sweep against the Fighting Hawks, starting at 7:07 p.m. at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Follow along with the action below tonight's lines:
MINNESOTA STATE
20-Michaelis, 6-Tuomie, 9-Gerard
16-Lutz, 5-Jaremko, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 10-McMahan
22-Gerads, 26-French, 15-Napravnik
2-Mackey, 3-McNeely
25-Zmolek, 24-Hookenson
7-Aamodt, 18-Scheid
4-Carroll
29-McKay
32-Israelsson
Scratches: Bigelbach, Duehr, Galambos, Schwalbe, Vanko
NORTH DAKOTA
29-Kawaguchi, 8-Jones, 18-Adams
25-Janatuinen, 22-Gardner, 9-Bowen
7-Yon, 14-Weatherby, 16-Mismash
27-Hoff, 19-Senden, 26-Smith
28-Shaw, 6-Poolman,
3-Kiersted, 24-Bernard-Docker
17-Tychonick, 2 Bast
21-Keane
31-Scheel
1-Thome
25-Anderson
***
16-Lutz, 5-Jaremko, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 10-McMahan
22-Gerads, 26-French, 15-Napravnik
2-Mackey, 3-McNeely
25-Zmolek, 24-Hookenson
7-Aamodt, 18-Scheid
4-Carroll
29-McKay
32-Israelsson
Scratches: Bigelbach, Duehr, Galambos, Schwalbe, Vanko
NORTH DAKOTA
29-Kawaguchi, 8-Jones, 18-Adams
25-Janatuinen, 22-Gardner, 9-Bowen
7-Yon, 14-Weatherby, 16-Mismash
27-Hoff, 19-Senden, 26-Smith
28-Shaw, 6-Poolman,
3-Kiersted, 24-Bernard-Docker
17-Tychonick, 2 Bast
21-Keane
31-Scheel
1-Thome
25-Anderson
***
Friday, October 19, 2018
Mavericks 7, Fighting Hawks 4
Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...
1. Another wild game: The Mavericks are 3-0, and all three victories were an adventure with the back-and-forth games last weekend in Mankato against Boston University and tonight's wild win in Grand Forks against North Dakota. Against the Fighting Hawks, Minnesota State was outshot 38-21 and gave up two power-play goals, but made more than enough plays, including two power-play goals of their own, to get another big nonconference victory. A four-goal second period all but put the game away, giving the Mavericks a 6-4 lead heading into the third (although they were up 6-3 before giving up a late one).
2. Making plays: Senior forward Max Coatta got the unlikely hat trick (read more about him in the link below), which included his first two career power-play goals, looking very much like a player who should have had more than 16 goals in his first three seasons. It was his second career hat trick. He also had one last November in an 8-6 victory at Bemidji State. Parker Tuomie continued his stellar pace to start the season, adding two goals (he now has four goals and six points in three games).
3. Streak buster: The victory was Minnesota State's first in Grand Forks since March 10, 2006, an overtime victory in Game 1 of a WCHA playoff series (Rob Rankin scored the game-winner). The Mavericks then went 0-11-1 in 12 games after that. Of course, Friday's game was also MSU's first at The Ralph since the final regular-season games of the 2011-12 season (Troy Jutting's last season as coach). North Dakota will look to break its own streak on Saturday, as it has started the season 0-2-1.
Read my game story here.
Around the WCHA: Ferris State 5, Mercyhurst 2 ... St. Cloud State 4, Northern Michigan 1 ... Arizona State 2, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Denver 4, Alaska 1
1. Another wild game: The Mavericks are 3-0, and all three victories were an adventure with the back-and-forth games last weekend in Mankato against Boston University and tonight's wild win in Grand Forks against North Dakota. Against the Fighting Hawks, Minnesota State was outshot 38-21 and gave up two power-play goals, but made more than enough plays, including two power-play goals of their own, to get another big nonconference victory. A four-goal second period all but put the game away, giving the Mavericks a 6-4 lead heading into the third (although they were up 6-3 before giving up a late one).
2. Making plays: Senior forward Max Coatta got the unlikely hat trick (read more about him in the link below), which included his first two career power-play goals, looking very much like a player who should have had more than 16 goals in his first three seasons. It was his second career hat trick. He also had one last November in an 8-6 victory at Bemidji State. Parker Tuomie continued his stellar pace to start the season, adding two goals (he now has four goals and six points in three games).
3. Streak buster: The victory was Minnesota State's first in Grand Forks since March 10, 2006, an overtime victory in Game 1 of a WCHA playoff series (Rob Rankin scored the game-winner). The Mavericks then went 0-11-1 in 12 games after that. Of course, Friday's game was also MSU's first at The Ralph since the final regular-season games of the 2011-12 season (Troy Jutting's last season as coach). North Dakota will look to break its own streak on Saturday, as it has started the season 0-2-1.
Read my game story here.
Around the WCHA: Ferris State 5, Mercyhurst 2 ... St. Cloud State 4, Northern Michigan 1 ... Arizona State 2, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Denver 4, Alaska 1
Live: Minnesota State at North Dakota
No. 7 Minnesota State and No. 16 North Dakota are renewing their old WCHA rivalry tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. Follow along with the action on the live chat below tonight's lines.
MINNESOTA STATE
20-Michaelis, 6-Tuomie, 9-GerardMINNESOTA STATE
16-Lutz, 5-Jaremko, 12-Coatta
23-Rivera, 11-Spooner, 10-McMahan
22-Gerads, 26-French, 17-Duehr
2-Mackey, 3-McNeely
25-Zmolek, 24-Hookenson
7-Aamodt, 18-Scheid
4-Carroll
29-McKay
32-Israelsson
Scratches: Bigelbach, Galambos, Napravnik, Schwalbe, Vanko
NORTH DAKOTA
29-Kawaguchi, 8-Jones, 16-Mismash
14-Weatherby, 22-Gardner, 18-Adams
25-Janatuinen, 27-Hoff, 9-Bowen
26-Smith, 19-Senden, 7-Yon
6-Poolman, 24-Bernard-Docker
28-Shaw, 2-Bast
3-Kiersted, 4-Peski
17-Tychonick
1-Thome
31-Scheel
25-Anderson
***
Friday Morning Skate
Minnesota State and North Dakota are meeting again at long last this weekend in Grand Forks. It will be their first games against each other since 2013 and their first at UND since 2012.
The series is part of a challenging nonconference schedule for the Mavericks, one that includes Boston University, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth as well. But that's the kind of schedule MSU wants to have in order to progress as a program, coach Mike Hastings says.
The Mavericks also have put themselves in a position where they're no longer an underdog against these teams.
Read more about the series in the Freep's College Hockey Gameday.
As always, Brad Schlossman at the Grand Forks Herald has excellent coverage. Today, he takes a look at the Mavericks coaching staff, all of whom hail from that newspaper's coverage area: Section 8 country in northwest Minnesota. He also has a video preview of the weekend.
Earlier, Schloss did a a three-part series on the formation of the NCHC, the conference North Dakota left the WCHA for. Read Part I, Part II and Part III.
Going around the WCHA slate this weekend, MSU-UND won't be the only WCHA-NCHC matchup. There are three others ...
Northern Michigan goes to St. Cloud State for what should be another good, early season test for the Wildcats.
Alaska goes to Denver, a series in which the two coaching staffs have close ties.
On Tuesday, fast-starting Bowling Green will host Western Michigan to finish off a series that began with a BG win on Oct. 9 in Kalamazoo.
Other WCHA games this weekend include Ferris State hosts Mercyhurst, and Alabama Huntsville hosts Arizona State.
The series is part of a challenging nonconference schedule for the Mavericks, one that includes Boston University, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth as well. But that's the kind of schedule MSU wants to have in order to progress as a program, coach Mike Hastings says.
The Mavericks also have put themselves in a position where they're no longer an underdog against these teams.
Read more about the series in the Freep's College Hockey Gameday.
As always, Brad Schlossman at the Grand Forks Herald has excellent coverage. Today, he takes a look at the Mavericks coaching staff, all of whom hail from that newspaper's coverage area: Section 8 country in northwest Minnesota. He also has a video preview of the weekend.
Earlier, Schloss did a a three-part series on the formation of the NCHC, the conference North Dakota left the WCHA for. Read Part I, Part II and Part III.
Going around the WCHA slate this weekend, MSU-UND won't be the only WCHA-NCHC matchup. There are three others ...
Northern Michigan goes to St. Cloud State for what should be another good, early season test for the Wildcats.
Alaska goes to Denver, a series in which the two coaching staffs have close ties.
On Tuesday, fast-starting Bowling Green will host Western Michigan to finish off a series that began with a BG win on Oct. 9 in Kalamazoo.
Other WCHA games this weekend include Ferris State hosts Mercyhurst, and Alabama Huntsville hosts Arizona State.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Rankings rise and conference accolades
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| Photo by Jackson Forderer |
Meanwhile, the Mavericks got a couple of WCHA weekly awards after their two wins, with defenseman Riese Zmolek and goaltender Dryden McKay taking Defenseman of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Zmolek had a goal and two assists, blocked five shots and was plus-3 for the weekend. McKay stopped 49 of 55 shots and became the first freshman goalie to start and win in MSU's opening game since Ken Higert in 1984. You can read more about McKay's weekend here.
Finally, my Tuesday column can be found here. This week's topic: MSU's sweep was no upset, just a good early season test between two good teams.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Mavericks 5, Terriers 3
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| Photo by Jackson Forderer |
1. Last-second Charlie: Most of my gamer (link below) focuses on the game-changing goal scored by junior forward Charlie Gerard, but here's a little more info. Gerard was put on the top line tonight after Walker Duehr was scratched (coach's decision), and he came through by finishing off an all-important play set up beautifully by Parker Tuomie and Marc Michaelis. "Playing with Parker and Marc, those two guys are crazy when they're on the ice." Gerard played just 14 games last season, but had a goal and an assist at BU early in the year. The hope for him, of course, is to stay locked in the lineup this year.
2. Good in goal: It was another impressive performance for freshman goaltender Dryden McKay, who turned away 28 of 31 shots and really weathered the storm in the second period when BU scored three times. Not a softie in the bunch. Coach Mike Hastings said the decision to go with the rookie again was due to his performance on Friday. "I think Dryden McKaty showed he was really up to the task tonight," Hastings said. "That’s a very good hockey team: (Shane) Bowers, Bobo Carpenter, Dante Fabbro. They’ve got a good group over there. I can see how they’re going to give opposing coaches some heartburn."
3. Command performance: Saturday's attendance was 4,802, and it was a lively crowd that included a lot of MSU hockey alumni as the program was celebrating the start of its 50th season. The current team delivered the second of two big victories against a very good, nationally ranked and well-known opponent and did it again in entertaining fashion. Minnesota State, which will rise in the rankings on Monday, sure looks like it's a good team again this year as it's been throughout the Hastings era, but these two wins, considering the opponent and he crowd, were two of the more impressive regular-season home wins the Mavericks have had over that time.
Read my game story here.
Around the WCHA: Northern Michigan 4, Michigan State 3, Bemidji State 1, North Dakota 1 (OT) ... Western Michigan 5, Ferris State 0 ... Minnesota Duluth 5, Michigan Tech 2 ... Denver 6, Alabama Huntsville 0 ... St. Cloud State at Alaska (late)
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