Men’s hockey handles Bowling Green on the road

Women’s hockey splits series against St. Cloud State at home

Mel Stramm
Staff Writer

The Mavericks men’s hockey team dominated on the road, taking on the Bowling Green Falcons in Ohio and the women split the series at home against the St. Cloud State Huskies over the weekend.

The men successfully extended their seven-game winning streak and are now 22-3-1 overall and 16-2-1 in the WCHA. 

Senior Charlie Gerard put the Mavericks on the scoreboard five minutes into the match, scoring his fifth power play goal of the season. 

Bowling Green then successfully shot past the Maverick defense, evening out the score halfway through the first period.

The second period saw a lot of action in the nets, with a total of five goals being scored. 

A give-and-goal between seniors Parker Tuomie and Marc Michaelis put the Mavs back in the lead six minutes into the period, however, not for long as the Falcons managed to score just seconds after the following face-off.

The Mavericks brought their signature aggressive shooting to the ice, which allowed for three more goals to be scored, including senior Josh French’s second goal of the season, sophomore Julian Napravnik’s seventh, and a backhanded marker by junior Riese Zmolek, sending MSU into the third with a confident 5-2 lead. 

Bowling Green attempted to cut down the Mavericks lead, scoring at the 11:03 minute mark, followed by emptying their net, but MSU captain Nick Rivera used this opportunity to score an empty net goal.

BGSU then made Saturday a more challenging match for the Mavericks, upping their defensive game and leaving the Mavericks trailing until the third period – eventually forcing the game to go into overtime. 

With junior Reggie Lutz in the box for hooking, the Falcons used their power play opportunity to score by the end of the first. 

Then in the following period with sophomore Wyatt Aamodt in the box, BGSU shot seven times at goaltender Dryden McKay within two minutes and were able to sneak one past him eventually, extending their lead 2-0 going into the third. 

It was Tuomie who fired the shot that put the Mavericks on the board at the 4:50 minute mark.

Sophomore Andy Carroll connected with French, who scored the game tying goal by the end of the third. 

Freshman Nathan Smith then netted the game winning goal three minutes into overtime, allowing for the Mavericks to sweep yet another series. 

McKay was able to make 23 saves on Friday and 21 on Saturday.

At home, the women’s hockey team beat the Huskies 5-3 on Friday, but fell short on Saturday allowing for St. Cloud’s first conference win of the season. 

MSU once again opened the scoring on Friday with a goal by senior McKenzie Sederberg, who went on to score again in the closing period. 

Eight minutes into the second, Tristen Truax shot it into the net for her first goal of the day and fifth of the season. She would also score again in the third. 

SCSU responded in the 12th minute, scoring two goals back-to-back, using their power play opportunity for the second one for the tie.

Kelsey King then put MSU back in the lead before the end of the second.

With Sederberg’s and Truax’s power play goal, the Mavericks established a dominant 5-2 lead before a lonely Huskies goal at the end of the third couldn’t shake. 

Sophomore Abigail Levy (4-8-2) collected her first win in net since Nov. 1, 2019, against Merrimack by making 17 saves.

The Mavericks played aggressively again on Saturday, out-shooting SCSU by a 41-to-16 margin, however they ended up falling short on goals. 

Despite two power play opportunities for MSU in the first period, it wasn’t until eight minutes into the second period that Mavericks winger Claire Butorac connected with Sederberg to score the opening goal. 

However, SCSU goaltender, Emma Polusny, did not let anything else go past her and with two Husky goals in the third, MSU took the 1-2 loss.

Both Mavericks hockey teams will take on in-state rival, Bemidji State, this weekend. The men’s team will be skating on home ice, while the women travel up north. 

Header photo: Members of the Minnesota State men’s hockey team huddles around the net before taking on Alaska Anchorage at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)