Men’s hockey wins MacNaughton Cup, women’s season ends

Mel Stramm
Staff Writer

Last weekend, both Minnesota State Mavericks hockey teams hit the road as the men traveled to Bemidji for their last regular season game and the women took on the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first round of the WCHA Tournament. 

While the men were able to split the series and bring home the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA regular season champions, the women unfortunately cut their tournament participation short with a loss against the Buckeyes. 

Bemidji State was able to get the puck past sophomore Dryden McKay two times on Friday and only allowed MSU to score once. 

The goal came from senior Josh French, as he shot a snapshot from the left dot halfway through the third period. 

After pulling McKay for an extra attacker, BSU scored again on an empty net. 

Luckily, MSU was able to cash in a big win on Saturday, securing the Cup and their safe spot as a No. 1 seed going into the WCHA playoffs. 

With a goal in both the first and second and a pair of goals in the third, MSU brought their typical strength and fast play to the game. 

Senior Nick Rivera scored first, netting his 10th goal of the year. 

Next up was a goal for junior Riese Zmolek right before the end of the second period.

With an empty BSU goal, French scored at the 19:16 minute mark in the third, followed by an unassisted goal by junior Connor Mackey just seconds later.

Next weekend, the Mavericks return home for round one of the WCHA Playoffs, a best-of-three weekend series with Alaska Anchorage that starts Friday.

With a 5-1 and 1-0 loss on the road, the Mavericks women’s hockey team had their season come to an end. 

The lone goal of the day for MSU was scored by Freshman Kelsey King, four minutes into the third period. King now has six goals and 16 assists for 22 points on the season, with the assists and points totals leading all WCHA rookies.

Sophomore Abigail Levy (5-12-3) made 27 saves in the defeat to the Buckeyes.

On Saturday, MSU remained unable to score throughout the whole game, despite out-shooting the Gophers by a 33-20 margin.

Freshman Calla Frank (6-8-3) made 32 saves in the loss.

Header photo: Minnesota State defenseman Ian Scheid (18) shoots the puck during a game against the University of Alabama Huntsville at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Friday, Feb. 20, 2020 in Mankato, Minn. (Kjerstin Hall/MSU Reporter)