Maverick men’s hockey aims for sweep over Chargers
Andrew Neururer
Sports Editor
Minnesota State Mavericks men’s hockey will travel to Alabama to take on conference opponent, Alabama Huntsville Chargers.
On the season, the Chargers are 0-4 and will be looking to pick up their first win. Alabama Huntsville played UMass Lowell in their first two games and lost by a combined score of 8-2. They then took on Omaha, where they lost by a combined score of 11-1.
When the Mavericks took on the Chargers last season, they won the first game 6-1 and the second 4-0. They would later meet in the WCHA First Round and won both of those games by a combined score of 7-1.
On the season, the No. 2 ranked Mavericks are 3-0-1 – coming off a series against North Dakota. MSU has had a lot of offense to start the season, already scoring 15 goals in four games.
Freshman Lucas Sowder is currently leading the team in points with seven, grabbing two goals and five assists.
The leading goal scorer is a familiar face for Maverick fans, senior Marc Michaelis is coming off a team-high 19 goals last season and is well on his way again this year with four.
Other point leaders are senior Ian Scheid and freshman Nathan Smith, who each have four points.
The game will be taking place Friday and Saturday night.
On the women’s side of things, they enter the weekend with a record 2-4-2 record.
The Mavericks haven’t had an easy last six games, going up against No. 2 ranked Minnesota and No. 9 ranked teams of Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State.
MSU matched up well last weekend with the high ranked Big 10 team of OSU, tying both games 1-1 and 3-3. The team hasn’t won since they opened the season against Rensselaer.
Things will get easier for the Mavericks as they travel up the road to take on the St. Cloud Huskies. On the season, St. Cloud is 2-4 and currently on a two-game losing streak.
Freshman Kelsey King comes into the weekend leading the team in points, all six of them coming from assists.
Following her is leading scorers junior Mariah Gardner and sophomore Claire Butorac, who have three goals each. Garnder has one more assist than Butorac, giving her the slight edge in points.
Goalies Abigail Levy and Calla Frank enter play with the same record of 1-2-1. However, Levy has the slight edge in save percentage with .922.
These games will take place Friday and Saturday afternoon in St. Cloud.
Header photo: Minnesota State forward Lucas Sowder (21) looks to score the puck during the third period of a hockey game against the University of North Dakota at the Mankato Civic Center Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)