Men’s hockey handles No. 15 Northern Michigan
The women’s hockey team upset the No. 1-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday
Mel Stramm
Staff Writer
The Minnesota State Mavericks hockey did it again this last weekend, sweeping the series against the Northern Michigan University.
MSU finished the Friday game with 7 points, but struggled to score in the game on Saturday.
Assisted by Charlie Gerard and Edward Hookenson, Reggie Lutz opened scoring on Friday only three minutes into the match.
With MSU’s Nick Rivera in the box, the Wildcats were able to score on a power play.
Just two minutes later and back to full strength, Jared Spooner successfully shot the puck past the NMU goalie for his first of a pair of goals of the day.
The second period then saw another two Maverick goals and one for Northern Michigan within three minutes, one of them being a short handed goal by Rivera. Gerard also scored.
In typical Maverick fashion, the third period was packed with fast action and goals.
First off, Dallas Gerards scored on a power play five minutes in to extend the lead to 5-2.
Northern Michigan responded with a goal of their own but the Wildcats were ultimately unable to stop the Mavericks.
Connor Mackey and Spooner then finished it off with two more goals for a beautiful 7-3 MSU win.
Saturday only saw one lonely goal by the Mavericks in the first period, also by Spooner, who ultimately finished the weekend with a total of three goals.
The Wildcats out-shot the Mavericks by a 22-21 margin, but could not manage to get even one puck past Dryden McKay. McKay is now the all-time school career leader with 12 shutouts at Minnesota State, breaking the previous record of 11 he shared with former Maverick netminder Cole Huggins (2013-2017).
The Mavericks, now with a 26-4-1 (20-3-0 WCHA) record, closed out the two-game league series, with a sweep of the Wildcats 16-10-4 (14-7-1 WCHA).
After next week’s off week, MSU will host the last regular season home series against Alabama Huntsville on Feb. 21-22.
The women’s team split the series against the University of Wisconsin Badgers, with a 1-5 loss on Friday and a 3-1 win on Saturday.
MSU struggled to score until the end of the second period, when junior center Brittyn Fleming fired a shot right into the opposing net.
The Mavericks were not able to score any further for the remainder of the game.
Saturday would then end the Mavericks’ 28-game losing streak against the Badgers.
MSU started out strong with two goals in the opening period.
At the 4:46 minute mark freshman blueliner Charlotte Akervik broke the seal and put the Mavericks on the scoreboard with her third goal of the season.
Only four minutes later, junior defenseman Tristen Truax collected a rebound off the opposing Badger goalie just to fire it right back past her.
Freshman winger Kelsey King then scored the last goal of the night for the 3-0 Maverick lead.
Despite outshooting the Mavericks by a 36-11 margin, the Badgers were only able to successfully shoot one goal in the third period on a power play. Freshman goalie Calla Frank made 35 saves throughout the game.
Next up, MSU will host the UMD Bulldogs in Mankato.
Header photo: Minnesota State forward Brittyn Fleming (19) controls the puck against Lindenwood at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)