Men’s hockey back home to play Bowling Green University

This weekend, the No. 8 Minnesota State University, Mankato men’s hockey team is set to play host to unranked Bowling Green University in its first conference matchup this season at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in downtown Mankato. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

The Mavericks sport a modest 3-3-0 overall record heading into this weekend’s contests after dropping two one-goal contests on the road last weekend at the hands of St. Cloud State. On the other side of the ice, the Falcons of Bowling Green enter with a 2-4-0 overall record after getting swept by Western Michigan.

Senior forward Sam Morton continues to impress so far this season as he leads the Mavericks with five goals and two assists for seven points through six games played. The Mavericks’ top defensive pairing of juniors Akito Hirose and Jake Livingstone have also put up impressive numbers, with a combined total of 11 pts through six games.

For Minnesota State, the goaltending situation has been a major storyline this season with the absence of Dryden McKay, and it seems clear that there still isn’t a starter to be named. Both sophomore Keenan Rancier and freshman Alex Tracy have gotten their time in the net, but there hasn’t been a standout at this point in the season.

Morton talked briefly regarding the Mavericks’ losses last weekend against the Huskies and how the team has been working heading into this weekend. “I think one thing we focused on especially this week in practice was owning the front of our net,” Morton explained.

“So that means owning the creases and five feet outside the front of our net. Making sure we don’t lose battles in front of our net and then winning the battles in front of their’s and really taking a lot of pride in that area of the ice.”

Minnesota State will start off its conference action with eight-straight series against conference opponents starting this weekend. With the Mavericks remaining as the only team in the CCHA being ranked heading into this weekend, coach Mike Hastings believes the last three series have prepared his team well for a date with the Falcons.

“I’m hoping that the first six has prepared us for the grind that we’re gonna go through in our league,” Hastings said. “If you look over the years at the history between us and Bowling Green, each team gets a piece of each other and there have been a lot of splits over the years. I think they’re gonna be hungry, just like we are.”

The Mavericks remain hungry to defend their home ice, something that the team has taken pride in over the years. And so far this season, Minnesota State remains perfect on home ice, and takes a convincing 12-5 all-time record on home-ice against Bowling Green heading into this weekend.

“You want teams to fear coming into our building,” Morton said. “If we can keep that reputation of being good at home, I think it’ll only benefit us. We obviously want to do well and take pride in defending our home ice.”

Header Photo: Men’s Hockey will be back at home the weekend against Bowling Green University this Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 6:07 p.m. at the Mayo Clinic Civic Center. (Dylan Engel/The Reporter)

Write to Karson Buelow at Karson.Buelow@mnsu.edu