Series Preview: at Minnesota State, Dec. 11-12

It’s been a rough month for the Chargers, who will try to get back in the win column and upset Minnesota State this weekend in Mankato.

The Mavericks, leaders in the WCHA and defending conference champions, are ranked No. 20 in this week’s USCHO.com poll.

Matchup history: Minnesota State leads the all-time series against UAH with a 25-19-5 record, and the Mavericks are 15-6-4 all-time against the Chargers in Mankato. MSU is undefeated in the last 16 meetings (14-0-2), with the last Charger win coming Jan. 4, 2002 in Huntsville. The last UAH win in Mankato was Oct. 16, 1999.

Your three goal scorers last Friday vs. NMU. (Photo by UAH Athletics/Doug Eagan)

Charger recap: UAH (3-9-2 overall, 2-8-2 WCHA) garnered one point at home against Northern Michigan. The Chargers lost Friday 4-3 and tied Saturday 1-1. The draw ended a seven-game losing streak.

On Friday, the Chargers got goals from Max McHugh, Chad Brears, and Jetlan Houcher and had a 3-2 lead after two periods. NMU rallied in the third for the win, with Dominik Shine finishing a hat trick with a penalty shot goal with 17 seconds left.

On Saturday, Frank Misuraca scored 2:00 into the third period to tie the game at 1-1, and Carmine Guerriero made it hold with 36 saves in a 1-1 tie.

After a three-point night on Friday, McHugh has the UAH scoring lead by himself with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 14 games, good for sixth in the WCHA. Brennan Saulnier had an assist Friday to up his point total to 12, and Brears had a goal and an assist over the weekend to join them in double-digit points (10).

Guerriero upped his save percentage to .903, which is shared by his fellow junior goaltender Matt Larose. Guerriero’s goals against is 2.75 while Larose is at 2.78. Guerriero has started nine games while Larose has started five.

	Tale of the tape (WCHA rank)
3-9-2 2-8-2 WCHA (10th)	Record	8-6-4 7-1-4 WCHA (1st)
2.57 (2nd)	Goals/game	2.22 (9th)
3.07 (9th)	Goals allowed/game	2.39 (5th)
15.2 (1st)	Pen. minutes/game	10.1 (9th)
13.3% (9th)	Power play	14.4% (8th)
81.8% (5th)	Penalty kill	84.1% (3rd)

About the Mavericks: Minnesota State (8-6-4 overall, 7-1-4 WCHA) is unbeaten in its last six games, although four have been ties, all on the road. Last week, the Mavericks had a pair of 2-2 draws at No. 14 Bowling Green in a battle of league title contenders. Still, MSU is 8-2-4 after an 0-4 start to the season.

The Mavericks are 2.22 goals per game overall, which is ninth in the WCHA, but are tops in scoring offense in conference games alone at 2.97. Seniors Teddy Blueger and Bryce Gervais are leaders for the Maverick offense, with Blueger having 15 points (with 11 asists) and Gervais having seven goals.

Casey Nelson has eight assists, 11 points, and a +8 rating among blueliners for MSU.

Freshman goaltender Jason Pawloski has been putting in some overtime in recent weeks, literally. He has started MSU’s last seven games, five of which have gone into overtime, and in all seven, he has allowed two goals or fewer. Pawloski is now second in the WCHA in goals against average at 1.75.

This week in the WCHA:

All times Central. Games featuring WCHA teams at home can be seen on WCHA.tv.

Friday, Dec. 11
UAH at #20 Minnesota State, 7:07 p.m.
Ferris State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State, 6:37 p.m.
#14 Bowling Green at Bemidji State, 7:37 p.m.
Alaska at Alaska Anchorage, 10:07 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 21
UAH at #20 Minnesota State, 7:07 p.m.
Ferris State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
#14 Bowling Green at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m.
Alaska at Alaska Anchorage, 10:07 p.m.