Mankato, Minnesota
Verizon Wireless Center, photo credit: wcha.com
With 3/5th of the Twin Cities population feeling under the weather, I figured that Friday night would be a good time to visit Mankato for some hockey. The Minnesota State Mavericks were hosting the Bowling Green Falcons. A meeting of the top two teams in the WCHA.
The Verizon Center ice sheet
The Verizon Center was built in 1995 and seats 5280. It’s a nice rink for college hockey, and the locals are really into their Mavericks.
The MSU Mavericks during warmups
The first period was pretty evenly played, with MSU taking a 1-0 lead into intermission on a goal by Michael Huntebrinker. SOG favored MSU 9-8.
The second period was all Minnesota State, as they extended their lead to 3-0.
In the third period, the Falcon’s John Schilling scored short handed & unassisted on a very pretty shot on a break-away. Not to be outdone, Bryce Gervais scored short-handed seven minutes later on an equally pretty shot. Gervais added another shorty just over a minute later to round out the scoring. Teddy Blueger assisted on both Gervais goals, as Gervais broke the school record for career SHG with 9.
A 5-1 Maverick win. Cole Huggins was rock solid in net for MSU and had 18 saves. Chris Nell had 16 for BGSU. The three stars of the game: Blueger with two assists; Max Coatta (MSU) a freshman from Minnetonka, MN with a goal and an assist; and Gervais with his three point night. Attendance was 3724.
