SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 17 Augustana hockey team (16-7-3, 8-3-1 CCHA) hits the roads for a weekend series against No. 15 Minnesota State (18-8-2, 13-5-2 CCHA) in a battle between the number one and two in the CCHA standings. 

About The Game
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the app store or Google Play.

The series starts on Friday at 7:07 p.m. and concludes on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. The games will be streamed on MidcoSportsPlus.

Series History
Augustana played Minnesota State to a 1-0-1 record last season on home ice as the Vikings tied the Mavericks 3-3 on Jan 5, 2024, and fell 2-1 on Jan 6, 2024, after a goal in the final two minutes of play. In Augustana's 3-3 tie, the Vikings walked away with the exhibition shootout win. 

The Mavericks 
Rhett Pitlick leads the Mavericks with 11 goals and 18 assists, for a total of 29 points. Pitlick transferred to Minnesota State after three seasons with the Minnesota Gophers, where he scored 79 points in 109 games. The Montreal Canadians selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. 

Graduate student Josh Groll is in his fourth season with the Mavericks after he spent the 2021-22 season with Michigan. Groll has netted 68 points in 132 games with MSU. 

Alex Tracy has started in all 28 games for the Mavericks and holds a record of 18-8-2 with a goals-against average of 1.57 and a save percentage of .939. 

The Vikings
Augustana comes into the weekend after it swept Lake Superior State at Midco Arena last weekend by scores of 6-3 and 4-3. The Vikings netted two goals in the final three minutes of play in Saturday's game to secure the sweep. 

Captain Luke Mobley recorded three power-play goals last weekend and leads the Vikings with 11 on the season. Mobley sits third on the team in points with 16.

Tyler Hennen was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon after his four-point weekend. Hennen notched a goal and an assist in Augustana's 6-3 win on Friday night. He continued his weekend with two assists in the Vikings' 4-3 win to complete the weekend sweep.

On Tuesday afternoon, Josh Kotai garnered his second monthly award as he was named January's CCHA Goalie of the Month. Kotai, a Abbotsford, British Columbia native, went 5-0-2 in January with a goals-against average of 1.39 and a save percentage of .958. During his 5-0-2 stretch, he made a career-high 45 saves in Augustana's 3-2 win over Colorado College. He followed up his performance with a 41-save performance in the Vikings 1-1 tie against Bowling Green. In 433:01 minutes of play, Kotai made 228 saves and only allowed 10 goals. Kotai is sixth in the country in goals against average with 1.69 and second in the country in save percentage with .945.