MANKATO — Zach Harrison has played in 149 college hockey games over four seasons at Minnesota State. None of those games has taken place at the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five.

“That’s our goal right now,” the senior forward said after practice on Monday. “That’s what we’re looking forward to.”

The Mavericks closed out the regular season with a home win and a road tie against St. Cloud State over the weekend, and that set up a return to St. Cloud for the first round of the WCHA tournament later this week.

The winner of the best-of-three-games series will advance to the Final Five in St. Paul.

Minnesota State not only hasn’t played in the conference’s crown-jewel event since 2003, but it’s the only team in the league not to get there since then.

During Harrison’s freshman season, the Mavericks traveled to North Dakota for the playoffs and were swept 5-2 and 2-1.

A year later, Minnesota State hosted a first-round series against Minnesota, and had its heart broken in an epic three-game series. The Mavericks won 1-0 in double-overtime the first night before falling 2-1 in overtime and 3-2 in double-overtime.

Last season, the Mavericks went to Wisconsin and got blown out 7-1 before bowing out 4-2 the next night.

St. Cloud State appears to be a good matchup for the Mavericks, certainly more favorable than the possibility of going to North Dakota or Wisconsin. Not only did MSU collect three points from the Huskies this weekend but it is 7-1-1 in its last nine games in the National Hockey Center.

But Harrison insisted that the Mavericks’ playoff destination didn’t weigh on his or his teammates’ minds.

“Our team is moving right now,” he said. “We’re a well-oiled machine in practice and playing in games. The way we’re feeling about ourselves is, whoever’s matched up against us, we’re going to beat that team.”

In each of the last four seasons, a lower-division team has pulled off a first-round upset and got to St. Paul.

Minnesota Duluth defeated Colorado College a year ago and ended up winning the Broadmoor Trophy. A year earlier, it was Minnesota winning in Mankato. Michigan Tech and Wisconsin won on the road in 2007, while St. Cloud and Duluth did it in 2006.

Perhaps this is Minnesota State’s year.

“I think we’ve been building up here,” Harrison said. “Over the past three or four weekends, we have been playing well. The feeling around the guys is good. Morale’s good. That’s going to give us confidence going into the weekend.”

By the end of it, Harrison hopes he’ll be preparing for game No. 152 or 153 (depending on how long the first-round series lasts) as a Maverick.

“It will be different,” he said of the rematch with St. Cloud. “It will be a fight for every inch of the ice.”



Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Read his blog at mankatofreepresshockey.blogspot.com.