MANKATO — It’s not the only road they’ve ever known, but it’s 100% recognizable.
Minnesota State men’s hockey found out who it will face in the 2026 NCAA men’s hockey tournament. The Mavericks will collide with reigning national champion Western Michigan. The game is slated for 1:30 p.m. Friday on ESPNU at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado.
“We still have room to get better. That has probably been the gift of this group,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said. “There’s some teams where you get into February and they (plateau). This group has gotten better through February and better through March. They got better today at practice. So for me, that’s just something to be said about this group.
“The excitement to go into play is one thing. To go be ready to play is even more exciting.”
The Mavericks and Broncos collided on the same stage a year ago. And boy was it a game to remember.
Kaden Bohlsen tied the game 1-1 1:51 into the third period. Now junior Luigi Benincasa’s potential game-winning shot with under 80 seconds to go sailed inches outside of the far post. As fate had it 60 minutes wasn’t enough to determine a winner. Overtime was on deck. And as it turned out, overtime wasn’t enough either. They went to double overtime.
Then, 7:14 into double overtime WMU’s Grant Slukynsky gathered a rebound and fired through Alex Tracy’s legs. Slukynsky’s shot snuck inside the far post and went in for a goal.
WMU wound up winning 2-1 in double overtime. The Broncos then went on to claim the program’s first national championship.
But that was then. Friday will bring another chance for both teams to claim a national championship.
“Losing a year ago was sickening and sad for me,” Strand said. “I think we fulfilled our promise to go for it, but we didn’t fulfill what we wanted to get done in the end. This year you can put a smirk on your face knowing that you’re back in that spot again. I think there’s a little more determination in trying to make sure that we find ourselves on the right side of it.”
WMU finished its regular season as the No. 4 team in the nation with a regular season record of 26-10-1 and a 16-7-1 mark in NCHC play. The Broncos made quick work of Colorado College in the opening round of the Frozen Faceoff before suffering a 2-1 overtime loss to eventual NCHC champion Denver in the semifinal round.
The Broncos are led offensively by Grant Slukynsky. The Warroad product has 10 goals and 30 assists this season. Senior Liam Valente has a team-best 20 goals and has 15 assists. Junior William Whitelaw, a product of Rosemount, has 19 goals and 15 assists this season. WMU has five players with 10 or more goals and 12 players with 10 or more assists.
In between the pipes sophomore Hampton Slukynsky is 26-10-1 with a 2.26 goals against average and a save percentage of .916.
But as the two enter Friday’s contest they’re not the same teams as a year ago. Both have new faces. Literally, MSU has Tristan Lemyre and Ean Somoza, who both transferred from WMU.
But they will face off once again.
“The programs are going head to head, and the coaches are going to head, but the players, really, are different,” Strand said. “I don’t get lost in what happened a year ago. I don’t know if it really fuels our fire this year. We’re just at a different stage. If anything, I’d say we’re more comfortable going back to something we hadn’t been (to) as a whole.”