Maverick Olympic Update - We're Getting a Medal!

It's medal-round time at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  And with Finland taking on Sweden in the bronze medal game of the women's competition, someone with ties to Minnesota State is assured of taking home a medal.

Forward Nina Tikkinen and her teammates from Team Finland went 2-1 in pool play before falling to the Canadians by a 5-0 margin Monday in a semi-final contest.  Tikkanen has two goals for two points in four games played.

Defensman Emilia Andersson has one assist in four games for Team Sweden. The Swedes, who dropped a 9-1 decision to the United States Monday, also were 2-1 in pool play.

The other Maverick competing at this year's Olympics is forward David Backes of the U.S. men's team.  Including a key 5-3 victory over Canada Sunday, Backes (1-2--3 in three games of pool play) and his American mates went 3-0 to capture their pool and received a bye straight to the quarterfinals of the medal round.  The U.S. will play Thursday against the winner of Switzerland and Belarus.

You can follow how Nina, Emilia and David and their respective teams are doing by logging on to the official 2010 Winter Olympic website located here.

Go Mavericks!

The Matrix......Northern Sun Style

Undoubtedly Neo would be proud.

Pete Roberts of Augustana College has created a page whereby NSIC junkies can get all of the up-to-date information for every sport for every team in the 14-team league.  Pete's creation, located here, includes direct links to live stats pages for each school, links to logos, cumulative stats links and links to the front page of each school's website.  And, mind you, not just for the Northern Sun, but also for the other league in MSU's (and the rest of the schools in the NSIC) region - the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  The page is nicely laid out and easy to navigate.

It doesn't end there however, because Mr. Roberts just sent out a missive detailing some of his latest work, which has culminated in this page.  Basically a live, gamenight scoreboard.

Carry on Pete.  And thanks - as Morpheus said .... "Your mind makes it real."

Hoop Dreams

Currently 22-2 overall and 15-2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action, the Minnesota State men's basketball team is headed for a sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II postseason tournament. 

The Mavericks, who are 15-0 in games played in Taylor Center this year, have three games left on the 2009-10 regular-season schedule - at Southwest Minnesota State Saturday, Augustana in Mankato Wednesday Feb. 24 and at the University of Mary Feb. 27.

Bob Sansevere the St. Paul Pioneer Press did a Q & A with MSU head coach Matt Magenthaler and that feature appears here.

Maverick Olympians All Win Opening Games

All three of Minnesota State's Olympic athletes debuted successfully in Vancouver with Emilia Andersson's Team Sweden downing Switzerland, 3-0, Saturday, Nina Tikkinen's Team Finland earning a 5-1 win over Russia Sunday and David Backes and his Team USA teammates claiming a 3-1 decision over Switzerland Tuesday afternoon.

More information on all three players and their teams is available here.  Competition for the women's tournament continues on until Feb. 25 when the gold and bronze medal games are played.  The men's tournament wraps up Feb. 28th when the gold is decided in the last game of the tournament.

An Olympian Task

The 2010 Winter Olympics are officially slated to get underway this afternoon with ski jump qualifying serving as the first event for competition.  The opening ceremonies take place later this evening in downtown Vancouver.

This year's Olympics takes on added meaning for those affiliated with Minnesota State University and Maverick Athletics with three former or current student-athletes suiting up for their respective countries.

Nina Tikkinen is a member of Finland's women's hockey team and Emilia Andersson will wear the blue and gold of Team Sweden.  Forward David Backes makes his debut as an Olympian with the United States men's hockey team.

The women's competition is scheduled to start tomorrow (Feb. 13) with Andersson getting the first taste of competition with the Swedish women taking on Switzerland.  Tikkinen and Team Finland start off with a tilt against Russia Sunday.  Backes and his American compatriots are in a pool with Canada, Switzerland and Norway and start with a game vs. Switzerland Tuesday, Feb. 16. 

The schedule for the men's and women's hockey competition is located here.

MSU Reporter Tyler Buckentine profiled Backes here as did the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Michael Russo and his story appears here.  Stl.com has a story on Backes here along with WCCO.com.

Its Great ....To Be a Future Maverick

Today was National Signing Day across American and it was no different at Minnesota State as the Maverick football and soccer squads inked 43 student-athletes who will wear the Purple and the Gold in the fall of 2010.

Stay tuned to http://www.msumavericks.com/ for more information as the Maverick track and field teams will conclude their signing class here in the next couple of days.

To view the football class, click HERE
To view the soccer class, click HERE

Jersey Bound

If you're an avid follower of hockey, you might subscribe to The Hockey News.  The last couple of years the publication, which covers the National Hockey League, the minor professional, major junior and U.S. college ranks, has run a feature called Jersey Hound in which it provides critiques on hockey jerseys, both old and new.  The week's featured jersey comes from Minnesota State's 2000-01 season.  And, as you can see by the accompanying photo, showcases the jersey worn that season by forward Jesse Rooney.  Rooney, a White Bear Lake, Minn., native, tallied 67 goals and 41 assists for 108 points in 148 games for the Mavericks from 1998-2001.  Congrats to Jesse for making it into The Hockey News!