Minnesota State doesn't want to be a program that upsets nationally ranked programs, they want to be a nationally ranked program pushing for a WCHA title. This season head coach Shari Dickerman believes her roster has the potential to move in that direction.
Minnesota State has some confidence heading into the 2026-27 WCHA season. Facing the top women's hockey programs in the nation each week, Minnesota State quietly put together one of the better seasons in their program's 28-year history last year.
They finished with a 17-19-2 record last season overall. Then they knocked off Minnesota-Duluth in a best-of-three playoff series. But they don't just want to be giant killers, they want to be giants, and this year the Mavericks are returning an intriguing mix of veterans and newcomers that could help them inch closer to that goal.
"We're really excited about our group," said head coach Shari Dickerman. "It's kind of interesting when we we look at our roster. We have seven upper-classmen, and then we have 16 under-classmen, so 10 sophomores, six first year players. We're young, but I think we're pretty experienced with with our youth."
Dickerman said those young players had a strong start to camp, which the team is looking to capitalize off when they kick off their season September 25 against RPI, followed by a series against St. Cloud State the following week.
Sophomore Mercury Bischoff returns as the team's leading scorer, as do veteran forwards Kamryn VanBatavia, Ayla Puppe, and Zoe Lopez. Minnesota State also features senior netminder Hailey Hansen, who made USA's Collegiate Select roster this summer. While Dickerman knows they have some offensive punch, it's their back end that has her optimistic.
"I think a big part of our our success is going to be our defense," she said. "We've got great goaltending and depth at that position, which is great."
Hansen will be a major asset in net, but the emergence of Lauren Zawoyski, who the team transitioned to the blueline last season and then made USA's Collegiate Select team playing a considerable role for the American roster this summer after only a single season at the position.
"She's taken huge strides. We're excited for for what she can do back there," said Dickerman.
Dickerman and Minnesota State will rely heavily on Zawoyski, but will also look for contributions from defenders like Lucie Tenenbaum, who has experience with Switzerland's national team, transfer Neely Hawn, and freshman Mia Miller, who represented USA at the U-18 World Championships in 2025.
Regardless of where the contributions come from, Minnesota State will need all hands on deck to achieve their primary goal, the program's first ever national championships tournament appearance. Minnesota State won the opening round WCHA series last year against nationally ranked Minnesota-Duluth. Dickerman says the expectation that not only a playoff appearance, but a win will be the norm, not the exception moving forward.
"It's not a fluke on the success we had last year," said Dickerman. "I think we've got the right group of players that they want to work, they want to hunt pucks, they want to be hard to play against, and they want to knock off the perennial powers. And that's that's our plan. That's our goal."
