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HOUGHTON -- The end of the fall semester for the Michigan Tech Hockey team is not a kind one.

The Huskies leave the friendly confines of the SDC rink in Houghton and hit the road hosting the 47th annual Great Lakes Invitational late this month in Detroit against the likes of Michigan State and either Boston College or Michigan, but before that a road game at Northern Michigan on December 16 awaits them.

The team though is focused on this weekend when M.T.U. faces the number two ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, just a week after being swept in Houghton against the current number one team, Minnesota-Duluth.

The Huskies are just 2-4 on the road this year and haven't won at Mariucci Arena since November 2007.

Head Coach Mel Pearson says the Golden Gophers are very good and they are even better at home. "They always play well at home; it's a great atmosphere to go into with a full house," Pearson said. "As a player you should enjoy playing in these types of environment. I think it's going to be a good week of hockey."

Michigan Tech sits tied in sixth place in the WCHA standings along with Denver and St. Cloud State, but Tech is only four points out of third place.

Points this weekend could go a long way as far as playoff seeding goes. "It's going to be an important weekend for our team," Pearson says. "The WCHA race is very close right now. Any points you can get are critical in the standings. We're going to have our hands full with the #2 team in the country, who's playing real well right now."

Faceoff between the Gophers and Huskies is set for 8:07 p.m. eastern from the Twin Cities both Friday and Saturday nights. Minnesota leads the all-time series between the schools going 173-75-15 in 263 contests.