The crowd at Friday's league challenge between the Mankato East Cougars (Mankato, MN) and the visiting Austin Packers (Austin, MN), witnessed Mankato East's ice hockey team defeat Austin by a final score of 5-3.

The Cougars (4-3) will now prepare for their challenge against Red Wing (Red Wing, MN). The Wingers come into the Big 9 challenge with a 0-4 record. In their last challenge, Red Wing by La Crescent (La Crescent, MN), 4-3, in a non-league challenge.

In their next game, the Packers battle the Fairmont Cardinals (Fairmont, MN) in a non-league challenge, on Saturday, December 14. Austin will attempt to upgrade on its 4-2 season record. The Cardinals come into the challenge with a 0-3 record after their 11-2 league loss to New Ulm (New Ulm, MN).