'Look good, play good': Game day hairstyles bond MSU Mavericks
Videos of the team's hairstyling sessions have gone viral online
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As the Minnesota State University, Mankato women’s soccer team runs out onto the pitch for their first round game in the NCAA Division II tournament Friday afternoon, they’ll have already bonded during a unique pregame ritual: Senior forward Ella Huettl styling each of her teammates’ hair.
The Mavericks are 17-1-3 and earned the No. 2 seed in the Central Regional bracket of the NCAA tournament and will host No. 7 seed Missouri Western.
One of the secrets to their success on the pitch may be the special hairstyling that is done before every match.
“I love to do the dragon braids. They’ve recently become one of my favorites,” Huettl said. “A lot of the girls choose to do them for their hair. They’re very visible. They're big braids. It looks super pretty and it’s super tight because it’s held together with elastics. So, that’s probably one of my favorites.”
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The senior forward started doing all of her teammates' hair on game days or the night before during her sophomore year. Depending on how elaborate the hairstyle is, it can take 20 to 30 minutes per player. They’ll often send her photos ahead of time showing the style they’d like to try.
“We do all sorts of braids. We add glitter. We do bows,” Huettl said. “And so I started recording, doing the hairstyles and posting it on social media, and that kind of blew up.”
Huettl started recording videos of the hairstyling sessions and posting them on TikTok and Instagram. They’ve blown up, garnering tens of thousands — and sometimes even millions — of views and likes. The videos usually start with Huettl asking her teammate what kind of style they’d like, and then a finished look. Huettl’s reels even drew the attention of Vogue, which did feature on her last month.
“The team gets visibility, [and] a lot of recruits come and have already seen our team interact online and on social media,” Huettl said. “Just being able to share our team culture on my social media platform has been super special.”
From bubble ponytails to dragon braids, she said she learned the styles mostly by “trial and error.” Huettl said players cannot have any metal pins in their hair during games, and most players want to keep their hair out of their face while playing, which leads them to prefer certain styles.
“A lot of the girls will do some sort of braid or just a slick back, which is a really tight ponytail that’s braided or a bun, just to keep your hair out of your face,” she said. “Some girls switch it up every game. Some girls like to keep it the same as kind of a superstition … [saying] ‘Oh, I scored in that hairstyle. I want to do that again.’”
And as the Mavericks teammates bonded while hairstyling, Huettl said their confidence grew.
“Some girls will rotate between maybe two hairstyles. Some girls do switch it up every game,” Huettl told MPR News. “But they like to look good and feel good, and then you play good. That's what we like to say.”
Ruthie Gyashi, the senior defender and Huettl’s roommate who scored the Mavericks’ game-winning goal Sunday to secure the team’s conference title, said while she’s not really superstitious, she does get her hair styled before every game.
“They always say ‘look good, play good,’” said Gyashi, 21. “I just feel like whenever I have my hair done, I don't have to think about it, and I can just go out there and play. Whereas if my hair looks like trash, it's usually I don't feel as confident, and I tend to play better when Ella does my hair.”
And the hairstyling ritual boosts camaraderie among teammates, Gyashi said. The team has other activities to foster that bond, too, like writing each other supportive notes ahead of games.
“It’s just a special thing that our team has bonded over, and we do a bunch of other things throughout the year,” Gyashi said. “I just think finding little things to bond over as a team, together as a team, has really helped us grow closer and enjoy these little moments.”
MSU Head Coach Brian Bahl sees that team chemistry out on the pitch, and he said these game day hair styles bring the players closer together.
“It has brought an incredible added tradition to the program and creates a lot of excitement in game day mornings,” Bahl said. “It’s kind of become a theme and a part of who we are as a program now.”
“We’re really proud of the culture that we have here,” coach Bahl added. “They’ve been there to lean on each other, and they’ve overcome a lot of obstacles because of that. We’ll need that connection as we get into these NCAA tournament games.”
This is the 15th consecutive season that the Mavericks have reached the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The winning team on Friday will advance to the Central Region Semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m., and the victor of that match will advance to the Central Region Championship on Friday, Nov. 20.
MSU Mankato has a good chance of advancing all the way to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, which it last did in 2024.
Huettl said it has been fun being able to create these moments with her friends, and Friday’s game will be no exception, adding “we’ve already started pulling inspo for what we want to create.”
She wants to keep winning so she can keep styling.
“We always want to win, but it’s always fun to continue winning, because that means another day of doing hair,” Huettl said. “It’s been fun just to be able to continue on and go deep into the season, so we just have even more time together.”
