Mankato, Minn. — The Minnesota State women's hockey team earned its first win over a top-10 team this season by defeating the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers 3-1 Saturday at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
The win snaps a 28-game losing streak to the Badgers that dated back to March 1, 2014. MSU defeated the then-No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers 3-0 in Madison, Wis., in the second game of the WCHA Quarterfinals.
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The Mavericks jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Badgers after the first period of play. Freshman blueliner Charlotte Akervik scored the opening goal at the 4:46 mark. Junior center Brittyn Fleming dropped the puck back to Akervik at the left dot, then Akervik scored in the top right corner for her third goal of the season. Junior defenseman Tristen Truax gave Minnesota State the 2-0 lead at the 8:35 mark for her seventh goal on the season. Truax grabbed a rebound off the pads of junior netminder Breanna Blesi and scored on the right side of the net.
Minnesota State's lead grew to 3-0 in the second period with senior captain Emily Antony scoring at the 12:52 mark. Antony's sixth goal of the season came on a 2-on-1 break with freshman winger Kelsey King, scoring on the left side of the net. Freshman netminder Calla Frank had 24 saves through the first 40 minutes of action.
The Badgers made things interesting in the last five minutes of the third period with the Mavericks winning 3-0. Minnesota State took two penalties that resulted in a 5-on-3 opportunity for Wisconsin. At the 15:45 mark, sophomore winger Sophie Shirley was found near the back post that broke up the shutout for Frank. After killing off the second penalty, MSU was hit with a five-minute major penalty with 2:19 remaining in the contest. The penalty kill team held strong to give the Mavericks the win over the top-ranked Badgers.
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Freshman Calla Frank (6-5-2) held a shutout until late in the third period, but made 35 saves in the win.
The Mavericks were outshot by the Badgers by a 36-11 margin. Minnesota State went zero-for-two on the power play, while Wisconsin went one-for-three with the man advantage.
Antony led the way for the Mavericks on the score sheet by tallying a goal and an assist, while King also chipped in with two apples.
Now standing with a 11-15-5 (4-13-3-3 WCHA) record, the Mavericks will host No. 9 Minnesota Duluth in the last regular season home series on Feb. 14-15 at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
Head coach John Harrington commented following the game.
