Box Score DULUTH, Minn. --- Senior Nicole Germaine scored a power-play goal in each of the first two periods, but Minnesota State dropped a 4-2 decision to Minnesota Duluth in Western Collegiate Hockey Association competition Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena.
 
MSU moves to 9-15-0 on the year and 4-14-0 in the WCHA, while the Bulldogs improve to 11-8-3 overall and 9-6-3 in conference play.
 
For the second night in a row, Minnesota State took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Senior Nicole Germaine (Mississauga, Ont.) dropped a pass to junior Kathleen Rogan (Vancouver, B.C.), before Rogan centered it back to Germaine who shelved her sixth goal of the year by UMD sophomore Kayla Black to finish a two-on-one at 13:38 just as MSU went on the power-play. Senior Lauren Barnes (Burnsville, Minn.) earned her team-leading 13th helper on the play. The Mavericks owned a 13-11 edge in shots after 20 minutes and denied three Bulldog opportunities on the advantage in frame.
 
The second period saw a pair of Minnesota Duluth goals sandwich Germaine's second marker of the contest to produce a 2-2 deadlock going into the third period. Freshman Ashleigh Brykaliuk got UMD on the board at 7:56 when she slipped a power-play marker by senior Danielle Butters (London, Ont.). At 15:59, Germaine slammed home a rebound for her second power-play goal of the night with assists given to senior Melissa Klippenstein (Neubergthal, Man.) and Rogan, but Bulldog junior Zoe Hickel retaliated 47 seconds later by tapping a rebound of her own just over the goal line after freshman Katerina Mrazova hit the crossbar.
 
UMD senior Jamie Kenyon gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the night 3:05 into the third period. She scooped up a loose puck on the power play and beat a sprawling Butters on the left side for what proved to be the game-winner. Minnesota State applied strong pressure outshooting UMD 11-10 in the frame, but Hickel added an empty-net goal at 19:03 to cement the 4-2 final.
 
Germaine's pair of goals tied a career-high for the Mavericks who finished two-of-three on the power-play in the contest. Butters registered a game-high 28 saves, while Black stopped 27 shots for UMD who ended two-of-seven on the advantage.
 
The next time Minnesota State takes the ice will be in the 2014 Hockey City Classic against the University of Minnesota on Friday, January 17th. Game time is slated for 4:30 p.m., at TCF Bank Stadium.