Mankato, Minn.. --- Sara Bustad tallied a hat trick and Minnesota State women's hockey defeated the Minnesota Whitecaps 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center to earn a sweep of the two-game exhibition series.   
 
After neither team scored for the first 14:00 of the game, Bustad, a senior forward, forced a turnover in the neutral zone, skated the puck into the offensive zone, and fired a slap shot from the top of the right circle that got past the Minnesota Whitecaps' goaltender to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. Bustad's goal – unassisted – was scored at 14:24. The Mavericks held a 1-0 edge going into the first intermission.
 
The Mavericks struck quickly at the beginning of the second period to go up 2-0. Senior defenseman Anna Keys fired a wrist shot from the right point that deflected off a defender's stick and into the top top-right corner of the net at 00:38 of the period. The Mavericks scored two more times in the period to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission. Senior forward Amanda Martin scored at 13:28 and Bustad scored her second goal of the game at 14:59.
 
The Whitecaps scored the first two goals of the third period to make the score 4-2. Becky Kortum and Amy Stech scored at 7:49 and 12:50 of the third period, respectively.   
 
Bustad finished off the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:15 to garner the hat trick. She scored on a three-quarters ice shot that found the net.
 
Sophomore goaltender Chloe Crosby made 23 saves for the Mavericks and Julie Friend made 21 stops for the Whitecaps.  
 
Freshman forward Brittyn Fleming tallied two assists for the Mavericks, while senior forward Lindsey Coleman, junior forward Jordan McLaughlin, senior forward Hannah Davidson and freshman defenseman Jessica Kondas each recorded one assist.  
 
Minnesota State held a 26-25 edge in shots on goal.
 
Both teams finished 0-of-2 on the power play.
 
The Mavericks return to the ice to face Lindenwood in a two-game nonconference series next weekend at Verizon Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m., on Friday and 3:07 p.m., on Saturday.   

Watch Sara Bustad's postgame interview below.