Madison, Wis. --- Eighth-seeded Minnesota State women's hockey lost to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Wisconsin 7-0 in the first game of a best-of-three quarterfinal series in the 2017 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs on Friday night at LaBahn Arena.    
 
Minnesota State's (7-25-4) Freshman goaltender Chloe Crosby (1-2-0), who made 38 saves – eclipsing the 30-save plateau for the third consecutive game – kept Wisconsin (28-2-4) off of the scoreboard in the first period. Neither team scored in the first 20:00 of play.
 
However, the Badgers scored four-second period goals to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission. Senior forward Sydney McKibbon (11-18--29) scored Wisconsin's first two goals – a power play goal at 00:36 (the game-winning-goal) and a shorthanded goal at 4:10. Junior forward Annie Pankowski (21-24--45) notched the third goal of the evening at 8:25, and the fourth goal was scored by sophomore forward Sam Cogan (11-14--25) at 16:29.
 
The Badgers' continued their offensive onslaught – adding on three more goals in the third period – to make the final score 7-0. Senior forward Sarah Nurse (20-22--42) scored on the power play at 0:46, freshman forward Abby Roque (8-19--27) scored at 8:39 and Cogan tallied the final goal – shorthanded – at 11:35.
 
Senior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens (25-1-4) stopped all 15 shots faced to record the shutout for Wisconsin.
 
Minnesota State finished 0-for-8 on the power play and allowed two shorthanded goals, while Wisconsin finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage.      
 
The Mavericks and the Badgers return to the ice for game two of their best-of-three quarterfinal series in the 2017 WCHA Playoffs at LaBahn Arena on Saturday at 4:07 p.m. CDT.

Listen to Minnesota State women's hockey head coach John Harrington's postgame comments below.