Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State women's hockey scored three unanswered goals to end the game, but was unable to overcome a 5-0 deficit and lost to No. 4 Minnesota 5-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on Saturday afternoon at Verizon Wireless Center.
The Mavericks celebrated Senior Day on Saturday. After the game, Senior goaltender Brianna Quade (3-16--2), senior defenseman Anna Fiegert (1-3--4) and senior forward Savannah Quandt (1-1-2) were honored in an on-ice ceremony.
After falling behind 5-0 to the Golden Gophers (21-5-3, 17-4-3-2 WCHA) in the first 35:00 of the game, the Mavericks (6-22-3, 3-19-2-0 WCHA), scored three consecutive goals. Freshman defenseman Jordan Jackson (1-1--2) got the Mavericks on the scoreboard with her first career goal at 14:21 of the second period. Sophomore forward Jordan McLaughlin (3-5--8) scored the Mavericks second goal at 6:19 of the third period and freshman forward Demi Gardner (3-0--3) finished off the Maverick scoring with a goal at 19:30 of the third period. However, the Mavericks ran out of time, and the game ended with the score 5-3 in favor of the Golden Gophers.
The Golden Gophers built a 4-0 lead in the first period – scoring goals at 6:50, 7:23, 7:43 and 8:21 of the period. Their fifth and final goal came at 12:18 of the second period. The eventual game-winning goal was scored by junior forward Kelly Pannek (16-39--55) at 8:21 of the second period. Senior forward Kate Schipper (11-13--24), who recorded game-highs in goals (2) and points (3), and junior defenseman Sidney Baldwin (2-10--12) assisted on the game-winning goal.
Junior forward Sara Bustad (3-2--5), junior defenseman Anna Keys (2-6--8), Fiegert and sophomore forward Steph Keryluk (0-1--1) recorded assists for the Mavericks. Keys' assist moves her into sole possession of fifth place in career scoring by a Maverick defenseman with 27 points. Key's was previously tied with Shelby Moteyunas (2011-15) for fifth place with 26 points. Fiegert's assist gives her 22 career points – the seventh-most career points by a Maverick defenseman in program history.
Quade made 26 saves for the Mavericks, while junior Sidney Peters (20-5-2) – the goaltender of record – and sophomore Emma May combined to make 14 saves for the Golden Gophers. Peters surrendered one goal in 40:00 of play and May allowed two goals in 20:00 of action.
Shots were 31-17 in favor of Minnesota and neither team converted on the power play. The Mavericks finished 0-for-3 on the power play and the Golden Gophers were 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
Minnesota State returns to action with the first game of a two-game series at Ohio State on Friday at 5:07 p.m. CDT in Columbus, Ohio.
Listen to freshman defenseman Jordan Jackson talk about scoring her first career goal below.
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