Mankato, Minn. ---   Freshman goaltender Abigail Levy made the most of collegiate debut as Minnesota State women's hockey officially kicked-off the 2018-19 campaign with a 2-0 win in nonconference home action vs. Rensselaer Saturday afternoon.

Following a scoreless opening frame, the Mavericks got rolling with 15 shots on goal in the second period. And at 1:16, on a wrist shot from senior wing Rebekah Kolstad that beat Lovisa Selander high on the glove-side, Minnesota State took a 10 l-ead.  It became 2-0 at the 18:53 mark when sophomore Mariah Gardner tallied her first career goal with a shot from the high slot.

The two teams battled through a scoreless final period with the Mavericks owning a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal.

The Mavericks, who outshot RPI by a 32-22 margin in the game, were zero-for-one in power play chances in the game. Rensselaer was unable to convert on its two chances with the man advantage.

Including two power play shots on goal from the Engineers, Levy, a Congers, N.Y., native who prepped at Shattuck-St. Mary's, had 22 saves in the win in earning a shut-out in her first collegiate appearance. 

The Mavericks (1-0-0) and the Engineers (0-1-0) complete the two-game series Sunday with a 2:07 p.m. face-off scheduled at Verizon Center.

Head coach John Harrington commented following the game.