MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. --- Minnesota State falls to Minnesota Duluth 5-3 in the third place game of the Minnesota Cup at Ridder Arena on Sunday.
 
The Bulldogs scored four goals in the third period to complete the comeback over the Mavericks.
 
The Mavericks strike first in the first period when sophomore forward Brittyn Fleming scored her fifth goal of the season at the 12:35 mark. Fleming and freshman winger Brooke Bryant went back and forth in a two-on-one opportunity and it was Fleming who beat the Bulldogs netminder Maddie Rooney to her glove side.
 
The lamp lit up three times in the second period with two of those goals being scored by Minnesota State. At the 5:55 mark, freshman blueliner Anna Wilgren took advantage of UMD being a man down and fired a wrist shot top shelf past Rooney's stick. The power play goal was Wilgren's third goal of the season. The Bulldogs answered less than two minutes later when the puck got loose on the backside of the net and Gabby Hughes was able to take advantage of the open net. Another blueliner scored for the Mavericks at the 14:38 mark when junior McKenzie Sederberg finished the two-on-one advantage. Sederberg was rewarded after blocking a shot that started the break and put away her second goal of the season.
 
Minnesota State could not hold onto the lead however as Minnesota Duluth scored four goals in the third period. Fifty seconds into the period, Hughes put away her second goal of the game beating Maverick netminder Abigail Levy to the right low corner. Ten minutes later there was a scrum in front of the net and Levy dove to cover up the puck and missed as McKenzie Hewell scored on the open net. The third goal of the period came at the 17:01 mark when Kailee Skinner scored on Levy's glove side after the initial save. UMD was also able to collect an empty net goal by Anna Klein with one second remaining on the clock to give them the 5-3 advantage.
 
Minnesota State goaltender Abigail Levy collected 30 saves in the loss and now has a record of 8-8-4 on the season.
 
The Bulldogs outshot the Mavericks 35-31, while MSU went one-for-two on the power play and UMD went zero-for-three.
 
Minnesota State (8-8-4, 3-7-2-1 WCHA) will get back to WCHA action next weekend when it welcomes #2 Minnesota to the Verizon Center. Games will begin at 7:07 p.m., and 3:07 p.m., on Jan. 11-12.