MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's hockey team dropped the first game of the 2020-21 season to No. 8 Minnesota Duluth, falling 5-0 Friday night at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

The loss starts the Mavericks record off at 0-1-0 (0-1-0 WCHA) and the Bulldogs' win puts them at 1-0-0 (1-0-0 WCHA) to start the season.  

Minnesota Duluth got going early with three goals in the opening frame. At the 7:51 mark of the first period, Bulldog junior forward Taylor Anderson ripped one past Maverick sophomore goaltender Calla Frank high on the glove side.  They extended their lead with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of the first with a goal from Naomi Rogge at 12:02, followed by as shorthanded marker that was unassisted after Anna Klein intercepted a pass for a breakaway and beat Frank at 16:14 of the first period.

The Bulldogs added another to make it 4-0 one minute into the middle frame on a power play goal from Ashton Bell, who scored from the right circle after taking a nice pass from Gabbie Hughes.

In the third, another power play was capitalized on by UMD when Clara Van Wieren got her first point of the night to make it 5-0, where it would ultimately stand.

Frank (0-1-0) stopped 29-of-34 shots, while UMD  sophomore Emma Soderberg (1-0-0) backstopped a shutout to open the season, turning aside 22 Minnesota State shots.

Minnesota State was outshot by Minnesota Duluth by a 34-22 margin in the contest. MSU went zero-for-six on the power play, while UMD converted on two of its seven chances.

The Mavericks and Bulldogs will face-off again tomorrow night in Mankato at 3:07 p.m. to conclude the weekend series.

Head coach John Harrington commented following the game.