MANKATO, Minn. -- Minnesota State fell in a one-goal contest, 2-1, against the nation's top-rated team, Wisconsin, in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game played at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Friday afternoon.
The Mavericks now stand 5-4 overall, including a 1-4 mark in WCHA action, while the Badgers advance to 11-0 overall with a 7-0 record in WCHA contests this season.
The Badgers opened the scoring in Friday's contest when Makenna Webster scored on the power play right as it was expiring at 5:02 of the first period. Mavericks' senior winger Brooke Bryant tied the game 1-1 with her fifth goal of the season at 13:18 after taking the puck off the right wall and charging to the right-side of the net where she shelfed a back-hand shot over the left shoulder of Badgers' netminder Kennedy Blair.
The middle period was a draw in the score column as neither side broke the scoreless tie and remained even at 1-1 headed into the second intermission. UW outshot MSU 11-8 in the middle period to improve to a 21-12 advantage in shots on goal after two periods.
In the third period, Daryl Watts scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Badgers at 3:37. Tho goal sequence unfolded with the Badgers winning an offensive-zone face-off back to one Badger defenseman, Kendra Nealey, who found her partner, Grace Bowlby, before finding Watt in the slot for the go-ahead marker which beat MSU's goaltender, Calla Frank, over her left shoulder to make it a 2-1 game. UW shut things down from that point on to secure the 2-1 victory and limited MSU to just two shots in the final period while peppering Frank with 17 additional shots of their own.
In net for the Mavericks, Frank, now 4-4 this season, stood tall and stopped 36 of the 38 shots she faced. On the other end, Blair improved her record to 10-0 on the season while making 15 saves on 16 shots.
The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 38-14. UW came out with the lone power-play goal while going one-for-four on the man advantage. MSU was unsuccessful in two cracks at the power play.
The Mavericks and Badgers rematch at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Saturday at 2:01 p.m.
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