DULUTH, Minn. -- Minnesota State (7-12-1, 7-12-1 WCHA) was 3.1 seconds shy of adding an overtime to its season finale on Sunday. Instead, in-state rival Minnesota Duluth (10-4-0, 10-4-0 WCHA) had other plans, securing a win 4-3 in the final seconds of a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game, Sunday afternoon.
Bulldogs' forward Gabbie Hughes scored the game-winning goal with 3.1 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 4-3. The Bulldogs junior center had three points in Sunday's game against MSU.
However, for the second straight day, the Mavericks scored the game's first goal. Senior forward Brittyn Fleming scored on a breakaway at the 12:37 mark of the first period. She beat UMD's netminder Emma Soderberg with a shifty breakaway deke to score the goal that put MSU up 1-0. Junior defenseman Taylor Wemple supplied the secondary assist before freshman Madison Mashuga launched the long pass to Fleming for the break that led to her fifth tally of the season. The Mavericks carried the one-goal lead into the first intermission with a 14-6 advantage in shots.
The Bulldogs tied the game, 1-1, 2:27 into the second period when Hughes won a face-off to Anna Klein who launched a shot from the point that rebounded right to Taylor Anderson who tied the game on the rebound chance. Anderson slid the puck underneath MSU's goaltender, Calla Frank, who was transitioning over to cover after the initial shot. The Bulldogs claimed their first lead of the game at the 8:43 mark when Hughes scored her first goal of the afternoon by following up on a net-front scramble and made it 2-1. Senior defenseman Jessica Kondas tied the game, 2-2, at 15:05 of the second period. Kondas shared the puck with sophomore forward Kelsey King, who put on a low shot that found its' way back to Kondas' stick for her third goal of the season. Senior defenseman Tristen Truax added the secondary assist that started the odd-man rush with an initial pass to Kondas up the left sidewall that led the puck into the zone. After two periods in Duluth, it was a very even game between the Mavericks and Bulldogs with a 2-2 score and 24-24 battle in shots.
Freshman forward Jamie Nelson broke the tie at the 3:08 mark of the third when she forechecked to steal the puck, wheeled over to the wall and back into the high slot before ripping a shot through traffic that made it 3-2. Then, UMD's Kasundra Betinol tied the game 3-3 with a power play at 10:12 of the third by following up on her initial shot to score near the front of the net. Then in heartbreaking fashion, with 3.1 seconds remaining in regulation, Hughes continued her tear by scoring the game-winning goal for her third point of the afternoon off a rebound in the slot that made it 4-3, where it ultimately stood.
Despite leading the way for a portion of the middle period, the Mavericks fell short in the shots battle 39-31. Both teams scored a goal on the power play. UMD got five looks with the man advantage while MSU had four chances on the power play.
In net for UMD, Soderberg (10-4-0) made 28 saves on 31 shots to claim the win in the contest. For MSU, Frank (6-10-1) stopped 35 of 39 shots in the loss. The Hugo, Minn., native finishes the season with a .910 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average in her sophomore season.
The Mavericks finished the 2020-21 season with a 7-12-1 overall and conference record that featured a 3-5-1 record at home and 4-7-0 mark on the road. Minnesota State is graduating five seniors this season. They are forwards Brittyn Fleming, Mariah Gardner and Taylor Gulenchyn as well as defensemen Jessica Kondas and Tristen Truax.
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