MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Minnesota State women's hockey team snapped a 53-game losing streak in the series against the No. 4-rated Minnesota with a 5-4 overtime victory in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game played at Ridder Arena, Saturday night.
The win marks the Mavericks first victory over the Golden Gophers since Jan. 20, 2007, and the first at Ridder Arena since Jan. 25, 2004, after junior forward Kelsey King, who was the hero of the extra period, tipped in a side-wall pass from senior defenseman Jessica Kondas at 3:49 of the overtime period.
MSU now stands 10-11-1 overall with a 6-11-1 mark in the WCHA, while #4 Minnesota is 17-6-1 with a 12-5-1 mark in conference play.
For the second straight night, the Mavericks cracked the score column first when junior defenseman Charlotte Akervik unloaded a power-play shot from the top of the zone past Gophers' netminder Lauren Bench at 5:50 of the first period. However, instead of surrendering the lead minutes after, Akervik scored another goal at 10:29 to provide insurance in the form of a 2-0 lead. After Gopher forward Abigail Boreen scored at 11:59 to cut the Mavericks' lead to 2-1, Kennedy Bobyck scored her seventh goal of the season after receiving a 2-on-1 feed from her fellow winger, King. MSU carried the 3-1 lead into the first intermission while the Gophers led in shots on goal 9-8.
The second period saw the Gophers score the next two goals off the sticks of Savannah Norcross (2:55) and Catie Skaja (17:11) to tie the game at 3-3. Shots on goal in the middle period favored the Gophers by a 16-6 margin for a 25-14 lead in the game after to periods of play.
Both sides scored a goal in the third period. At 7:04, Kondas helped the Mavericks reclaim the lead 4-3 with a shot from the left-point that found twine. Then, the Gophers tied the game 4-4 at 11:33 when Boreen scored her second power-play goal of the evening. Overtime was needed to declare a winner in the series finale. Shots on goal sided with the Gophers 42-27 at the end of regulation.
King crowned the Mavericks winners 3:49 into the overtime period when she tipped in a pass from Kondas for her team-high 11th goal of the season as well as third decisive marker of the year.
Junior goaltender Calla Frank came down with the win and now stands 9-9-1 on the season after making 41 saves on 45 shots.
Three power-play goals were scored in Saturday's affair. The Gophers scored twice on three chances with the man advantage while the Mavericks were perfect, scoring one goal on one power play opportunity.
Up next, the Mavericks take on St. Thomas in Mendota Heights, Minn., with a face-off slated for 7:01 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 21. The series concludes with a Hockey Day Minnesota matchup at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 23 at Blakeslee Stadium on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato.
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