Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State (2-4-0, 0-4-0) was swept by Minnesota State Duluth (4-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) after a 4-1 final Saturday afternoon at the Mayo Clinic HSEC.

After taking three penalties the night before, the Mavericks were tasked to defend against the UMD powerplay in the early part of the opening frame. UMD took advantage of unfortunate bounces on the powerplay to grab the lead at the 6:21 mark in the first period.

Coming into the second period down a goal, Senior captain Charlotte Akervik took matters into her own hands joining an offensive rush connecting with junior Claire Vekich for her second goal of the season. On the goal, Akervik now is tied with Holly Snyder (2006-10) for second in MSU all-time points by a defenseman.

UMD fought to reclaim the lead just 1:28 after Akervik's and never looked back. The Mavericks allowed three additional goals to drop Saturday's matchup 4-1.

"Both games this weekend we started slow," stated head coach John Harrington. "We won't always get the clean chances. We need to work harder to win the battles in order to capitalize off fifty-fifty chances in the offensive zone."

The Mavericks are back in action on Friday to host St. Cloud State at 6 p.m.