BOSTON, Mass. — Minnesota State (3-4-0) defeated Robert Morris (3-6-0) 6-3 on Friday at Walter Brown Arena in the first game of the 2026 Ice Breaker. The six goals were a season high for the Mavericks. The teams were scoreless through the first period and even after each scored twice in the second before the Mavericks scored four times in the third to ice the game. The Mavericks finished with a 36-34 edge in shots, went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed both Robert Morris opportunities.
 
Ayla Puppe scored twice, including a power-play goal and the game-winning goal, and finished with five shots. Puppe's two goals marked a career high, and her five shots set a season high. Kaydence Roeske got the start in net and recorded a season-high 31 saves in the win. Mercury Bischoff added an empty net goal and an assist with four shots, Lauren Zawoyski posted a season-high two assists, four shots and two blocked shots. Zawoyski has at least two blocked shots in three consecutive games. Lucie Tenenbaum had an empty net goal and a season-high six shots; Zoe Lopez scored one goal. Payton Finnie recorded her first assist of her career.
 
The Mavericks created the first sustained stretch of the opening period, using a Robert Morris interference penalty at 18:30 to get looks from Kamryn Van Batavia, Mika Cichosz and Puppe before Zawoyski and Bischoff added chances shortly after the power play expired. The Mavericks continued to generate attempts at even strength, with Tenenbaum, Lopez and Audrey Garton among those testing Maggie Hatch and Garton hitting the pipe at 12:58. When Robert Morris went on the power play after a Tenenbaum hooking penalty at 12:48, the Mavericks killed it off behind Roeske, who handled the shots that reached her during the kill. Roeske kept Robert Morris off the board through later pressure, while the Mavericks added more attempts from Lopez, Neely Hawn, Mia Miller, Van Batavia, Makayla Moran and Zawoyski before the first period ended without a goal.
 
Robert Morris struck 45 seconds into the second period, with Rowyn Ringor scoring at 19:15 off assists from Taylor Storey and Rio Pierre for a 1-0 lead. The Mavericks erased an early second-period deficit and moved in front after Anika Stromme tied it 1-1 with an unassisted even-strength goal at 16:25. Stomme fired a shot from the point that got through heavy traffic and beat Hatch, it was the first goal of her career. The Mavericks converted their second power-play chance as Puppe took the puck from the defensive zone and through the neutral zone, skating between Colonial defenders before burying a shot off the top bar and in from the top of the right circle. Puppe was assisted by Miller and Bischoff at 12:34, giving MSU a 2-1 lead. The Mavericks also had an earlier power play and a third opportunity later in the period, while Roeske handled a stretch of Robert Morris pressure that included multiple saved shots after the Mavericks went ahead. Robert Morris generated much of the late pressure and tied it 2-2 at 2:43 on Laura Eustace's goal from Ashlyn Ham, then put three shots on Roeske in the final 48 seconds as the second period ended even
 
In the third period, the Mavericks scored four times to outpace Robert Morris, with Lopez and Puppe striking less than a minute apart before Tenenbaum and Bischoff added empty-net goals in a 6-3 win over Robert Morris. Earlier in the period, the Mavericks created a string of chances, including a Bischoff shot off the pipe and a power play that produced shots from Zawoyski, Puppe and Van Batavia but ended without a goal. Lopez made it 3-2 at 9:33 after dangling a Colonial defender and then firing a wrist shot top shelf, with assists from Garton and Zawoyski. The Mavericks kept the pressure on as Hawn found Puppe on a breakout pass, and she flipped a backhander into the back of the net for her second of the game just 53 seconds after Lopez's goal. RMU challenged the play after the goal, looking for a major penalty, but it was unsuccessful. Robert Morris cut it to 4-3 at 14:53 on Ava Vrana's goal from Mary Snyder and Lucy Thiessen, then pulled Hatch with 2:35 left and generated four shots that Roeske stopped. After Hawn deflected a centering pass, Tenenbaum was able to control the puck and shoot it the length of the ice for an empty-net goal at 17:36. Hawn's deflection gave her two assists on the night. Bischoff added another empty-net goal at 19:14 to seal a 6-3 win for the Mavericks, sending them to the championship game of the tournament
 
Up next, the Mavericks will face the winner of Boston University and Yale tomorrow, at 4 p.m. in the championship game of the Ice Breaker tournament.