ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota State erupted in the third period to pull away from St. Thomas and earn a 5-2 road victory Friday night at St. Thomas Ice Arena.

After trading momentum through the first two periods, the Mavericks (14-17-2, 8-17-2) flipped the switch in the final frame, scoring three unanswered goals to secure the win over the Tommies (12-20-1, 7-19-1).

Taylor Otremba opened the scoring at 6:56 of the first period off assists from Kamryn Van Batavia and Mercury Bischoff. St. Thomas responded with two goals to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Zoe Lopez tied the game in the second period with an unassisted goal at 15:26, sending the teams into the third period even at 2-2.

Minnesota State took over from there.

Sophie Stramel gave the Mavericks the lead just 2:15 into the third period with assists from Makayla Moran and Lauren Zawoyski. Bischoff extended the advantage at 16:09 with her 18th goal of the season, tying the program's goals by a freshman in a season record. Van Batavia later capitalized on the power play to push the lead to 5-2 and put the game out of reach.

In net, Hailey Hansen turned aside 23 shots to earn the win.

"It was a good team effort, we had five different goal scores and played good team defense." said associate head coach Jeff Giesen. "All around good game, we need to rest and get prepared to come back tomorrow to sweep the weekend." 

The Mavericks return to action Saturday for game two against St.Tomas at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.