MANKATO — Containing Olympic-caliber athletes is far from a picnic in the park on a warm, sunny day.
No. 14 Minnesota State women’s hockey got a taste of that last week against No. 3 Minnesota’s Abbie Murphy. Friday proved another taste, this time in the form of No. 2 Ohio State’s Joy Dunne.
A member of this year’s United States Olympic roster, Dunne scored the Buckeyes’ final four goals as the Mavericks suffered a 7-4 loss.
“We capitalized on some of our opportunities, which was great to see,” MSU head coach Shari Dickerman said. “We just need to eliminate some of the changes against (us) and I’ll think we’ll get a better outcome.”
MSU (11-11-1, 5-11-1) trailed 3-2 after one period a week after falling behind 5-1 to the Golden Gophers in an 11-3 loss. But the Mavericks got on the power play early in the second period. And thanks to the second goal of the night from freshman Mercury Bischoff everything was knotted at 3-3 3:56 into the frame.
Then Dunne took over the game.
The 5-foot-11 junior rattled off two 4 on 4 goals 36 seconds apart for a 5-3 lead which held until intermission. Dunne completed the natural hat trick 5:50 into the third period and netted her fourth and final goal of the night less than four minutes later.
“She took it upon herself to score goals. That’s what she does, she gets the puck to the net,” Dickerman said of Dunne. “We need to do a little bit better job of being willing to get in her way, get in other people’s way, lift the stick and eliminate their hands.”
But what prevented Dunne from scoring four straight goals for the Buckeyes (20-3, 14-3)? It was another MSU freshman lighting the lamp.
And for the first time in her career, freshman Sophie Stramel found the back of the net. Stramel, from Rosemount, Minn., found herself alone in front of the net for a power play goal to make it a 6-4 game.
“The monkey’s off my back for sure, just to say that,” Stramel said with a chuckle and a smile. “It was a great play. We’ve been working on our power play a lot to get that percentage up. We did a great job of taking initiative off the draw to make a play. My teammates found me.”
Sophomore Ayla Puppe also scored for MSU, standing her ground while burying a rebound despite being checked into the net by Dunne on the play.
Senior Whitney Tuttle finished with two assists. Puppe, Kamryn Van Batavia, Kianna Roeske and Taylor Otremba each tallied an assist.
“We’re resilient,” Dickerman said. “We never felt our bench get negative. They want what’s best for the team and what’s best for each other. They’re a great group to be around.”
The Mavericks and Buckeyes collide for their final regular season meeting of the 2025-26 season at 3:02 p.m. Saturday at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.