The Free Press
Minnesota State women’s hockey fans packed the stands for the first game of the season.
No. 14 Minnesota State opened their season with a dominant 4-1 win over RPI in front of a record attendance at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, the university shared in a news release.
The Mavericks scored three goals in the second period and added another in the third to close out the win in their season opener.
A total 2,537 fans packed the arena, while over 2,100 students from ISD77 filled the stands during the second annual youth game, the relase said.
Here’s more of what went down:
Neely Hawn scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in her first game as a Maverick.
Lauren Zawoyski scored a 5-on-3 power play goal and tallied an assist, Makayla Moran also scored and chipped in an assist, while Ayla Puppe potted the Mavericks’ fourth goal of the game, the release said.
Two freshman found the scoresheet in their first game as Lila Deis and Mia Miller both recorded an assist, it continued.
“After a slow start in the first period, the Mavericks started buzzing around the ice constantly firing shots at the Engineers’ netminder. Zawoyski, Payton Finnie, Audrey Garton and Mercury Bischoff created looks and forced saves. Mika Cichosz fired a shot from the point that got past Reese Keating, but the goal was taken away after an RPI challenge confirmed the play was offside and the score remained 0-0.
“Midway through the period the Mavericks got a power play but could not convert after shots from Zoe Lopez and Puppe got blocked. The Engineers then created pressure of their own forcing Hailey Hansen to make three saves while the Maverick defense also blocked three shots. With six seconds left in the period, a shot by Linn Mattsson beat Hansen up high to give RPI a 1-0 lead after one period.”
The Mavericks look to sweep the series against RPI Saturday at 2:00 p.m.