Frank, Women’s Hockey Win Two, get Shutout against the Beavers
Daniel McElroy ® Sports Editor |
Photo by Mansoor Ahmad ® Photo Editor |
The Minnesota State (4-7-1) women’s hockey team swept the Bemidji State University Beavers (1-6-1) at the Sanford Center this weekend.
The Mavericks took their first win of the weekend on Friday in a close 2-1 contest. The Beavers started off the scoring just three minutes into the second period with Claire DeGeorge and Reece Hunt entering the offensive zone in a 2-on-1 rush. Goaltender Calla Frank made the initial save from Hunt’s shot off the shoulder that ended up behind the net and into Hunt’s glove. She placed the puck down in front of her and centered a pass to an open Lydia Passolt, who fired it past Frank’s right leg for the Beavers first and only goal of the weekend.
The Mavericks fought back hard and scored two goals in under two minutes. The first came from Brittyn Fleming with 4:30 left in the third period. Fleming grabbed a rebound in her own zone and went coast to coast for an unassisted wrap around goal, good for her fourth on the year.
The Mavericks then took the lead less than two minutes later on a powerplay goal when Fleming sat on the right side boards, gave a pass to Tristen Truax, who then gave and took a pass back from Kelsey King. Truax walked the puck up from the point and fired a slap shot that hit off of Kerigan Dowhy’s glove, and trickled inside the right post. This counted for Truax’s first goal of the season, and both Fleming and King’s third assist on the season.
Frank stopped 18 of 19, playing her part in an important conference game.
Saturday’s matinee displayed a Maverick team that came out to win, scoring four goals in a shutout win and sweep over the Beavers.
The Mavericks got their first goal on the board when Jamie Nelson sauced a pass from the far boards to Anna Wilgren. Wilgren then passed it over to Jessica Kondas who took a slap shot and trickled in between Dowhy’s legs.
King secured the next two goals for the Mavericks, as Truax passed the puck over to Wilgren, who took a slap shot from the point. King deflected the flying puck right in front of the net, going past Dowhy’s legs. King’s next goal came from a leading pass from Madison Mashuga, giving King the breakaway and firing the puck in between Dowhy’s legs. These goals are good enough to put King at four on the year, tying Fleming and Nelson with the most goals on the team.
The final goal of the game came from Mashuga, as Dowhy failed to control a routine rebound on a shot from Kondas, when Mashuga fired the puck point blank past Dowhy.
Through all of this, Frank stayed strong in the net, stopping all 23 shots she faced. Frank would stop 41 of 42 on the weekend, securing her first shutout of the season.
The Mavericks will take this weekend off and travel to Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 22 to take on The Ohio State University in a two-game series.