Women’s hockey travels to Bemidji to keep win streak alive

Coming off their first two wins against the University of St. Thomas, the Minnesota State University Mankato women’s hockey team is gearing up to travel north to Bemidji for a conference slate against the Beavers.

With the Mavericks’ two wins this past weekend, the team claimed six points in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) standings. With a total of seven, Minnesota State has a chance to boost their point count to 13 with two regulation wins over Bemidji State this weekend. 

The series against St. Thomas was a huge boost for the Mavericks’ mentality, and the team will now ride its first win streak into a tough conference foe in the Beavers. 

“Obviously, we were looking to get a win out of the series against St. Thomas,” explained freshman defenseman Kianna Roeske. “Finding confidence within our game, not just as a single player, but as a team as a whole was huge for us.”

“We were able to control the game a little bit more and I think we used that to our advantage.”

Roeske was recently named WCHA defenseman of the week for her efforts against the Tommies this past weekend. After being thrown into college action early into the season due to injuries in the Mavericks’ defensive core, Roeske stepped up and tallied her first career goal on Oct. 20. 

Roeske explained that her transition to college hockey has been, “Pretty hard. Obviously, the passes are a lot harder and that was a huge thing for me.”

“The pace of the game is also really fast and getting used to that was challenging. But now that like I am playing it, it’s pretty fun because everyone is a high-level player and everybody’s playing at a fast pace.”

As far as this weekend’s games go, Roeske thinks that continuing to play with confidence is the key to success.

“We’ve played quite a few games now and we’re learning how to play with each other. We’re learning each other’s style, how everybody plays, and getting used to that is a huge part of playing with confidence.”

Despite being winless through WCHA action, the Bemidji State Beavers are not a foe the Mavericks will be taking lightly. A six-game losing streak has the Beavers hungry for their shot at their first conference win, and with the series being on Bemidji’s home ice, the Mavericks will need to play sharp hockey in order to come out with two wins. 

Both games will begin at 3 p.m. this weekend on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. 

Header Photo: The Minnesota State Mavericks will play at Bemidji State’s Sanford Center at 3 p.m. both days. (Lilly Anderson/The Reporter)

Write to Kole Buelow at Kole.Buelow@mnsu.edu