Women score 16 goals in hockey opening series

We are officially underway.

The Minnesota State women’s hockey began its season Friday and Saturday night in Fairfield, Conn. with a two-game series against Sacred Heart University. 

Picking up two wins on the weekend would be enough for most teams, but with 16 goals scored, the Mavs have even more to hang their hats on. 

Thirteen different Mavs registered a point in Friday’s 9-0 victory. The last time the Mavs scored nine goals in a game was in September of 2021 in a win over Merrimack.

Sydney Langseth and Jamie Nelson were on the same page in the first period, giving the Mavs their first two points of the season. Both were scored by Nelson and assisted by Langseth. Both players would go on to have exceptional games — Nelson had two goals and three assists while Langseth added another assist to bring her total to three on the day.

The second period was complete Mavs domination as they scored six goals, while still keeping the Pioneers silent offensively. In the span of a minute, Taylor Otremba scored two goals and Claire Vekich scored her first goal in Maverick colors after spending her last two seasons at Bemidji State.

After pushing the lead to 5-0, the Mavs were still hungry for more success, adding another three goals before the period was over. Madison Mashuga scored her first goal of the period, followed by a shot from Whitney Tuttle that found the back of the net before Mashuga added another goal to make it 8-0.

Slamming the door on the Pioneers after just two periods of play seemed to be enough for the Mavs, as they scored just once in the third period to lead them to their first win of the season. Additionally, all of the Mavs’ captains were able to register a point in their opening night statement.

Despite their level of success offensively, head coach John Harrington was able to see things through, showing signs that this Mavs team will only get better.

“I thought our first period was a little ragged as we seemed a little too tight starting the game. Our second period was outstanding. Our line of Nelson-Langseth-Otremba led us offensively, and three of our four lines contributed to the goal column,” Harrington said in a press release posted to the Maverick Athletics website. “Overall, we played well on both sides of the puck. A great start to the season for the Mavericks.”

After clobbering the Pioneers in the first night of the series, the Mavs were right back at it the next day to show off their offensive firepower. 

Control-C, Control-V. The Mavs were able to copy and paste their success into Saturday’s game as they hung another seven goals on their way to win no. 2, completing their sweep of the Pioneers.

The first period saw the Mavs give up their first goal of the season, but they were able to make up for it with four goals of their own. Nelson again was able to score two goals in the first period as Tuttle scored her second goal of the young season and freshman Kamryn Van Batavia notched her first-ever collegiate goal. 

In the second and third period, the Mavs remained in control and added three more scores. Another freshman notched her first goal as Jenessa Gazdik connected from the blue line. Shortly after Gadzik’s goal, Charlotte Akervik scored her first goal of the year to put the Mavs up 6-1.

To end the weekend on a high note, Otremba added another goal, the last of the Mavs’ 16. 

Nelson and Jayden Seifert earned WCHA weekly honors for their performances. In winning WCHA Forward of the Week, Nelson set a career high in points in a series with seven, (four goals and three assists). Seifert took home WCHA Defender of the Week by notching three points and a +4 rating on the weekend, contributing to the success of the Mavs.

Improving to 2-0 and gaining momentum, the Mavs will head to Madison to take on the No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers for their next series.

Header Photo: ​​The women’s hockey team has their work cut out for them as they look ahead to their matchup with Wisconsin after defeating Sacred Heart. (Jackson Forderer/SPX)

Write to Hayden Lee at hayden.lee@mnsu.edu