GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Nina Tikkinen scored the power play goal at the 2:46 mark of the overtime period to give Minnesota State University, Mankato the 5-4 victory over the Fighting Sioux this afternoon at Ralph Engelstad Arena. UND falls to 3-2-1 (2-1-1-1 WCHA) while the Mavericks improve to 4-1-1 (1-0-1-1).
Melissa Jaques (Cooks Creek, Manitoba) scored twice for the Fighting Sioux, while Kelly Lewis (Forest Lake, Minn.) and Alyssa Wiebe added a goal apiece.
The Fighting Sioux had a 4-2 lead entering the final stanza when Minnesota State's Ashley Young put the puck past UND goaltender Stephanie Ney (100 Mile House, British Columbia) to pull within one goal at the 15:47 mark.
A streak of 25 consecutive penalty kill opportunites without a goal came to an end for UND and it couldn't have been at a worse time. With only 1:09 left on the clock in the third period, freshman Margot Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.) was sent to the box as she was called for checking. And with 12-seconds remaing in regulation, the Mavericks' Kala Buganski scored to even the game.
The Mavericks came out firing to begin the game, grabbing an early lead on goals from Emilia Andersson and Kala Buganski at the 59-second and 4:21 marks, respectively.
"They knew we were turning the puck over and not making good decisions,” UND head coach Brian Idalski said. “We just needed to get our heads on straight and go back to what was working for us. It was nice to see them respond, but it was disappointing to have the start we did in the first (period).”
Jaques scored at the 6:08 point in the period and Lewis added a power play goal, her third of the year, at 10:08 to even the game at two apiece.
UND controlled the puck for most of the second period and were seeming to pull away, when Jaques added her second goal of the game and third of the year at only 1:14 into the period. Moreover, Alyssa Wiebe was able to beat MSU netminder Alli Altimann to give the Fighting Sioux a 4-2 lead, which held going into the final period.
“I felt pretty confident going into the third,” Idalski said. “We were controlling the play and moving our feet doing a lot of good things offensively. We were attacking the net so I felt pretty good even though we left a few opportunities on ice.”
The squad will head to Blaine, Minn., tonight for an exhibition game tomorrow at 2:07 p.m. against the U.S.A. National team before returning home to face on Union College (N.Y.) in non-conference action.
“The reason we scheduled this game was because we wanted to see what kind of character we have,” Idalski said. “We want to see how we perform having heavy legs and knowing that we were going to be a little tired. When you play at this level you need to be able to make good decisions. This is a good example tomorrow of why we teach technique to the kids because they are not going to be able to get by on just natural talent. They are going to have to make good decisions and play a patient, disciplined game.”
-GO FIGHTING SIOUX-
