No. 1 Minnesota broke a school record for the longest unbeaten streak Saturday, defeating Minnesota State, Mankato, 6-1. The Golden Gophers are now undefeated in 22 straight games and hold a 21-2-5 overall record and 14-1-3 record in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Senior co-captain Laura Slominski aided the Gophers in the victory with her sixth career hat trick.
Mankato came out strong scoring the first goal of the game at 1:10 into the first period. The Gophers however, would score two goals to take the lead by the end of the first stanza.
Minnesota scored three minutes later at 4:35 when Slominski scored her first goal with the assists coming from Kelly Stephens and Melissa Coulombe. The Gophers took the lead at 17:28 with their first power-play goal in three games. Minnesota’s Kristy Oonincx scored her third goal in two nights, with Ronda Curtin and Stephens adding assists. It was Oonincx’s fourth game-winning goal this year, second in two nights.
Slominski tallied her second goal of the game on a tip from Curtin. The second assist was credited to Tracy Engstrom. La Toya Clarke scored at 16:25 of the second to give the Gophers a three-goal lead. Oonincx and Cecilia Retelle had the assists. Slominski completed the hat trick at 17:22 on a power-play opportunity, and Minnesota added its third power-play goal of the night when Coulombe scored her first goal of the season. Noelle Sutton and Tracy Engstrom added the assists to set up the final score.
“We talked before the game about how a win today would break the old unbeaten streak,” head coach Laura Halldorson said. “I don’t usually care about streaks, polls or stats, but I told them that the record would be a way for them to leave their mark on the program. I’m really proud of this team.”