Minnesota State got an early lead and never looked back in a key WCHA victory at North Dakota Sunday.
MSU (11-12-3, 8-10-2 WCHA) junior Shera Vis scored two goals, including one on a penalty shot. Freshman Maggie Fisher also scored two, including the eventual game-winner.
MSU wasted no time gaining the lead on a top shelf goal by sophomore Kristina Bunker on the power play at 2:27 of the first frame. With UND (6-18-2, 2-16-2 WCHA) freshman Melissa Jaques in the penalty box for cross-checking, Bunker took a pass from senior Jen Jonsson at the bottom of the circle and roofed the puck over Sioux senior goalie Amber Hasbargen to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Maggie Fisher extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:10 of the period with her team-best 12th goal of the year.
“We win games when we score first,” said MSU coach Jeff Vizenor. “We buried some chances today and we really made that a focus after yesterday.”
The Sioux had many opportunities in the game but capitalized on just one of their 36 shots on MSU sophomore Brit Kehler. UND hit two crossbars and one pipe in the defeat.
“That was not a 5-1 game at all,” said UND coach Shantel Rivard. “I thought we outplayed them and outbattled them, but their goalie played well.”
Hasbargen, coming off her first shutout of the season, was at her best on a 5-on-3 Maverick power play for almost a full 2:00 just past the half way point of the first period. She made several key stops to hold MSU scoreless for the rest of the period. She finished the game with 26 saves.
Kehler played a brilliant game, making 35 saves for the win.
“I felt good, my defense let me see the puck, and they did everything they could to clear the puck away from the net and I got lucky a couple of times and that helped me out,” Kehler said.
UND dictated play for the first seven minutes of the second period, but had nothing to show for it. Then at 7:16, MSU junior Shera Vis got a clear shot on net from the top of the circle and put it past Hasbargen for a 3-0 lead. It was Vis’ third goal of the year. The goal deflated what was a fired up Sioux team, but they kept coming.
A penalty shot was called at 9:35 when MSU’s Vis was taken down by UND freshman Samantha Bowers while coming in on a breakaway. Vis converted the penalty shot by faking the shot then deking to Hasbargen’s blocker side and depositing her fourth goal of the season into the back of the net.
“I went to the bench after I got hauled down and coach asked what they thought, what the goalie’s weaknesses were, and we all came to the decision that if I faked the shot and then went high that it would go in, so I just followed their instructions and it went in,” Vis said of the penalty shot that made the score 4-0.
UND got on the board in the third when senior Devon Fingland took a pass from junior Sarah Connelly and put the puck in off the far post on Kehler. It was Fingland’s third goal this season.
MSU’s Fisher capped the scoring just 54 seconds later.
North Dakota travels to Bemidji State next weekend, while Minnesota State
travels to Minnesota for a two game set.
