No. 1 Warriors Sweep Minot State in Top 10 Matchup
MINOT, N.D. – It was an early-season rematch as newly No. 1-ranked Midland University traveled to take on No. 10-ranked Minot State University this weekend. The Warriors, who took both games during the opening weekend in Fremont, picked up two more wins over the Beavers winning 3-1 and 4-2 up in Minot, North Dakota. The teams will meet up for another two-game series in January.
FRIDAY: Midland 3, Minot State 1
In the opening game of the weekend, the Beavers broke open the scoring as they took advantage of a powerplay chance at the 15:44 mark of the first period. They would take that lead into the first intermission as both teams were limited to just four shots each on net.
Just before the midway point of the second, Midland pulled even as Paige Henderson found the back of the net. Taylor Bell and Sydni Richards assisted on the goal at the 8:14 mark. Darbi Poole put the Warriors in front just over two minutes later as she scored an unassisted goal at 10:35 of the period. Once again, the shots on net were even in the period with each side getting five shots up.
Midland's attack ramped up in the final period with 14 shots against the Minot State goalie. They were unable to get on the board until the final minutes of play when the Beavers pulled their netminder for an extra attacker. Karenna Grothmann scored the empty-net goal with 1:04 to play as Midland capped off a 3-1 victory.
Hannah Stone had 17 saves in goal for MU while the Beaver's goalie collected 21 saves on the afternoon.
SATURDAY: Midland 4, Minot State 2
The Warriors jumped out early as they took advantage of a pair of powerplay chances. After the Beavers were whistled for a checking minor just eight minutes into the period, Callie Maguire scored the game's first goal. Kayla Flanigan and Keagan Shearer assisted. Four minutes later, it was Ally Rakowski scoring a powerplay goal from Maguire and Flanigan after the Beavers had a player sent to the penalty box for a slash.
Minot State would settle in shortly thereafter, scoring its first goal of the game. They pulled within a goal at the 14:50 mark. The high-scoring opening period continued as Midland found the back of the net once more. With 3:36 until the intermission, Rakowski scored her second of the game off a feed from Flanigan, her third helper of the game. That led to a goalie switch for the Beavers.
With a new player between the pipes, Minot State settled in defensively. In the second, they limited Midland to just three shots on target. The Warriors' netminder, Hannah Stone, held the Beavers off the board as well, collecting nine saves in the middle period.
In the final period, Midland's attack picked up as they put 11 shots on net. Trailing by a goal, Minot State pulled its goal for the extra attacker. With 23 seconds on the game clock, Darbi Poole was able to push a puck into the unguarded goal as the Warriors won 4-2.
Stone collected 20 total saves on the day while MSU's goalies combined for 22 saves.
Midland (15-0-1) will return home for its next series, a two-game set against Minnesota (3-3-0). The Warriors will face off against the Gophers next weekend at Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont, Nebraska. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 18, and for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 19.