News Tribune Mankato Sweep Story

The third period was kind to Minnesota Duluth in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s series against Minnesota State-Mankato.

The Bulldogs used four third-period goals to sweep the Mavericks with a 5-2 win Saturday night at All Seasons Arena in Mankato, Minn.

UMD (18-3-1, 15-3 WCHA) staved off defeat Friday with two goals in the final three minutes to win 2-1.

“We played a more compete game [Saturday],” UMD coach Shannon Miller said. “We didn’t register goals early, but we played harder.”

The WCHA-leading Bulldogs have won 10 straight games and 13 of their last 14.

Sophomore forward Emmanuelle Blais rebounded from a Friday benching to score two goals, including the game-tying goal at 8:02 of the third period.

“[Assistant coach] Caroline [Ouellette] did some video work with [Blais] and she was excellent [Saturday],” UMD coach Shannon Miller said.

Second-ranked UMD took the lead 16 seconds later, at 8:18, when Karine Demeule found the back of the net.

Haley Irwin and Iya Gavrilova also added final period goals for the Bulldogs.

“I thought the line of Haley Irwin, Emmanuelle Blais and Laura Fridfinnson were the best line [Saturday] and led the way,” Miller said.

Kim Martin had 20 saves for the Bulldogs, while former Cloquet-Esko-Carlton goalie Paige Thunder had26 stops for the Mavericks.

Amanda Stohr and Christina Lee each scored for the sixth-place Mavericks (5-12-1, 6-15-1).

The Bulldogs were 1-for-3 on the power play and 6-for-6 on penalty kill.