MANKATO – The No. 2 Gophers won their 13th game in a row and 20th game of the season by beating Minnesota State Mankato 5-1 on Friday night before an announced crowd of 253 in WCHA women's hockey.
It was the Gophers' 40th win in a row over the Mavericks; they lead the all-time series 85-3-3.
Patti Marshall scored just under 11 minutes into the game to put Minnesota ahead. Then the Gophers (20-2-1, 10-2-1 WCHA) broke the game open by scoring twice in less than 3½ minutes. Emily Oden got a goal with 1:45 left in the opening period and Amy Potomak made it 3-0 on a power-play goal at 1:40 of the second.
Just 10 seconds into the third, Taylor Wente got the Gophers' fourth goal, and Olivia Knowles got the final one with 1:49 left.
Between those goals, Brooke Bryant kept the Mavericks from getting shut out with a goal at 7:31.
Alex Gulstene stopped 18 shots, 11 in the third period, for the Gophers; Gulstene, a sophomore from Vancouver, British Columbia, is 15-0 this season. Abigail Levy had 28 saves for the Mavericks (8-9-4, 3-8-2-1).
During their winning streak, the Gophers have outscored their opponents 68-20, averaging 5.23 goals per game.Twelve different Gophers had at least one point in this game. Two had two: Oden had one assist besides her goal, Taylor Heise had two assists.
