Nelli Laitinen's third goal in as many games broke a third-period tie as the Gophers women's hockey team ended a two-game losing streak by beating Minnesota State Mankato 3-1 on Friday night at Ridder Arena.
The Gophers improved to 103-4-3 all-time against Minnesota State, but the result was in doubt for much of the night. Lucy Morgan gave up a goal 71 seconds in to the Mavericks' Whitney Tuttle, and the Gophers (6-2, 4-2 WCHA) didn't tie it up until Abbey Murphy continued her dominant start to the season by scoring in the second period, her 10th goal of the season.
Laitinen broke the tie at the 14:01 mark of the third period, keeping the puck onside and sniping a shot from just inside the blue line. Ava Lindsay added a power-play goal at 16:11, and Morgan was strong after the early goal, finishing with 33 saves against the Mavericks (2-7, 0-7).
"Happy with the three points and finding a way to win tonight," Gophers coach coach Brad Frost said. "It certainly wasn't pretty, and we have to be better. We have to move our feet better, support pucks better and overall have to do a better job."
The teams will complete a home-and-home series with a game in Mankato on Saturday.
