Maryanne Menefee netted a pair of goals as Minnesota won, 5-1, to sweep their WCHA series and end Minnesota State’s season.
“I’m actually surprised I have so many goals on the year, to be honest,” Menefee said. “They definitely come in bunches, so I’m happy they came tonight.”
She scored twice in a span of 1:43 of the second period to open the scoring, first redirecting a shot from Megan Wolfe through goalie Erin Krichiver.
“We’ve been working on that in practice, the high tip,” Menfee said. “Megan made a great pass to me, and luckily, it went through a bunch of people and went in.”
Menefee made it 2-0 when she intercepted a pass and scored with a wrist shot, the 21st goal of her junior season.
The Gophers (31-2-4, 22-2-4-2 WCHA) also got goals from Kelly Pannek, Hannah Brandt, and Rachael Bona, and Wolfe had two assists.
Senior Kathleen Rogan scored in her final game for Minnesota State (3-32-1, 1-26-1-0 WCHA). Nicole Schammel assisted on the play, giving her 22 points in her debut campaign.
Early on it was all Mavericks, as they outshot the hosts 15-3 in the opening 20 minutes.
“Really lacked energy, lacked jump, and on the flip side, Mankato played extremely hard like any team would when their season is on the line,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “It’s certainly a credit to them.”
Goalie Amanda Leveille stopped all 29 shots she faced before leaving midway through the third period with a five-goal lead, while Erin Krichever made 31 saves for the Mavericks, who look forward to next season as a more seasoned squad.
Minnesota advances to the WCHA Final Face-Off in Grand Forks, where its opponent will likely be the winner of the Bemidji State at Minnesota-Duluth series that concludes on Sunday.
“I just want us to play our best, and whoever we face, we just got to bring our A game,” Menefee said. “Can’t really take any periods off. Best of luck to those teams tomorrow in their third game, but I’ll be happy to play whoever.”
