GRAND FORKS, N.D. --- The University of North Dakota women's hockey team opened its 2012-13 campaign with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Minnesota State, Mankato tonight in front of 1,593 fans at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Senior Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) scored in the first period and sophomore Andrea Dalen (Honefoss, Norway) scored early in the third period to give UND a 2-0 lead, but the Mavericks rallied for three unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation to stun the home team.
The Mavericks improve to 1-1-1 while North Dakota falls 0-1.
In front of a loud crowd to start the game, UND controlled play early but failed to take advantage until late in the period when Lamoureux split a pair of defenders and scored with a backhanded shot.
Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) picked up the lone assist on the goal at 18:52, feeding her sister with a perfect pass from the blue line as she was cutting towards the net.
UND failed to expand upon the momentum gained in the second period getting into penalty trouble.
UND spent a full eight minutes on the penalty-kill in the second period, leading to a 10-2 advantage in shots for the Mavericks in the frame, but concluded in a scoreless period.
North Dakota's offense got off to a quick start in the third period as Dalen was able to re-direct a point shot from sophomore Tori Williams (The Pas, Manitoba) to open a two-goal lead at 2:48 of the third period.
Having helped carry the weight of UND's penalty troubles through the first two periods, freshman Shelby Amsley-Benzie (Warroad, Minn.) finally let one past her at 10:37 of the third period.
MSU's Tracy McCann took advantage of a UND turnover on a breakout attempt to cut the lead to one goal.
North Dakota killed its first 15:58 of time spent with a player in the box, but the Mavericks would even the game on its eight power play attempt on a 3-on-2 rush. Lauren Smith swatted a rebound out of mid-air and into the net with only two seconds remaining on the power play.
UND's penalty-kill allowed only seven shots in eight attempts, but the Mavericks finished with the one power-play goal while holding the home team 0-for-3.
Smith would conclude the remarkable comeback battling to win a scramble in front of the net and score with only 38-seconds remaining in regulation.
North Dakota would attempt to answer and send the game into overtime hitting two pipes in the final 30 seconds but its fate had been sealed.
The reigning WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, MSU netminder Danielle Butters had another solid game with 16 saves. Amsley-Benzie finished with 20 saves in her collegiate debut.
Both teams blocked a ton of shots in the game combining for 39, but UND missed wide on 17 shots compared to the Mavericks five, limiting its secondary scoring chances.
UND will look to salvage a series split tomorrow afternoon at 2:07 p.m.
