Maine turned in a great defensive effort and got solid goaltending from junior goalie Rachel Gettings to gain a 2-0victory over North Dakota 2. With the win, Maine completed a sweep on the road for the first time this season.
The Black Bears (8-3-3, 1-3-2 HE) defense limited UND (2-10-2, 0-8-0 WCHA) to just two shots in the first period, both of which were in the last minute of the frame. They effectively blocked passes and shots in their zone and cleared the puck in front of their net.
“Our team, without a doubt, played real solid defense,” Gettings said. “They were able to defend anything that came down on me and made my job real easy this weekend, they played great in front of me.”
The Fighting Sioux defense was solid as well, limiting second chances on junior goalie Amber Hasbargen. Hasbargen was steady in the net turning away 17 shots in a losing effort that dropped her record to 2-8-2 on the season.
“Overall, I was happy with our play, but we just couldn’t score,” said UND coach Shantel Rivard.
Maine’s power play converted twice in two chances in the second period to open and close the scoring.
“I think special teams was a big factor, we capitalized on two of five power plays and shut them down [on the penalty kill],” said Maine coach Guy Perron.
The first goal came at 9:51 when junior Katie Sunstrum took a feed from fellow junior Brigitte LaFlamme and snuck a shot five-hole on Hasbargen for her second goal of the year and a 1-0 lead.
“My goal wasn’t pretty, but it’s a shot on net and it went in,” Sunstrum said.
LaFlamme would get a power-play goal of her own for a two point night at 16:23. A shot by sophmore Kim Meagher squeaked through Hasbargen and was trickling through the crease toward the net, when LaFlamme dove and swept the puck into the net. The insurance goal was her fifth overall this season.
UND was not without its chances, outshooting Maine 11-4 in the second and 9-6 in the third, but could not get anything past Gettings. She ended the game with 22 saves to improve her record to 3-0-0 this season.
“Rachel was awesome, she came up huge with some key saves,” said Sunstrum of Gettings. “If your goalie is looking strong you just feed off that, so I think we owe the win to her.”
UND is now winless in its last 10 games, and Maine is 6-1-3. North Dakota hosts No. 5 Minnesota next weekend while Maine travels to Northeastern.
