Ashton Gerard/MDN Minot High School junior Kaya Shaw (7) fires a puck at the net during the first period of a girls hockey game Saturday against West Fargo United at Maysa Arena.

The game was close. With nothing on the scoreboard and complete effort on the ice, both teams were hungry to make something happen.

The Minot High School girls hockey team (6-13-0) fended off West Fargo United (10-6-0) for two periods Saturday in its contest at Maysa Arena. As time ran down in the third, emotions were running high and West Fargo found a way to eek out a 2-1 win.

West Fargo’s Madison Schoenberg raced down the ice as a fleet of Majettes followed. Minot goaltender Amber Borkhuis readied herself but couldn’t get to the puck that Schoenberg flung into the net with five minutes remaining in the game.

Trailing 1-0, it was time to rally.

Minot head coach Weylin Wahlstrom signaled a timeout and the athletes crowded around the bench, heads low and determined.

Out of the timeout, Alyssa Enns had a close call, as the sound of the puck hitting the post reverberated off Maysa Arena’s walls. Close, but not close enough.

Two minutes left in play, Amber Borkhuis made her way off the ice. The Majettes flew to the goal with fury and finally the goal horn sounded. Twenty-eight shots at the goal and finally junior Kaya Shaw was able to get one through with assists from Alyssa Aguirre and Brenna Abrahamson. Just like that, the Majettes were back in the game.

The Majettes were fighting to get to overtime but slipped up, letting United’s Kaycee Herring down the ice. On a breakaway with less than a second remaining, Herring sunk the puck into the net and sealed the game.

“They left everything they had out on that ice today,” Wahlstrom said. “For it to get squashed with .5 seconds left is very heart breaking.”

The Majettes fell to West Fargo United, 2-1, in the span of five minutes. West Fargo led the shots on goal, 37-30.

“We battled, we played hard and I thought it was one of our best games of the year,” Wahlstrom said. “We just couldn’t put the puck in the net but we fought. We fought for an entire game and it came down to a bouncing puck with three seconds left and a girl gets a breakaway.”

Throughout the game, Minot had two power play opportunities which saw solid scoring chances from duo Paige Ackerman and Alyssa Enns. Communicating throughout each opportunity, the two seemed to pass the puck between each other taking their turns firing at the net but to no avail.

Before her goal in the third, Shaw had fired many pucks straight to West Fargo goaltender Brooklyn Myrvik’s chest. Brenna Abrahamson went head to head off a breakaway in the second period with Myrvik, missing the goal by inches.

In the highly emotional affair, Borkhuis emerged from the game with 35 saves for the Majettes.

“There’s a handful of girls taking the loss really hard, Amber being one of them, but she stood on her head today and gave us a chance to win that hockey game,” Wahlstrom said.

The Majettes came into the game after a tough loss Friday against Fargo North/South, 6-2. Though the score didn’t show it, Wahlstrom said the girls fought hard against FNS and bounced back with the same intensity Saturday against West Fargo.

“I’m so extremely proud of the girls on how hard they worked and how they executed our plan, they were very coachable,” Wahlstrom. “I can’t say enough good things besides the fact that we lost, you know?”

With one game left in the regular season, it’s crunch time for the Majettes as they make a push to make the state tournament. They return to the ice Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. against the Mandan Braves (4-13-0) at Maysa Arena. A win on Tuesday punches Minot’s ticket to state.