Ryan Ladika/MDN Taylyn Cope scores the first goal of the game for the Majettes Thursday night.

When the final horn sounded on the Minot Majettes’ Thursday evening 5-0 victory over the Williston Coyotes, the team had secured a win both on and off the ice.

Greeting fans just inside Maysa Arena’s main entrance was a large setup featuring a silent auction, the main event in honor of the evening’s ‘Majettes face off against cancer’ theme.

All the proceeds from the auction were to be sent to the 10-year-old daughter of Minot State president Dr. Steven Shirley, Anna, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last June, according to a statement posted to the Majettes’ Twitter account.

In lieu of accepting the funds, Anna’s family decided to pass them along to the Ronald McDonald House, where Anna lived for several months during her recovery. Minot High also brought Anna onto the ice for a ceremonial pregame puck drop.

“We were very honored, and it was just very exciting to have the Majettes pulling for Anna and just being wonderful,” said Anna’s mother, Jennifer Shirley. “It’s such an honor to be here. The Ronald McDonald house is just fantastic. They really have touched our lives.”

Perhaps given an added bit of motivation given the night’s atmosphere, the Majettes (6-3-1-0) produced one of their best games of the season. Riding wins in three of its last four, Minot most recently weathered a 49-shot barrage from Fargo North-South Jan. 9 in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Spruins.

Taylyn Cope ignited the Majettes’ offensive attack with her team’s first goal of the game 5:19 into the contest. She received a feed from Emily Thiele and skated along the boards on the near side.

While fending off a Williston (2-7-0-1) defender, the junior flicked a wrist shot past netminder Olivia Bervig, scoring her team-leading 13th goal of the season and earning her fifth point in her last three games.

Abigail Tallman doubled, and subsequently tripled, Minot’s advantage with a pair of power play goals in the final three minutes of the first and second periods, marking her first multi-goal effort of the season. Official assists were awarded to Thiele, her second of the game, Payton Lang and Kinsey Fjeld.

“We definitely came in from Sunday with a little bit of an attitude, which we like to see,” said Majettes co-head coach Chris Stokke. “And the girls were skating hard. We were making good passes, and that was really positive.”

Marissa Votava added Minot’s fourth goal of the night with 14:07 on the clock in the final period, and freshman Cambel Johnson scored the first goal of her Minot High career just under four minutes later.

“It feels pretty great. I’ve been waiting two years for this opportunity, so it feels pretty good,” Johnson said. “All I could think of is I couldn’t wait to huddle up with the girls and experience what that felt like.”

One game removed from making 47 saves, Jillian Ackerman only needed 16 Thursday night to collect her fourth shutout of the season. The Majettes limited Williston to single-digit shots in each period, highlighted by just three in the final 17 minutes of play.

Minot High will have just a single day to rest up for their next task, a home matchup with West Fargo late Saturday afternoon with puck drop scheduled for 4:15 p.m.