File photo of Minot State graduate student Journey Miller as she takes the puck across the ice in the Beavers' home game against the University of Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 13. Nathan Beitler/MDN

The Beavers’ women’s hockey team were in for a tough fight against the Maryville University Saints in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Midwest College Hockey Tournament on Thursday morning, Feb. 19.

The two teams met earlier this season the weekend of Oct. 10 in two games with the Beavers walking away with a 1-1 record against the Saints. The Beavers lost 1-5 in their last meetup with Maryville, so Thursday morning was their chance at revenge and a winning record against the Saints.

Maryville took the lead with a quick goal with a power play after Minot State junior Olivia Kirwan was given two minutes in the penalty box for interference.

The Saints kept their slim lead through most of the first period until MSU graduate student Journey Miller scored the Beavers’ first goal of the game against a full strength Maryville 18 minutes 54 seconds into the period. The score was a close 1-1 heading into the second period.

Junior Payton Lang scored for Minot State early into the second period to give the Beavers their first lead of the game. The Saints scored their second goal of the game just over six minutes later, tying the game once again at 2-2. Miller scored her second goal of the game with less than five minutes of the second period left, giving the Beavers back their lead and sending Minot State on a scoring run to tie their season record for largest victory and breaking their season record for unanswered goals.

The Beavers earned one more goal before the end of the second period giving them a comfortable two-goal lead heading into the third period.

From there, the Beavers’ efforts snowballed into another six uninterrupted goals, including two sets of back to back goals by freshman Kinley Brassard and senior Cameron Schmidt.

The Beavers ended the game with a 10-2 victory over the Saints, securing their ticket to the semifinals of the WMCH Tournament.

The Beavers improved their record on the season to 16-5-7 on the season and will take on the No. 1 ranked Liberty University starting at 5 p.m. in Fremont, NE.