Junior forward Josefine Jakobsen skates against Team Russia earlier this season. Jakobsen tallied the first goal of the game last Friday. File photo.

The UND women’s hockey team traveled to Clarkson, N.Y. this weekend and left with a split.

The Green and White pulled through the first game Friday with a 2-1 win, but Clarkson got the better of North Dakota Saturday night as the Green and White fell 2-1.

The penalty kill was a big factor for UND as it fought to take the edge away from Clarkson — going a perfect five-for-five on the penalty kill.

“That was huge,” UND coach Brian Idalski said. “We took a fair amount of stick infractions and we knew that we’d have to adjust to the way the game’s called out here a little tighter, and I thought the kill was huge for us. Especially against a top-10 program that has a very good powerplay — some players that are world class up front. That was a great job by the kill.”

Josefine Jakobsen opened scoring for UND in the first period at 19:07 to claim a 1-0 lead, but Clarkson was able to make a comeback and tie the game with nearly seven minutes left in the second period.

The third period was the decision maker between the two teams. Lisa Marvin got the game winner and her first collegiate goal to seal the 2-1 win for North Dakota.

Another factor that held strong in UND’s win was goaltending.

“(Shelby Amsley-Benzie) was huge — especially early when we were getting our feet underneath us, and quite frankly we didn’t look very good,” Idalski said, “I thought Shelby was a stabilizing factor, calmed everybody down, made some huge saves and, quite honestly, was a difference in the game.”

Saturday loss

Saturday’s game was a tougher challenge, as UND fell to Clarkson 2-1 — the team’s seven penalties a contributing factor.

The first goal of the game was scored by Clarkson in the first period and gave it a 1-0 lead, and it added to the lead in the second period as the team scored late in the period.

North Dakota was able to get on the board in the third period on a goal by Amy Menke to put the team down by a goal, but that was all UND could muster as it took the 2-1 loss and a weekend split.

UND outshot Clarkson 26-17 and each team had seven total penalties, but Clarkson was able to capitalize on one of its power plays while UND was unable to execute.

UND’s next game will be another road battle, as it will travel to fellow WCHA rival Mankato this weekend.

The puck will drop at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 3:07 p.m. Saturday.

Mariah Holland is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].