MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The No. 10 University of Jamestown ACHA Division 1 women's hockey team showed tremendous resilience on Wednesday, fighting back from an early 3-0 deficit to force overtime, but ultimately dropped a 5-4 decision to No. 3 Minot State University in the first game of pool play at the ACHA Women's D1 National Championship.
Minot State jumped out to a commanding lead in the opening ten minutes of the contest. Paige Crossley opened the scoring at 4:15, followed quickly by goals from Marlie Rutherford at 6:28 and Olivia Opheim at 8:29, putting the Jimmies down 3-0.
Jamestown found its footing late in the first period when
Jayden Baker broke the shutout bid at the 10:54 mark, assisted by
Kelsey Amick, to send the Jimmies into the first intermission trailing 3-1.
The second period belonged to UJ, as they outscored the Beavers 3-1 to erase the deficit.
Bethany Wielgosh sparked the rally at 6:58, finishing a play set up by
Jayden Carels to make it a one-goal game.
Minot State's Cameron Schmidt temporarily halted the momentum with a power-play goal at 8:17, pushing the lead back to 4-2. However, the Jimmies' power-play unit answered back. At 12:29,
Samantha Beaulac found the back of the net on the man-advantage, assisted by
Emma Durand. Late in the period,
Kelsey Amick capped the comeback, scoring the equalizer at 17:47 off a feed from
Alivia Tilbury to tie the game 4-4.
After a tense, scoreless third period where both defenses locked down, the game headed into overtime.
In the extra frame, the Jimmies were forced onto the penalty kill after being whistled for bench minor at the 7:23 mark. Moments later, Minot State's Abby Tallman broke through with an unassisted game-winning goal at 8:52 to secure the 5-4 victory.
Jamestown goaltender
Maddie Sylvestre turned in a heroic performance, making a career-high 43 saves over 68:52 of ice time. Jillian Ackerman picked up the win for Minot State, stopping 27 of the 31 shots she faced.
The Beavers generated relentless offensive pressure, outshooting the Jimmies 48-31 for the game, including a 21-12 advantage in the first period.
Both teams converted once on the power play. Jamestown went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while Minot State finished 1-for-4.
Jamestown finishes pool play on Friday, March 20, at 2 p.m. against sixth-ranked University of Michigan-Dearborn.
University of Jamestown 4 at Minot State University 5 (OT) - Status: Final OT1
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - NHL Arena-CCIC
University of Jamestown 1 3 0 0 - 4
Minot State University 3 1 0 1 - 5
1st Period-1, MSU, Crossley 1 (Schmidt, Lang), 4:15. 2, MSU, Rutherford 1 (Kirwan, Dyck), 6:28. 3, MSU, Opheim 1 (Snyder, Pineau), 8:29. 4, UJ, Baker 1 (K. Amick), 10:54. Penalties-Kirwan MSU (tripping), 1:40.
2nd Period-5, UJ, Wielgosh 1 (Carels), 6:58. 6, MSU, Schmidt 1 (Tallman), 8:17 (PP). 7, UJ, Beaulac 1 (Durand), 12:29 (PP). 8, UJ, K. Amick 1 (Tilbury), 17:47. Penalties-Perrett UJ (slashing), 7:57; Andrew UJ (tripping), 8:33; Snyder MSU (tripping), 11:40; Gudz MSU (holding), 18:29.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Baker UJ (tripping), 1:38; Crossley MSU (checking), 7:26; Lang MSU (checking from behind), 15:59.
1st OT Period-9, WD1 Minot State University, Tallman 1 8:52. Penalties-UJ bench, served by K. Amick (too many men), 7:23.
Shots on Goal- University of Jamestown 12-12-5-2-31. Minot State University 21-13-8-6-48.
Power Play Opportunities- University of Jamestown 1 / 5; Minot State University 1 / 4.
Goalies- University of Jamestown, Sylvestre (48 shots-43 saves). Minot State University, Ackerman (31 shots-27 saves).
