Mound-Westonka’s 28-game undefeated streak is intact, but just barely. 

After taking a commanding 3-0 lead over Mankato East, the third-seeded Whitehawks allowed a pair of goals to the Cougars in the third period, throwing the team’s perfect record in jeopardy. 

“I think we were a little too focused on offense,” Mound-Westonka co-head coach Bob Kuehl said after the game. “We had a couple of defensive breakdowns, (but) we had a couple of shifts to get it back going. Once we did that we were fine.”

An insurance goal by Sydney Hules extended the Whitehawks’ lead to 4-2 for the final score, dampening a state tournament record-setting performance by Mankato East goaltender Andrea Schreiber. Schreiber totaled 69 saves in the loss, besting the previous tournament record of 59 by Lakeville North’s Cassie Alexander set in 2013. 

“It was great seeing a lot of shots, and I knew I could handle it,” Schreiber said, admitting that she stole a peek or two at the scoreboard hanging above center-ice throughout the game. 

Mankato East head coach Amber Prange said that Schreiber’s team is just as impressed with her as the Cougar coaches are, considering the coaching staff has been anticipating Schreiber’s senior season after making a state tournament appearance as a sophomore. 

“I think her entire team is proud of her and her efforts, because it would have been a different game had she maybe missed on one or two here or there,” Prange said. 

Mound-Westonka (23-0-5) got a goal from leading scorer Lauren Burris in the first period and tacked on two more scores in the second by Kailey Niccum and Gretta Pioske. 

Senior forward and Hamline University commit Madison Davis started the short-lived comeback attempt by Mankato East (18-8-2) with a goal at the 4:26 mark of the third period, followed by a second tally from Evie Johnson to pull the Cougars within one.

With the win, the Whitehawks become the first team in program history to advance out of the quarterfinals, but Schreiber still owned the day and received a compliment from Mound-Westonka’s Kuehl early in the postgame press conference; 

“When’s the last time you had 73 shots on goal, and you were still worried about the outcome?” Kuehl said. “We were still sweating it out at the end.”