The Austin girls’ hockey team found themselves on the wrong side of an 8-1, lopsided loss at the hands of Mankato East Thursday night at Riverside Arena.

The Packers, who held the Cougars scoreless through one period, gave up five second-period goals and three more in the third.

Austin’s lone goal came in the third period when Alex Larson scored at the 12:46 mark with the assist going to Ashley Arhart.

Mankato East’s Rebekah Kolstad, Sarah Biesterveld, and Savannah Quandt all had two goals on the night for the Cougars. Kelsey Ekstedt and Mariah Kragh each had one.

Packers’goalie Allison Hoban kept the Cougars’ attack at bay for a period, turning away 13 East shots, but soon the continued pressure by East finally started finding the back of the net.

“She kept us in it for awhile,” coach Denny Bray said. “But we didn’t backcheck real well and our forwards were just kind of watching.

“I don’t know how many rushes they had in that third period.”

East out-shot the Packers 43-23.

The Packers round out the regular season with a 6-17-1 record. They’ll find out Sunday who they will face in the first round of the playoffs. Bray said they will try to put the season behind them as they head into the post season.

“We’ve shown signs we’re a good hockey team and we’ve shown signs the other way,” Bray said. “We put this game behind us, and we put the season behind us and we look forward to playoffs.”