The Austin girls hockey team fell behind early in a 7-1 loss to Mankato East in Riverside Arena Saturday.

The Cougars (8-1 overall, 6-1 Big Nine) scored four goals in the first period and Austin couldn’t recover.

“Their first line was unreal,” Austin head coach Denny Bray said. “We knew we would be kind of outmatched and it was a learning experience for our girls.”

Austin eighth grader Mara Overby came in at goalie in relief for Austin (5-5 overall, 3-4 Big Nine) and she stopped all 19 shots she saw in the third period, but East tacked on three more goals in the third.

SCORING SUMMARY

East 4 0 3 — 7

Austin 0 1 0 — 1

First period

(M) Savnnah Quandt 5:10

(M) Rebekah Kolstad (Bobbi Sellner, Sarah Biesterveld) 10:00

(M) Quandt (Melany Anderson) 13:41

Second period

(A) Chloe Summerfield 12:59

Third period

(M) Kolstad (Maddie McCargar, Biesterveld) 3:15

(M) Quandt (Kylie Paulson) 10:57

(M) Kolstad (Quandt) 13:55

Shots: Austin — 36; East — 43