Max Steigauf / Sports Director / @Max_Steigauf

The St. Cloud State Huskies women’s hockey team had a lot of momentum heading into yesterday’s game against the #1 ranked Minnesota Gophers. The Huskies had swept their last two WCHA opponents and received votes in the latest USCHO pol, but the gophers would be different beast.

Right away the Gophers started to pelt Huskies netminder, Sanni Ahola with shots in the first period. The Huskies would weather the storm and find a groove as the first period carried on. with about 6:20 left in the first period Bailey Burton would make a wonderful centering pass to Klara Hymlarova who would bury her eighth goal of the season and notch her 50th point of her career. The Huskies would continue to keep the pressure on the Gophers throughout the rest of the period. With less than a minute left in the first Gophers goaltender, Skylar Vetter, couldn’t control a rebound and Addi Scribner swept up the trash giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

The second period would be a rollercoaster for both teams. The Huskies would start the second period on the powerplay, and they would pick up where they left off in Bemidji, scoring 23 seconds into the period. This time it would be Baily Burton who would notch her first goal as a Husky. Once again, the Huskies took advantage of a Vetter rebound increasing their lead to 3-0. The Gophers would answer back seven minutes later after a body checking penalty sent the Gophers on the powerplay. Minnesota would hem the Huskies in and keep a tired penalty kill unit out on the ice until Minnesota’s Captain Taylor Heise painted the crossbar to give the Gopher’s their first and only goal of the day. The Huskies would head into the third period on a disadvantage after Grace Wolfe was assessed an interference minor.

The Huskies would successfully kill the remainder of Wolfe’s penalty to start the third period. Eight minutes into the third St. Cloud Native Allie Cornelius intercepted a clear from Minnesota and would snap a wrister into the back of the net for her first goal of the season giving the Huskies a 4-1 lead. The last ten minutes of the game was dominated by Minnesota. The Gophers threw everything they had at the Huskies, but St. Cloud’s defensive core and Sanni Ahola stood tall keep the number one team in the nation off the board. As the scoreboard at the Andover Community Center hit zeros the Huskies beat the Gophers for the first time since 2010, and it was St. Cloud’s first time knocking off a #1 team since 2007 when they beat the Badgers.

The fifth straight win continues the Huskies momentum as they travel back to the granite city to face the Bulldogs at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this weekend.