Brian Moos / Sports Director

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The most important lead in hockey is the last one. On Friday, October 17, St. Cloud State women’s hockey pulled off a win after trailing or playing in a tied game against St. Thomas. The Huskies would get goals from Alice Sauriol, Laura Zimmerman and captain Grace Wolfe to push St. Thomas to overtime. Then Sauriol struck again in the extra period, giving the Huskies the win and two WCHA points.

This weekend would start the first full home conference series of the season for Husky women’s hockey. Almost every stat would favor the Huskies how they drew it up, but the Tommies would keep finding ways to grab leads. The Tommies would take a 3-2 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. The goal, scored by Cara Sajevic was controversial. Laura Zimmerman would battle Sajevic behind the Huskies’ net. Zimmerman gained control of the puck, but was pulled down by Sajevic, getting grabbed above her neck. The Huskies would challenge the call, but even after review there was no penalty call. Head Coach Mira Jalosuo was told it was a minor penalty, but video review can only result in a major penalty, or no penalty at all. Jalosuo contested it should have been a major penalty in her presser after the game.

Instead of the Huskies gaining a major powerplay, they were down 3-2 with little time left. That could’ve been deflating, but SCSU wouldn’t let it be. The Huskies continued to blitz the St. Thomas defense. After a scramble for the puck in front of the Tommie net, Siiri Yrjölä blasted a loose puck for a goal with under 30 seconds left. St. Thomas immediately challenged for offsides on SCSU before the goal. They were correct and the goal was disallowed. Captain Grace Wolfe was clearly offside, the game clock reset to 47 seconds. For Wolfe and the Huskies, that still wasn’t enough to keep them down.

Playing with an empty net, the Huskies passed around a collapsed Tommie defense, finding Grace Wolfe. She would score from the top of the o-zone, redeeming the offsides moments earlier. Wolfe brings the Huskies level with 21 seconds left in the third. We would head to overtime.

The Huskies wouldn’t lose a step in extra time. SCSU outshot UST 41-16 through three periods, they wouldn’t allow another shot on goal in overtime. Offensively it only took the Huskies three shots to find the golden goal. Grace Wolfe wins possession in the Husky d-zone, finds Sofianna Sundelin who springs a breakout for Alice Sauriol. Sauriol would rush to the St. Thomas net with a defender and goalie to beat. That would be no problem for the Junior who returned as SCSU’s leading scorer from last year. Sauriol scores and the Huskies take their first lead of the game in OT, 4-3 win.

SCSU stops a three-game losing streak and improves to 4-3-0 on the 2025-26 season. The Huskies will play the Tommies again Saturday, puck drop is slated for 1 p.m. in St. Cloud. You can listen to KVSC’s coverage of the contest on 97.5 FM RadioX, the broadcast will start at 12:30 p.m.