By Carl Goenner / Sports Director / @carl_goennerpxp / Denver, CO.

-The St. Cloud State men’s hockey team defeated the ninth ranked Denver Pioneers 4-2 on Friday night.  Goaltender Yan Shostak finished with 33 saves in the win while Gavyn Thoreson, Austin Burnevik and Barrett Hall each had two points.   

The Huskies started fast, but the Pioneers matched their energy and just 1 minute and 23 seconds into the first period, SCSU’s Finn Loftus committed a slashing penalty.  St. Cloud successfully defended the powerplay and Denver’s Sam Harris was called for hooking shortly after.   The Huskies were also unable to convert on the man-advantage, but 30 seconds later Denver got on the board.  Cale Ashcroft took advantage of some bodies in front of the net and snuck a puck past Yan Shostak.  Late in the third period, Denver’s Samu Salminen sent SCSU’s Gavyn Thoreson into the boards and was called for boarding.   The Huskies challenged the call and it was changed to a five minute major giving SCSU an extended powerplay.  Less than one minute into the powerplay, St. Cloud State was caught with two many men on the ice.  Neither team could score in four-on-four play and the Huskies headed to period two trailing 0-1.

One minute and 30 seconds into the second period, Kristian Epperson gave Denver a 2-0 lead.  At the 8:58 mark of the second period, Tyson Gross received a pass from Finn Loftus and found the back of the net, getting the Huskies on the board. Less than five minutes later, Verner Miettinen netted another goal, tying the game at 2.

St. Cloud State brought their momentum into the third period and just one minute into the period, Gavyn Thorsen gave them the lead.  Denver put their foot on the gas, but Yan Shostak stood tall in goal making some amazing saves.  An empty net goal from Austin Burnevik sealed the win for the Huskies with a final score of 4-2.

Brett Larson Quote: “I’m just really proud of the guys, ya know?”  “I mean (going) down two nothing in this rink against a really good team and having the mental strength to come back in that thing is really impressive.”

Tyson Gross Quote: “I thought (we) showed a lot of character in our team and we’ve been building something all year.”

The Huskies will take on the Denver Pioneers again tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. You can catch that game live on 88.1 FM KVSC with Carl Goenner on the call.

Photo credit: Bill Prout.