by Noah Grant/Sports Director/@noahgrant_23

ST. PAUL, Minn. – It was a goaltending duel on Saturday afternoon as the St. Cloud State women’s hockey team blanked St. Thomas 1-0. The Huskies finally broke through with just under nine minutes left in regulation to complete the sweep and stay perfect in WCHA play. 

The lone goal came off the stick of Siiri Yrjola after two scoreless frames. Despite the lack of goals, the Huskies had plenty of chances in the first two periods and outshot the Tommies 24-12. 

“Second period, we were all gas there, and it was just a matter of time, again, when it’s gonna go in,” said Huskies head coach Mira Jalosuo. “I understand as a young athlete it’s sometimes hard not to get frustrated when things are not going in, but we found a second wave in the goal and that was a beautiful goal by Siiri.” 

Yrjola’s goal came off the rush. Madelyn Lee forced a turnover and got the puck to Sofianna Sundelin. The puck got pokechecked off the stick of Sundelin but came right to Yrjola who ripped a shot home from the top of the circles at 8:46 of the third. 

“[Yrjola]’s very, very deceptive and she’s very smart,” said Jalosuo. “If she doesn’t see a screen, she’s not shooting to shoot the puck. She plays with her head up, and that’s a nice goal by her and she saw [Payton] Holloway was screening the goalie and found a corner.”

It was Yrjola’s second goal of the season. Lee picked up the secondary assist to earn her first collegiate point. 

The Tommies would push for an answer late in the third, and for the second straight game the Huskies were called for a penalty in the final minutes of regulation. Maria Mikaelyan was sent to the box for high-sticking with 2:39 remaining. St. Thomas pulled the goaltender to create a six-on-four advantage. 

Emilia Kyrkko was rock solid in net, however, keeping the zero on the board. The junior made 22 saves in total to earn her first shutout of the season and eighth career shutout. 

The Huskies are now 6-2-0 overall and undefeated in conference play with a 4-0-0 WCHA mark. SCSU will play their first games at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this weekend to begin a four game homestand. The Huskies host the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday, October 23 at 6 p.m.

Photo Credit: SCSU Athletics