Max Steigauf / Sports Director / @MSteigauf

#1 Ohio State

Game 1

Over the weekend the Huskies faced a tall task: go to Columbus, Ohio and beat the #1 ranked Buckeyes. After the first period of game one the Huskies found themselves down 1-0 after McKennna Webster netted her fourth goal of the season.

The second period St. Cloud battled back and found themselves up a skater when Hannah Bilka committed a slashing minor. It took the Huskies only six seconds with the powerplay to tie the game thanks to CC Bowlby tapping in a sweet pass from Katie Kaufman.

later in the second period Greta Henderson scored her first collegiate goal after sweeping in a rebound to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead late in the second period.

St. Cloud started the third on the back foot going on the penalty kill early. The Huskies killed the Buckeye powerplay without giving up a shot. That was key because Sanni Ahola had already made her fair share of stops in net saving 46 of the 47 Ohio State shots in the game. which would end up netting her the WCHA’s goalie of the week.

The Huskies weathered the Buckeye onslaught in the third period for their first win against the Buckeyes since Feb. 3 2017.

Game 2

Ohio State came into the second game swinging scoring five minutes into the game. Ohio continued to push on the Huskies defense in the first period. midway through the period Laura Zimmerman received a breakout pass by Maddy Peterson kickstarting a 1 on 1. Zimmerman would flick a back hander past Amanda Thiele to tie the game at 1-1.

Again, the Buckeyes would come out swinging in the second period swinging, and the Huskies seemed to be weathering the storm well. However, about six minutes into the second the dam broke for Ohio State. The Buckeyes would score three goals in the next four minutes. That would be a deficit St. Cloud Couldn’t recover from dropping the second game 6-2.

#2 University of Minnesota

On Tuesday the Huskies hosted the #2 ranked Golden Gophers at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies looked hungry to down the Gophers for the second time in two years.

The first period was back and forth for the first half of the opening period until the Gophers made a couple of costly errors that gave St. Cloud a 5 on 3 powerplay. St. Cloud was unable to capitalize on Minnesota’s mistakes and it gave the Gophers a lot of energy after the powerplay. The Gophers would get a powerplay opportunity shortly after. The Gophers would score on that powerplay to give them a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.

The Huskies would once again get in penalty trouble having to kill an early powerplay in the second period. After that the Huskies forced a turnover in the offensive zone leading to Addi Scribner scoring her first goal of the season. From there the back-and-forth game continued with neither team being able to score for the rest of regulation pushing the game to overtime.

St. Cloud would play a majority of the extra time down a skater after C.C. Bowlby’s game misconduct. Even though they were down a skater the Huskies showed a lot of grit surviving the overtime period.

In the shootout the Gophers scored on two of their three attempts to give them the extra point in the WCHA standings.

#6 Duluth Bulldogs

Game 1

St. Cloud looked a little foggy in game one against the Bulldogs. Duluth would try to take advantage of that but after 20 minutes the score was tied 0-0.

The second period saw the Huskies take back momentum with a couple of powerplay opportunities. St. Cloud couldn’t cash in on the extra skater advantage giving Duluth a chance to counterpunch. Nina Jobst-Smith would deliver a heck of a blow scoring on a slap shot from the blue line.

The Bulldogs seemed to have a strangle hold on the game until Avery Farrell tied the game up late in the third period once again sending the Huskies to overtime, but once again Duluth countered and Tova Henderson would net the game winning goal in OT to give Duluth the extra WCHA point.

Game 2

Game two the Huskies started out sharp and would be rewarded after the first period with a 1-0 lead. Klara Hymlarova would score her first goal since her hat trick against Lindenwood on October 21.

In the second period the Huskies would score late in the frame. With about 6 minutes left in the period Alice Sauriol would put a puck past Duluth goalie Hailey MacLeod to give St. Cloud a 2-0 lead. Later Dayle Ross would head into the penalty box for holding. That didn’t interfere with the Huskies offense because 28 seconds later Avery Farrell would net a shorthanded goal for her second tally in as many days.

By the third the Huskies had already beaten the Bulldogs, but Duluth would add a goal. St. Cloud responded with two empty net goals to give the Huskies a 5-1 win over the Bulldogs. It was the first time the Huskies beat the Bulldogs since February 9, 2019. It was also the largest amount of goals the Huskies have ever put up on their archrivals.

Summary

The Huskies went 2-2-1 and collected 8 WCHA points in 8 days against the top teams in the nation to wrap up the first half of the season. Including wins against #1 ranked Ohio State, and #6 Duluth Bulldogs. The Huskies are currently ranked #7 which is the highest the program has ever been ranked, and with the momentum they’ve built up they should be on “your must-see schedule” in the second half of the season. St. Cloud is currently fourth in the WCHA with 29 conference points which already is just seven shy of the program record they set just last season. They will play an exhibition game against the St. Thomas Tommies on January 6 at 1 pm the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.