Max Steigauf / Sports Director / @MSteigauf

SUMMARY

After a dominant 3-1 win over St. Thomas on Friday St. Cloud gives up three empty netters in 5-1 loss to the Tommies.

Game One

The Huskies started game one looking like a team trying to send a message after a split against Minnesota State last week. St. Cloud outshot the Tommies 13-5 in the opening period of the weekend, but after 20 minutes the score was still 0-0. St. Cloud had some great chances but couldn’t convert on any.

The second period looked very similar to the first until about midway through when CC Bowlby was called for holding. However, St. Cloud would turn a negative into a positive when Taylor Lind and Klara Hymlarova would spring a 2-1. Hymlarova would nudge the puck past a sprawling Olivia King to give St. Cloud their third shorthanded goal of the year and the lead. St. Cloud would also get a chance to play on the powerplay late in the period too. Grad transfer Katie Kaufman would wrist a lethal shot from the top of the faceoff dot to give St. Cloud their second goal of the game. It was the Huskies first powerplay goal since Ohio State on Dec. 2.

St. Thomas would open their scoring with a powerplay goal of their own about five minutes into the final period. With the score tightening to 2-1 St. Cloud looked to one of their standout freshman Alice Sauriol who scored her fifth goal of the season which put her in the top three for this year’s team in goals scored. from there Jojo Chobak looked like her old self shutting down the Tommies the rest of the way giving St. Cloud a 3-1 victory.

Game Two

In game two St. Cloud was looking for the season sweep of the Tommies as they finished the series in Mendota Heights. St. Cloud controlled a majority of the first period. The Huskies would score first when Avery Farrell found captain Taylor Lind in the slot to give St. Cloud a 1-0 lead, they would take into the second period.

In the second period St. Cloud again looked solid. St. Thomas would shift momentum back to their side after a big penalty kill. The Tommies would score later in the period on a lucky bounce past Sanni Ahola that tied the game.

St. Cloud looked desperate to start the third period, and they once again had opportunities to score but could get the puck past Olivia King. St. Thomas would take advantage of that desperation getting Rylee Bartz a breakaway that would lead to the game winning goal. The Huskies would give up another three empty net goals to give the Tommies their second win in the WCHA. For the second straight week St. Cloud would walk away from a series with only three of the six total points.

Up Next

St. Cloud will host the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this week. Game one is set for Fri. at 3 P.M. on 97.5 RadioX and a special Hockey Day Minnesota game on Sat. at 1 P.M. on 88.1 KVSC.

St. Cloud is the only team in the WCHA that has beaten the Buckeyes this year and will look to get another upset this weekend on home ice.