by Noah Grant / sports@kvsc.org / (Photo SCSU Athletics)

St. Cloud poured 50 shots on Regina Cougars senior goaltender Morgan Baker, and the Huskies found the back of the net 3 times in the third period en route to a win in exhibition play Saturday afternoon at the Herb Brooks National hockey center.

In the first game for newly-minted head coach Steve MacDonald, the shots on goal were 30-14 in favor of the Huskies after 2 periods before the offense finally prevailed. McKenna Wesloh broke the scoreless tie with the game-winning goal three minutes and 21 seconds into the third period on a 2-on-1 rush with Jenniina Nylund (NEW-LUND). Laura Kluge also assisted on the play. Hallie Theodesopolus would provide separation with 5:15 left in the period off of a cross-ice feed from freshman Klara Hymlarova and redshirt senior Dana Rasmussen. Hymlarova would add the insurance marker into the empty net off of a stretch pass from Taytum Geier (GUY-ER) with 1:07 left to play. St. Cloud dominated the third period and controlled the pace as the faster team throughout most of the game with strong transitions and extensive offensive zone time.

All 3 goaltenders for the Huskies saw action in the contest during the “team shutout”. Senior Janine Alder finished the first period with 7 saves. Sophomore Karlie Ries (REESE) matched that total with 7 of her own in the second period before the offensive floodgates opened for St. Cloud State in the third. Junior Emma Polusny got the call to finish the game but only saw 3 shots in the afternoon. Emma Polusny was credited with the win, which does not count officially in the standings because it was an exhibition matchup. Regina goalie Morgan Baker finished with 47 saves.

St. Cloud was 0 for 4 on the powerplay and finished with 50 shots (15-15-20). Regina was 0 for 1 on the powerplay and dropped to an unofficial 3-3 on the season, which included a loss to WCHA rival Bemidji State University by a score of 5-1 on Friday. The Cougars had 17 shots on goal (7-7-3).

The final score was listed at 3-0. However, a 5-minute exhibition 3-on-3 period was played after the conclusion of the game in preparation for the upcoming season. Dana Rasmussen scored the lone goal of the period, but it was not included in the final box score.

St. Cloud will look ahead to a conference match-up next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 4 and 5) against Ohio State. The Buckeyes come into the season ranked 9^thin the NCAA in the national polls, coming off a pair of wins against St. Lawrence. Ohio State won by a score of 4-1 on Friday night before a thrilling 3-2 win on Saturday in a game that saw them score 2 goals in 8 seconds with under a minute remaining in the contest to secure the victory.

SCSU Women’s Hockey will be back on the KVSC Sports Stream this weekend, when they host Ohio State.