St. Cloud State men's hockey gains 4-3 win at WMU

Friday, November 14

Kalamazoo, MI

6:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

4-5-0, 1-2-0-0

Western Michigan University

3-6-0, 1-4-0-0

St. Cloud State

Western Michigan

Huskies celebrate goal by Patrick Russell

Photo by: Tom Nelson

11/14/2014 8:43:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

The #14/15 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (4-5-0, 1-2-0 NCHC) earned its first league win of the season with a big 4-3 road victory at Western Michigan University (3-6-0, 1-4-0 NCHC) on Friday, Nov. 14 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Huskies trailed 1-0 in the first period but four unanswered goals by SCSU resulted in the road victory that was capped by the game winner from rookie defender Nathan Widman at 18:58 of the second period.

Western Michigan opened the game with a goal by Fredrick Tiffels at 12:07 of the first period, which included assists from Will Kessel and Kenny Morrison. The Huskies rallied just five minutes later with their first goal of the game by David Morley at 17:47 of the first period. He tipped a slapshot from the blueline by Andrew Prochno, while the second assist went on the setup pass from Mika Ilvonen.

The goal was Morley's second of the season, while Prochno now has four assists and Ilvonen has two helpers to his credit this winter.

To start the second period, Joey Benik broke the tie with the team's first shorthanded goal of the season. His marker at :45 of the second period was a picture-perfect 2-on-1 breakaway that was started with a steal by Kalle Kossila and the resulting pass that setup up Benik for his goal. This was Benik's first SHG as a Husky and it moved him into a tie for the team's goal scoring lead with five (along with Jonny Brodzinski).

SCSU's special team struck again when Patrick Russell netted his second goal of the season with a power play tally at 13:38. Benik and Kossila each had assists on the play, which pushed the score to 3-1.

The Huskies completed their attack with another textbook play that started with a 3-on-1 breakaway. A pass from Jimmy Murray to Patrick Russell found its way to Widman, who drilled in the shot for his first goal as a Husky at 17:29 of the second period.

In the closing period, WMU charged back with a power play goal at 3:51 by Kyle Novak. Sheldon Dries added the Broncos' final goal of the game at 17:29 of the third period, which made the score 4-3. In the closing minutes of play, WMU pulled its goalie but the Huskies were able to hold on for the victory.

On the night, Charlie Lindgren turned in another top effort with 31 saves and the goalie win. Frank Slubowski made eight saves and allowed four goals before he was relived by Lukas Hafner in the final period. SCSU was outshot in the game 34-18. On the power play, SCSU was 1-3 and WMU was 1-4.

The Huskies and Broncos will continue their weekend series in Kalamazoo, Mich. with a 6 p.m. (CT) game at the Lawson Ice Arena on Nov. 15. Fans can listen to the game live on www.lite999.com (KVSC FM 99.9) and they can watch the live video stream at NCHC.tv/scsu