St. Cloud State
4-7-1, 2-7-1WCHA
Minnesota State
2-11-1, 0-10-0WCHA
Huskies Skate Past the Mavericks for First WCHA Sweep of the Season
11/14/2015 5:31:00 PM | Women's Hockey
St. Cloud, Minn. --- The St. Cloud State Huskies (4-7-1, 2-7-1 WCHA) skate past the Mankato Mavericks (2-11-1, 0-10-0 WCHA) for their first WCHA sweep of the season.
Molly Illikainen took control from her first shift and just 51 seconds into the game put one past Maverick goaltender. She continued to dominate with a breakaway opportunity, in which she hit the post, and scored the second goal on her third shot of the game, all within a four minute span. Julia Tylke continued her offense efforts in game two, getting the lone assist on the first goal, while Payge Pena joined in the action for the assist on the second goal.
Tylke scored her third goal of the series after a Pena shot found her skate and bounced in the net. Illikainen tallied her third point of the game with the second assist on the goal. Mankato closed out the period with a goal, which came with 3:43 left to play.
The Huskies brought their momentum into the second period when junior forward, Lauren Hespenheide, found the back of the net in the first minute of play. Lexi Slattery picked up the lone assist on the goal and tallied her fourth of the season. Mankato responded minutes later when, Hannah Davidson, sent a shot past SCSU's Katie Fitzgerald, to close the lead 4-2.
Both teams saw scoring opportunities in the third period but strong goaltending prevailed and the Huskies took the series sweep with a 4-2 score. This marks the first sweep that St. Cloud has seen at home since a Nov. 9-10 series against Lindenwood in the 2011-12 season.
"It feels good to get the first sweep of the season at home and we have a chance to get a couple more before break if we keep improving our game and coming out ready to play," Hespenheide.
Fitzgerald was tested with 29 shots in nets as SCSU got 33 total shots in the game.
The Huskies will return home for a series against Ohio State on Nov. 20-21. Both games will be played at 3:07 pm.
