St. Cloud State
1-3-0, 0-2-0WCHA
Merrimack
1-1-0, 0-0-0HE
Penalties doom St. Cloud State in 4-1 loss to Merrimack
10/1/2016 6:25:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Huskies conceded a pair of crucial power play goals and split with the Warriors
ST. CLOUD—Penalties once again felled the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (1-3-0, 0-2-0 WCHA), as Merrimack salvaged a series split, 4-1, on the strength of a pair of second period power play goals.
Killing penalties remains an Achilles heel for the Huskies. The Warriors were 2-for-4 with the man advantage on Saturday and scored on 50 percent of their chances (4-for-8) on the weekend.
"We knew coming in that they have a very good power play. It was the strength of their team last year," head coach Eric Rud said of Merrimack. "We have to be able to close out penalty kills."
The simple solution to the issue is to stay out of the box, but there are mental things the Huskies can clean up. SCSU struggled to clear the puck on the penalty kill—an inability that directly led to Merrimack's first goal.
"Our clears were awful," Rud said. "We executed what we wanted to, had the puck on our stick and would shoot it right to them."
Both of Merrimack's man advantage goals came in the second period and provided it with all the offense it needed for the win.
While he Huskies' attack out-shot, 26-20, and out-attempted, 51-31, the Warriors, there was a dearth of quality chances. Even in the third period, when it dominated possession while trailing by one, SCSU never seriously threatened to tie the game.
"We needed to have that fire right from the start," Rud said. "You can't spot someone a period lead and momentum. It catches up to you and it caught up to us tonight."
Sophomore forward Julia Tylke briefly tied the game at one in the middle frame with her third goal of the weekend and fourth in the last three games, but Merrimack re-gained the lead just under six minutes later and did not again relinquish it.
The Warriors tacked on a pair of empty-net goals in the waning minutes of the game to round out their scoring.
St. Cloud State returns to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center next weekend, October 7-8, against WCHA rival North Dakota. Game time is 6:07 p.m. on Friday and 3:07 p.m. on Saturday. SCSU students with a validated and current student ID card are admitted free to all home athletic events.
