St. Cloud State comes up empty at No. 2 Minnesota, 3-0

Friday, October 28

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

3-6-1, 2-5-1-1

Minnesota

9-1-0, 7-1-0-0

St. Cloud State

Minnesota

Photo by: Brad Rempel

10/28/2016 10:31:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Freshman goaltender Janine Alder records career-high 36 saves in the loss

MINNEAPOLIS—The window was open for the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (3-6-1, 2-5-1-1 WCHA), but the Huskies failed to take advantage in a 3-0 loss at No. 2 Minnesota (9-1-0, 7-1-0) in Friday' series finale.

With the sweep, SCSU has now lost its last 32 meetings against the Gophers.

Backed by the play of freshman goaltender Janine Alder and their defense, the Huskies trailed by just one, 1-0, with 20 minutes to play, but could not find an equalizer. Minnesota senior forward Dani Cameranesi tallied twice in the third period to seal SCSU's fate.

"Once in awhile you need a little luck or a bounce and we didn't get that," head coach Eric Rud said. "But our expectations are higher than to rely on a bounce. We needed to go out and find a way to make a play in a game like that."

Though Minnesota enjoyed a significant possession advantage—out-shooting SCSU, 39-9, and out-attempting it, 69-22—the Huskies did well to minimize the quality of those chances and keep the game within reach for 40-plus minutes.

The effort was even more commendable considering the defense was skating with just five players due to an injury to junior defender Brittney Anderson that kept her out of the series.

"They gave us a chance to compete," Rud said of his defense. ""When you're playing these elite teams you have to bend a little, but not break. We kept everything to the outside and did not give them those Grade A scoring chances."

"Our forwards have to find a way to kick it in and find a goal for our defense that battled all weekend"

Alder was again stellar between the pipes, turning away a career-high 36 shots in the loss, including 14 in the second period to keep it a one-goal game heading into the final frame.

"I never expect a goalie to come out and win a game," Rud said. "You expect them to keep you in there and she did a great job of that tonight."

St. Cloud State has a week off before returning to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for a two-game set against Ohio State, November 11-12. Game times are 3:07 p.m. and 1:07 p.m., respectively, for the series against the Buckeyes.

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