Friday, December 30
Prescott, Ariz.
4:00 p.m.
St. Cloud State
8-8-1
3
vs
4
University of Connecticut
7-6-6
1
2
3
F
St. Cloud State
0
2
1
3
UCONN
1
2
1
4
Blake Winiecki
Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane
St. Cloud State rally falls short against UCONN
12/30/2016 3:25:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The #18 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (8-8-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) opened tournament play in the 2016 Arizona State Desert Classic on Friday, Dec. 30 with a 4-3 setback against the University of Connecticut Huskies (7-6-6, 4-3-2 HE) at the Prescott Valley Events Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
The Huskies rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the contest in the second period before UCONN fired back with two more goals to make the score 4-2. Later a power play goal by SCSU's Jacob Benson narrowed the gap to one but it was not enough to prevent the wrong Huskies from walking away with a 4-3 win.
St. Cloud State will now advance to play Arizona State at 8 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, Dec. 31 in Prescott Valley, Ariz. in the consolation game. Fans can listen to the game live on REV 96.7 FM and they can watch on hockeytv.com
In the first meeting between the two squads of Huskies, UCONN jumped to a 1-0 lead with a goal at 4:20 of the first period by Spencer Naas. UCONN took a 2-0 lead in the early going of the first period with a goal by Miles Genrdon at :37.
The SCSU Huskies broke the shutout at 10:38 of the second period with a goal by Mikey Eyssimont, which included assists from Blake Winieck and Patrick Newell. This was Eyssimont's ninth goal of the season, which places him in a tie for the team's goal scoring lead along with Judd Peterson.
At 17:36 of the second period, Winecki connected on his 11th goal of the season to make it 2-2. Newell added the lone assist on the play, which was his team leading 12th helper of the year.
Before the second period was completed, Naas pushed UCONN's lead to 3-2 with a goal at 18:40 of the period. In the third period, UCONN's Maxim Letunov added the game winner at 14:45 that made the tally 4-2. In the closing minute of play, SCSU's Jacob Benson made it a one-point decision with his power play marker at 19:08 of the third. Eyssimont and Winecki both notched assists on the play, which was Benson's sixth goal of the year.
On the evening, Winiecki had one goal and two assists, while Newell two assists and Eyssimont added one goal and one assist. Winieck and Eyssimont now share the team's point scoring lead with 16 goals apiece. Winiecki has eight goals and eight assists, while Eyssimont has nine goals and seven assists in 2016-17.
In the contest, SCSU outshot UCONN 36-30. On the power play, SCSU was 1-of-4 and UCONN was 0-of-2 in the game. The Huskies have now gone five consecutive games without allowing a power play goal. SCSU has notched a 17-of-17 penalty kill rate during the five game stretch.
In the nets, SCSU's Jeff Smith was the goalie of record with 26 saves, while UCONN's Rob Nichols had 33 saves in the game.
The Huskies rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the contest in the second period before UCONN fired back with two more goals to make the score 4-2. Later a power play goal by SCSU's Jacob Benson narrowed the gap to one but it was not enough to prevent the wrong Huskies from walking away with a 4-3 win.
St. Cloud State will now advance to play Arizona State at 8 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, Dec. 31 in Prescott Valley, Ariz. in the consolation game. Fans can listen to the game live on REV 96.7 FM and they can watch on hockeytv.com
In the first meeting between the two squads of Huskies, UCONN jumped to a 1-0 lead with a goal at 4:20 of the first period by Spencer Naas. UCONN took a 2-0 lead in the early going of the first period with a goal by Miles Genrdon at :37.
The SCSU Huskies broke the shutout at 10:38 of the second period with a goal by Mikey Eyssimont, which included assists from Blake Winieck and Patrick Newell. This was Eyssimont's ninth goal of the season, which places him in a tie for the team's goal scoring lead along with Judd Peterson.
At 17:36 of the second period, Winecki connected on his 11th goal of the season to make it 2-2. Newell added the lone assist on the play, which was his team leading 12th helper of the year.
Before the second period was completed, Naas pushed UCONN's lead to 3-2 with a goal at 18:40 of the period. In the third period, UCONN's Maxim Letunov added the game winner at 14:45 that made the tally 4-2. In the closing minute of play, SCSU's Jacob Benson made it a one-point decision with his power play marker at 19:08 of the third. Eyssimont and Winecki both notched assists on the play, which was Benson's sixth goal of the year.
On the evening, Winiecki had one goal and two assists, while Newell two assists and Eyssimont added one goal and one assist. Winieck and Eyssimont now share the team's point scoring lead with 16 goals apiece. Winiecki has eight goals and eight assists, while Eyssimont has nine goals and seven assists in 2016-17.
In the contest, SCSU outshot UCONN 36-30. On the power play, SCSU was 1-of-4 and UCONN was 0-of-2 in the game. The Huskies have now gone five consecutive games without allowing a power play goal. SCSU has notched a 17-of-17 penalty kill rate during the five game stretch.
In the nets, SCSU's Jeff Smith was the goalie of record with 26 saves, while UCONN's Rob Nichols had 33 saves in the game.
Team Stats
SCSU
UCONN
Shots
36
30
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
2
4
Penalty Mins
4
8
Faceoffs Won
37
29
Game Leaders
+/-
+1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
3
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
6
A
1
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
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