St. Cloud Women's Hockey fall 3-2 to University of Minnesota Duluth

Saturday, February 20

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

13-16-4, 9-15-4WCHA

Minnesota Duluth

12-20-1, 10-17-1WCHA

Minnesota Duluth

St. Cloud State

Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane

St. Cloud Women's Hockey fall 3-2 to University of Minnesota Duluth

2/20/2016 7:38:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

St. Cloud, Minn. --- The St. Cloud State Huskies (13-16-4, 9-15-4 WCHA) conference series of the season against the University of Minnesota Duluth (12-20-1, 10-17-1 WCHA) on Jan. 20 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

From the drop of the puck the Huskies controlled the first period getting 10 shots on net to UMD's 8. It was SCSU freshman forward, Hannah Potrykus who put the Huskies on the board with a 1-0 lead just 1:09 into the game. Kelsey Saelens gave Suvi Ollikainen a neutral zone pass where she carried it over the blue line. The freshman saw Potrykus on the 2-on-1 play and fed her a pass in front where Potrykus finished the play with a onetime shot. St. Cloud held the lead until just over halfway through the first when UMD's Michelle Lowenhielm put one past senior goaltender, Katei Fitzgerald, at the 11:04 mark, sending the game into first intermission tied 1-1.

SCSU was faced with two penalties in the second period after Payge Pena took a cross checking penalty and Jordan Stewart was given a boarding call. UMD's second goal came late into Stewart's power play giving the a Bulldogs 2-1 lead heading into the final period of the series.

As time ticked off the clock SCSU battled for their second goal in hopes of getting their last series sweep of the regular season. With 6:49 left on the clock Molly Illikainen made a pass out of the corner to line mate Julia Tylke. Tylke skated in and made a move in the slot and sent the puck to the back of the net. The assist marked Illikainen's 14th season helper and 98th career point. Seconds after the game tying goal, UMD found the back of the net for the third time on a shot from that point that was tipped in front by Lowenhielm to get her second goal of the contest. Pulling the goalie with over two minutes to play, the Huskies worked it low looking to send the game into overtime. UMD held on and the game came to a close with a final score of 3-2.

The Huskies 3-2 win on Friday night cemented a 5th place finish in the WCHA and will head to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Hawks in the first round of playoffs on Feb. 26-28.