#4/5 St. Cloud State advances to Frozen Faceoff title game with 4-2 win

Friday, March 18

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:38 p.m.

St. Cloud State

30-8-1

University of Denver - NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinal

23-9-5

Denver

St. Cloud State

Huskies celebrate goal against Denver on March 18 at Frozen Faceoff.

#4/5 St. Cloud State advances to Frozen Faceoff title game with 4-2 win

3/18/2016 10:42:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

The #4/5 St. Cloud State University (30-8-1) men's hockey team punched its ticket to the championship game of the 2016 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff championship game with a huge 4-2 victory over #6 Denver (23-9-5) before 10,926 fans at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis on Friday, March 18.

The victory marked just the second time in the team's DI history that the Huskies have won 30-or-more games in a season and it also set a 7:38 p.m. showdown with Minnesota Duluth in the Frozen Faceoff title game at 7:38 p.m. on Saturday, March 19 at Target Center. UMD gained a place in the title bout thanks to a 4-2 win over North Dakota in the other semifinal game on March 18. Of note, the first game of the day on March 19 will feature North Dakota and Denver in the consolation game at 3:38 p.m. at Target Center.

Fans can purchase tickets for the title game at Target Center on the day of the game or you can purchase them online at www.axs.com. The championship game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network and SCSU fans can listen to the game live on 99.9 MORE FM or KVSC 88.1 FM.

In a tigh defensive battle that saw the two squads only post 35 shots in the game combined, the Huskies took control of the game early with a power play marker by Joey Benik at 7:45 of the first period. This was Benik's 22nd goal of the year and it was assisted by Ethan Prow and Kalle Kossila. Of note, the assist was Kossila's 35th of the season and his 100th career assist at SCSU.

DU tied the game up at 6:29 of the second period with an even strength goal by Troy Terry that had assists from Tariq Hammond and Danton Heinen. David Morley then put the Huskies up 2-1 with his goal at 11:29 of the second period. Benik had the first assist on the play, while Jimmy Murray posted his 25th assist of the season with the second helper on the play.

In the third period, rookie Mikey Eyssimont notched the eventual game winner at 1:41 with a solo assist on the play by Kossila. This was Eyssimont's 10th goal of the year.

Denver narrowed the margin to 3-2 at 2:13 of the 3rd period with a goal by Evan Janssen before SCSU's defense shutdown the Pioneers for the remainder of the night. To cap the evening, SCSU's Jimmy Schuldt iced the game with a rink long empty net goal at 18:43 of the third period to make the final tally 4-2. This was also Schuldt's 10th goal of the year.

On the night, DU outshot the Huskies 19-16 as Lindgren made 17 saves in the game for the Huskies. Tanner Jaillet was the goalie of record for DU with 12 saves. The victory moves Lindgren's win total to 29-8-1 in 2015-16, which ranks first in the SCSU records for most wins in a season by a goalie. On the power play, SCSU was 1-3 and DU was 0-3.