Insider: Huskies looking for answers in goal

St. Cloud State head coach Eric Rud has made one thing clear: No one is going to replace Katie Fitzgerald's presence between the pipes, at least not right away.

Fitzgerald was the Huskies' rock last season, starting 34 of the team's 35 games and posting 12 wins. This season, three goaltenders are engaging in what Rud likens to an open tryout to fill the hole Fitzgerald left: senior Madeleine Dahl, sophomore Taylor Crosby and freshman Janine Alder.

The three competing goalies have a combined 13 career starts between them—12 of which belong to Dahl, who hasn't started a game since her sophomore season at Union College in 2013-14. With that level of inexperience, Rud said he was not sure what the level of competition would be, but he and his staff have been blown away by what they have seen so far.

"I have never seen a group of goalies compete this hard to start a season," Rud said. "We hope that spurs one, two or all three to play at the highest level."

Each player brings a different style to the crease. Dahl is unorthodox in her approach, but "finds a way to stop pucks" a la Martin Brodeur back in the day, according to Rud; Crosby is the most athletic and technically sound; while Alder is lightning fast with a strong hockey sense.

"All three are a little different," Rud said, "but all three bring positive characteristics."

But you can only tell so much from practice. The Huskies are prepared to give each goalie her chance in game situations this season and those results will be what makes this competition come to a head. That may mean someone getting the lion's share of the playing time, or a three-player rotation. Only time will tell.

"They might all prove that they can play and help us," Rud said.

For now, the situation is fluid. St. Cloud State is going to take it week by week and Rud stressed that what the goaltending situation looks like to start the season may not be what it looks like a month from now.

"They all smell the chance to play as much as they possibly can and that the door is open," Rud said.

UP NEXT: St. Cloud State (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) vs. No. 1 Wisconsin (0-0-0, 0-0-0) — Friday, September 23, 6:07 p.m.; Saturday, September 24, 3:07 p.m.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin comes in ranked No. 1 in the Preseason USCHO.com Div. I Women's Poll and the preseason favorite to win the WCHA, according to conference coaches. The Badgers went 34-4-1 last season, including 24-3-1-1 to capture the regular season conference title. UW also won the 2016 WCHA Final Face-Off championship with a 1-0 win over Minnesota and advanced to the Frozen Four.

Wisconsin returns many of its key contributors from 2015-16, including senior goaltender, and WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, Ann-Renee Desbiens. Desbiens posted an NCAA-leading 0.76 goals against average and .960 save percentage last season. She faced the Huskies three times last season and shut them out in each game.

SERIES NOTES:

WCHA PRESEASON COACHES POLL: After finishing fifth in the WCHA with a 9-15-4 record and 34 points last season, the conference coaches picked St. Cloud State to finish sixth in the league this season.
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS: In his second season behind the bench, head coach Erid Rud led SCSU to 13 wins in 2015-16, which was the program's highest total since winning 15 games in 2009-10.
ON THE WAY UP: Seven St. Cloud State players achieved career-high point totals in 2015-16, including six who set new career marks for goals scored.
TYLKE TIME: Sophomore forward, and 2015-16 All-WCHA Rookie Team honoree, Julia Tylke is St. Cloud State's top returning scorer, having registered nine goals and 24 points a season ago—the most for an SCSU rookie since the 2006-07 season, when Holly Roberts and Caitlin Hogan scored 35 (18 17) and 29 (12 17) points, respectively.
HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?: Junior defenseman Brittney Anderson led all Huskies, and set a new career high, with 16 assists last season. Her 20 total points were the most for an SCSU rear guard since Danielle Hirsch also scored 20 (2 18) in the 2008-09 season.
BLUE LINE BARRIER: The Huskies return six of their seven defensemen from last season's group that ranked sixth in the WCHA in scoring defense (3.29 G/GM). SCSU ranked sixth in league play as well, allowing 3.14 goals against per contest.
SEARCHING FOR SCORING: St. Cloud State lost nearly 40 percent of its goal scoring to graduation, including Molly Illikainen, who led the team with 17 goals a season ago.
HUSKY PUPPIES: SCSU welcomes seven newcomers this season. Headlining the list are freshman goaltender Janine Alder and freshman forward Kayla Friesen. Alder, a native of Switzerland, won a bronze medal with the Swiss national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Friesen played for Team Canada at the 2016 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championships and scored one goal and two points in five games to held the Canadians to a silver medal finish. Both are expected to contribute right away for the Huskies in their rookie seasons.