Huskies, Mavericks battle to 3-3 tie on Hockey Day Minnesota

Saturday, January 21

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-16-3, 5-13-2WCHA

Minnesota State

6-18-3, 3-15-2WCHA

OT 1

Minnesota State

St. Cloud State

Shakopee native Lauren Hespenheide scored the shootout-winner for the Huskies on Hockey Day Minnesota.

Photo by: Bella Rose Photography

Huskies, Mavericks battle to 3-3 tie on Hockey Day Minnesota

1/21/2017 6:46:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

St. Cloud State earns extra point courtesy of Lauren Hespenheide’s shootout-winner

By: Ryan Evans

ST. CLOUD—After storming out to an early three-goal lead, the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (7-16-3, 5-13-2-2 WCHA) was forced to settle for a draw, 3-3, after Minnesota State (6-18-3, 3-15-2-0) rallied for three unanswered scores of its own Saturday on Hockey Day Minnesota.

After a scoreless overtime period, the Huskies prevailed in the shootout, 3-2. Senior forward, and Shakopee native, Lauren Hespenheide scored the shootout-winner in the sixth round—providing a fitting hero for the State of Hockey's annual celebration of the sport.

"That was really special," Hespenheide said. "I grew up watching Hockey Day Minnesota and was always jealous of all the teams that got to play and be on TV."

"It was a cool experience to be on TV and to be able to score a goal like that. It was pretty exciting."

St. Cloud State raced to a three-goal lead, 3-0, after 22 minutes of play courtesy of junior forward Alyssa Erickson, freshman forward and Lakeville native Janna Haeg and freshman forward Kayla Friesen.

Erickson and Haeg powered the quick start, scoring 35 seconds apart near the midway point of the opening period.

"We have struggled to score all year, so to get a couple early really got us going," head coach Eric Rud said. "Anytime we can get three goals in a game, it gives us a chance to get a better outcome."

Playing without leading scorer sophomore forward Julia Tylke for the third-straight game, the rest of the Huskies stepped up to fuel the offense against the Mavericks. Four different players scored SCSU's five goals in the series and seven recorded a point or more.

"When you lose your leading scorer, other people have to step up and find ways to score some goals and we did that this weekend," Rud said.

After Friesen's marker put St. Cloud State up 3-0 just under two minutes into the second period, Minnesota State rallied for three unanswered tallies to knot the score. The Mavericks score two in the second and tied the game just over six and a half minutes into the third.

With momentum firmly against them, the Huskies did not wilt, though, after surrendering their three-goal cushion and pushed hard for a game-winner. SCSU out-shot MSU, 6-0, in the final minutes of the third and 5-2 in overtime—including Grade A opportunities for senior forward Payge Pena, freshman forward Brooke Kudirka and Hespenheide that failed to find pay dirt—before Hespeneheide's heroics in the shootout.

"After they tied it up, we maybe played our best hockey of the game," Rud said. "We shut everything down and had some great chances in overtime to almost pull it out."

With Friday's 2-1 win and Saturday's tie and shootout win, SCSU emerged with five of the weekend's six possible points to create an eight-point game between it and the Mavericks in the WCHA standings.

"At this point in the season, we will certainly take five points on a weekend," Rud said. "We maybe did not like the way it happened, but we showed real resiliency late in the game."

With eight regular season games to play, the Huskies are tied with Ohio State for fifth place in the conference with 19 points.

"This was a big weekend for us, because of where we were in the standings," Hespenheide added. "It was important for us to come out with as many points as we could."

St. Cloud State returns to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center next weekend, Friday, January 27 and Saturday, January 28, against Minnesota. Game time is 7:07 p.m. on Friday and 3:07 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are on sale at scsutickets.com. Youth under 18 and SCSU students with a valid university ID will receive free admission.

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