St. Cloud State
Minnesota Whitecaps
Players Mentioned
Insider: Whitecaps series a valuable learning experience for SCSU
10/11/2017 3:28:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Huskies will face top-notch professional opponents in this weekend's exhibitions
ST. CLOUD—With the start of another grueling WCHA campaign looming, the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (1-3-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) will get a preparatory tune-up this weekend in a two-game exhibition series against the professional Minnesota Whitecaps.
Suiting up for the Whitecaps this weekend are 24 former NCAA Div. I and Div. III women's hockey players, including two Olympians, numerous veterans of IIHF Women's World Championship and Four Nations Cup tournaments and five NCAA Div. I national champions. The Huskies begin conference play in two weeks, October 20-21, against Ohio State, so the elite talent the Whitecaps boast offers SCSU an ideal adversary to spar with in preparation.
"They are a veteran team with players who have played at this level and know what they are doing," head coach Eric Rud said. "They are a good opponent to play because you know is going to be a good, back and forth game."
"It is another good way to get our younger players up to speed," he added. "These games are more controlled and have good flow, which is good experience leading up to what really matters—league play."
With four games gone in their 2017-18 campaign, the Huskies are zeroing in on the areas in need of most work. Midseason exhibitions like this weekend's grant them the chance to experiment on the fly in hopes of remedying those ails. Fans can expect to see SCSU mix in a few different faces and some new line combinations as it aims to finalize what its lineup will look like moving forward into WCHA season and continue to get its plethora of young players up to speed.
"We are learning what we need to focus on more and more in practice," Rud said. "These games are chances to change a couple things and learn from that before we get into the WCHA season."
Both games are part of the Celebrate St. Cloud State festivities taking place on campus on October 12-15. Fall Celebrate is the premiere series of events at SCSU for students, community, alumni, faculty and staff to celebrate their connections and share their Huskies pride.
Fitting for Celebrate!, the Whitecaps series will mark the return of six Huskies alumni to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Forwards Hanna Brodt (2012-16), Kalli Funk (2012-15), Lauren Hespenheide (2013-17) and Meaghan Pezon (2006-10), defender Lisa Martinson (2009-13) and goaltender Julie Friend (2011-15) are all slated to play against their alma mater.
| SCSU WOMEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL, Oct. 13-14, 2017 |
| TICKETS: scsutickets.com or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX |
| LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/stcloudstate/whockey |
| RADIO: None |
| TELEVISION: None |
| VIDEO STREAMING ($): scsuhuskies.com/live |
| GAME NOTES (PDF): SCSU vs. Minnesota Whitecaps |
KEY HUSKIES NOTES TO CONSIDER:
SCOUTING THE WHITECAPS: The Whitecaps are an elite women's hockey team made up of post-collegiate players. The program was created in 2004 to give women's hockey players in the Midwest an opportunity to continue their playing careers beyond college. Many Whitecaps have represented their countries on National and Olympic Teams, including five who will represent the United States at the 2018 Winter Games. The team is 0-2-0 in two games this season, falling to Minnesota Duluth, 4-1, on September 25 and, 6-3, to Shattuck St. Mary's School on October 8.
ALL-TIME SERIES (Tied, 1-1-0): St. Cloud State has met the Whitecaps twice before in its history—a 4-3 win on Sept. 26, 2015 and a 4-2 loss on Oct. 9, 2010, both at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Nine current Huskies played in the 2015 game. Suvi Ollikainen and Hannah Potrykus each scored a goal; Julia Tylke, Alyssa Erickson and Ivy Dynek notched assists; and Taylor Crosby stopped 19 shots in the game's second half to earn the win.
ONCE A HUSKY, ALWAYS A HUSKY: This weekend's exhibition series will mark the return of six SCSU alumni to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Playing for the Whitecaps this weekend are forward Hanna Brodt (2012-16), goaltender Julie Friend (2011-15), forward Kalli Funk (2012-15), forward Lauren Hespenheide (2013-17), defender Lisa Martinson (2009-13) and forward/defender Meaghan Pezon (2006-10).
LAST TIME OUT: In its last outings, SCSU was shutout in back-to-back games on the road and swept by then-No. 10 Colgate, 3-0 and 5-0. With the losses, the Huskies have been shutout in three of their first four games of the season and have scored three goals over that span—tying the program's lowest-ever scoring start to a campaign. Both Huskies goaltenders turned in 30-plus save efforts against the Raiders. Sophomore Janine Alder made 35 stops last Friday and freshman Emma Polusny turned away 33 shots last Saturday.
POLUSNY PROSPERING: Polusny's 33-save outing against Colgate marked her second-straight 30-plus stop performance to start her career. The Mound, Minn., native turned away 31 stops in her first career start against UConn on September 30. Polusny is the first Huskies goaltender to start her career with a pair of 30-plus save performances since reigning NWHL Goaltender of the Year Katie Fitzgerald did so in 2012-13.
SILKY TYLKE: Junior forward Julia Tylke enters this season as SCSU's active leading scorer. With two goals this season, she has moved into a tie for No. 26 on the SCSU all-time points list with 46 (23+23). With four more points, Tylke will become the 24th player in program history to reach the 50-point plateau and just the fourth to do so since the 2012-13 season. The Delafield, Wis., native led SCSU with 12 goals and 20 points last season.
RETURNING FIREPOWER: St. Cloud State returns 75 percent of its goals and 71 percent of its total offensive production from last season, including its top four goal-scorers and point-getters—Tylke, Friesen, Erickson and Potrykus—and six of its top eight scorers, overall.
SWISS SENSATION: After earning All-WCHA Rookie honors last season, sophomore goaltender Janine Alder has shined in her first two starts of the season, registering a 1.99 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage—the latter of which is tied for third in the WCHA. The former Switzerland Olympian and bronze medalist re-wrote the record book as a freshman. Her 2.55 goals-against average and .926 save percentage ranked fourth and third, respectively, for a single season in program history and her three shutouts tied for the most-ever in one season. Alder also heads into 2017-18 as St. Cloud State's career leader in both goals-against average and save percentage.
FRIESEN THE PHENOM: Sophomore forward Kayla Friesen came on in a big way for SCSU during the second half of last season, which she has continued with two points (0+2) in the Huskies' first four games. After scoring four goals and seven points in the first half, she led the team with eight assists and 11 points over the Huskies final 16 games. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native finished the season ranked No. 6 in points, No. 5 in goals and assists among WCHA rookies.
FAB FROSHES: It was a milestone weekend for a trio of SCSU freshman against UConn, September 29-30, as Kluge, defender Tatum Coats and goaltender Emma Polusny all tallied career firsts in the 3-2 win over Connecticut. Kluge registered her first goal, game-winning goal and multi-point game; Coats notched her first career point—an assist on Tylke's first goal; and Polusny recorded her first career win between the pipes with a 31-save effort, as well as an assist. In all,11 players made their Huskies debut in the series: Coats, Kluge, Polusny, redshirt sophomore forward Dana Rasmussen, sophomore forward Hallie Theodosopoulos, sophomore defender Abby Thiessen, freshman defender Hannah Bates, freshman forward Aubrey Pritchett, freshman defender Taylor Wemple and freshman defender Kenzie Wylie.
TWO DECADES OF HUSKIES HOCKEY: The 2017-18 season marks the 20th in St. Cloud State women's hockey history. In that time, the Huskies have produced one NCAA Div. I All-American (Felicia Nelson, 2010), one Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist (Felicia Nelson, 2010), 16 All-WCHA selections and 27 WCHA Scholar Athletes. SCSU has won 200 games in its history and has appeared in a pair of WCHA Final Face-Offs (2006, 2008).
WCHA COACHES POLL: After securing its best back-to-back conference finishes in seven years last season, the WCHA coaches picked St. Cloud State to place sixth in the league this year. SCSU finished sixth in 2016-17 with 26 league points and a 7-18-3-2 conference record. The Huskies have equaled or bettered their preseason pegging in each of their first three seasons under head coach Eric Rud.
HOCKEY DAY MINNESOTA 2018: For the second-straight year, the SCSU women will be featured on Hockey Day Minnesota as the city of St. Cloud hosts the 2018 event. The Huskies will play outdoors at Eastman Park on the shores of Lake George on Saturday, January 20 at 1 p.m. against WCHA and in-state rival Minnesota Duluth. The contest will be televised live by Fox Sports North. This year marks the first time an NCAA Div. I women's hockey game will be played outside as part of the State of Hockey's state-wide celebration of the sport.
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