St. Cloud State
Ohio State
Players Mentioned
Insider: St. Cloud State readying for rigors of WCHA season
10/18/2017 6:17:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Huskies are fine tuning their offense ahead of their conference opener
ST. CLOUD—Another season in the nation's most rigorous conference begins for the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (1-3-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) this weekend against No. 4 Ohio State, albeit with a few added wrinkles.
With some of the WCHA's top players centralized in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics and the unfortunate loss of North Dakota's program over the offseason the conference will look a bit different for the Huskies' 19th league campaign and head coach Eric Rud expects to see increased parity as a result.
"I think it is a year, competitively, where every game is going to be up for grabs," he said. "It will be a very interesting year in the league."
SCSU, which was picked by the WCHA's coaches to place sixth this year, has equaled or bettered their preseason pegging each year under Rud and believe they have the pieces in place to take another step forward this season.
Rud said it's "crucial" for St. Cloud State to utilize a five-player attack to have success in its ultra-competitive league—especially against a game ready Buckeyes team that has already played two conference series. Though SCSU has scored just three times in its first four games, he sees the makings of a roster capable of doing just that.
"Our practices now are at a much higher level than they were three years ago and that is a very positive thing," Rud said. "We're seeing positive steps in our offensive game."
The Huskies will not rely on one player going end-to-end to create chances. Their attack's success will hinge on their mobile, puck-moving blue liners breaking out of their end cleanly ahead of its forwards stringing a few passes together to gain offensive zone entry and set up opportunities.
"If you can connect three passes in a row something good is going to happen at the end of that," Rud said. "That's how we are going to create offense. It's not going to be one big shot or play, it is going to three passes that get us a shot and a rebound, a chance at the back door or a shot from the blue line that gets deflected a couple times and we find a way."
After combining for 13 goals and 33 points as freshmen, SCSU is looking to its sophomore forwards—Kayla Friesen, Janna Haeg, Brooke Kudirka and Katie Detert—to take their games to the next level. The Huskies know what their juniors and seniors are capable of and if their second year players continue to grow, they like their chances of putting pucks in the net.
"That's the class that we need to take a step, offensively, and build on last year's success," Rud said of his sophomores. "That group a nice job stepping in last year and creating some offense and it is going to be the one that helps push our offensive game forward."
WOLTERS KLUWER SKATE WITH THE HUSKIES: The always popular Skate with the Huskies, sponsored by Wolters Kluwer, has been set for this Sunday, October 22, from 3 until 4 p.m. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Fans will have the opportunity to skate on the ice at the HBNHC's main rink along with members of the SCSU men's and women's hockey teams. Players will be available for photos and autographs. The event is open to the public and admission is FREE. Skate rental will be available at the HBNHC pro shop. Call 320-308-2137 for details on this event.
| SCSU WOMEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL, Oct. 20-21, 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. No. 4 OHIO STATE (PDF) |
KEY HUSKIES NOTES TO CONSIDER:
- SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: Off to an unbeaten start in their first six games, Ohio State boasts a No. 4 ranking in both major women's college hockey polls and sits in first place in the WCHA with 11 points coming into this weekend's series. Offensively, the Buckeyes are led by a pair of high-scoring freshman forwards, Tatum Skaggs and Emma Maltais, who each rank second in the WCHA and third nationally with nine points in six games this season. Backstopping Ohio State is WCHA Preseason Player of the Year Kassidy Sauve who ranks third in the league with a 1.81 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.
- ALL-TIME SERIES (OSU leads, 40-30-9): The Huskies are 6-1-1 in their last eight meetings against OSU. The two sides split their series in St. Cloud last season. The Buckeyes opened the series with a 3-0 win, but SCSU bounced back with a 4-1 win in the finale. Current Huskies Kayla Friesen, Alyssa Erickson and Julia Tylke all scored in that victory and Friesen (1+1) notched a multi-point effort. St. Cloud State took four of six points from the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 3-4, 2017. After Ohio State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in game one, the Huskies rattled off three unanswered goals to run away with a 3-1 win. In the series finale, goals from Tylke and Emma Turbyville staked SCSU to a 2-0 lead before OSU rallied for a 2-2 tie and a 1-0 shootout win.
- Tylke leads all current Huskies with five goals, four assists and nine career points against Ohio State, while Friesen led SCSU with four points (2+2) in four games against the Buckeyes last season. Erickson isn't far behind Tylke with four goals and seven points in her career against OSU.
- LAST TIME OUT: St. Cloud State won a pair of one-goal home exhibition games, 2-1 and 2-1 in overtime, against the Minnesota Whitecaps on October 13-14. The Huskies showed a strong resolve in the series, coming back from 1-0 deficits in both contests. Senior forward Alyssa Erickson powered the offense last Friday, scoring both of her team's goals, including a late game-winner on the power play. On Saturday, freshman forward Aubrey Pritchett tied the game in the third period to set up overtime heroics from sophomore forward Hallie Theodosopoulos.
- Erickson's game-winning goal against the Whitecaps last Friday came on the power play, which may be the spark SCSU's struggling man advantage unit needs. The Huskies are 0-for-10 on the power play in four games this season, which ranks last both nationally and in the WCHA, but are 3-for-12 (25.0 percent) in its three exhibition games. SCSU produced at a 7.69 percent clip on the power play last season (7-for-91), which was the worst mark in the country.
- The Huskies have started slow, offensively, scoring three goals in their four regular season games—all in their 3-2 win over UConn on September 30—and have been shutout in three of their first four contests. SCSU's three goals through four games equals the program's lowest-ever scoring start to a campaign.
- SILKY TYLKE: With two points (0+2) in the Huskies first four games, junior forward Julia Tylke enters this series with 46 career points (23+23)—just four shy of the 50 career points plateau. Tylke is SCSU's active career scoring leader and has the chance to become the 24th player in program history to reach the 50-point mark and just the fourth to do so since the 2012-13 season.
- SWISS SENSATION: Sophomore goaltender Janine Alder boasts a .933 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average in her first two starts of the season—marks that both rank among the nation's top 20 and No. 4 in the WCHA. An All-WCHA Rookie selection a season ago, Alder is SCSU's career leader in both goals-against average (2.51) and save percentage (.926).
- POLUSNY PROSPERING: Freshman goaltender Emma Polusny has a pair of 30-plus saves performance in her first two career starts. She stopped 31 shots in her first career start against UConn on Sept. 30 and 33 at Colgate on October 7. Polusny is the first Huskies' goalie to start her career with back-to-back 30-plus save outings since reigning NWHL Goaltender of the Year Katie Fitzgerald did so in 2012-13.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
