St. Cloud State
2-6-0, 1-3-0-0WCHA
Minnesota State
2-5-1, 1-3-0-0WCHA
St. Cloud State sunk by Minnesota State third period rally, 3-1
10/28/2017 4:52:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Julia Tylke's goal fails to stand up against three unanswered Mavericks tallies
MANKATO—After a closely-contested opening 40 minutes, which included it grabbing the first lead, the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (2-6-0, 1-3-0-0 WCHA) took its foot of the gas in the third period on Saturday and succumbed to a late Minnesota State (2-5-1, 1-3-0-0) rally in a disheartening 3-1 loss.
SCSU's chances for a sweep looked promising after junior forward Julia Tylke broke the deadlock with her second goal of the series, and team-leading fourth of the season, off of a feed from freshman forward Laura Kluge just before the second intermission.
But, after seizing the 1-0 lead, the Huskies let up in the final frame and the Mavericks took advantage. Minnesota State out-shot SCSU, 12-5, in the third period and struck for three unanswered goals in the game's final 9:48 to steal the victory.
"We came out and played a very poor third period," head coach Eric Rud said. "There was a mental letdown. We sat around and waited to get beat instead of going out and trying to close out a game."
The two in-state rivals played close through the first two periods of play, with shots on goal and attempts at 17-13 and 36-33 narrowly in favor of the Huskies, respectively. After five straight positive periods of play in the series, Rud was disappointed to see his team let up with a lead and three valuable WCHA points within reach.
"You can't win by hanging on and sitting back," he said. "You have to make plays and we stopped making plays and started throwing the puck around wild. We did not manage the third period well."
The set up on Tylke's tally was Kluge's third assist and fourth point on the weekend. The rookie paces SCSU with four assists and six points in eight games this season. Freshman goaltender Emma Polusny turned away 22 Mavericks shots in the setback.
St. Cloud State continues its in-state WCHA road swing next weekend at Minnesota Duluth. The Huskies and Bulldogs will meet on Friday, November 3 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 4 at 4 p.m.
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