St. Cloud State
Colgate
Players Mentioned
Insider: Huskies goaltending shows its potential on opening weekend
10/4/2017 3:07:00 PM | Women's Hockey
St. Cloud State is confident in its trio of young net minders
Sophomore Janine Alder, freshman Emma Polusny and junior Taylor Crosby are all pushing each other for playing time in the Huskies' crease, which head coach Eric Rud believes will elevate the trio's performance to new heights.
"Competition improves results at every position," he said. "We have more competition on our team right now than we've ever had and you will see the true colors come out of a lot of our players as a result."
SCSU's goaltending shined in its season-opening series last weekend as Alder and Polusny combined to stop 52 of the 55 shots they saw against UConn. It was the Huskies' best start to a season, in terms of fewest goals allowed, since 2013-14.
For now, Rud is taking a week-by-week approach with his net minders. Last season, Alder's All-Rookie caliber play all but necessitated the lion's share of the starts. If that happens again, so be it, but if a strong platoon emerges then that makes SCSU all the more dangerous.
"It's a results-based position, so the more you have the better because you never know what is going to happen," Rud said. "There is a lot of hope for the future and we feel like we have the building blocks in place to continue to improve."
"When you have an All-Rookie goaltender coming back, you like where you're starting," he added. "But she is only a sophomore and you don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket with young kids."
Rud's optimism was rewarded with Alder and Polusny's standout performances against Connecticut, in which each showed off their differing styles that have the potential to make them a formidable duo.
As a smaller goalie, Alder relies on quickness and hockey sense to position herself in the right spot. Polusny, who stands at five feet nine inches tall, is able to lean on her size more and pairs that with quick feet, which allow her to get down quickly and kick pucks out.
"Janine does that very well because she has a very high hockey IQ," Rud said. "She puts herself in great spots, positionally, at all times."
"And Emma comes in with a high pedigree," he added. "We had very high expectations for her during the recruiting process and are expecting her to come in and do a great job."
With a young defense, the Huskies are bound to put a lot of heat on their goaltenders this year, especially early in the season. But, if early results are any indication, St. Cloud State has the right trio in place to withstand the flames.
UP NEXT: St. Cloud State (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) at No. 10 Colgate (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC)—Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7 at 1 p.m. (Class of 1965 Arena, Hamilton, N.Y.)
HOW TO FOLLOW:
- Watch Live (Friday)
- Watch Live (Saturday)
- Live Stats (Friday)
- Live Stats (Saturday)
- Game Notes (PDF)
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: This weekend's series marks Colgate's 2017-18 debut. The Raiders finished last season with a 22-11-3 record, overall, and a 13-8-1 mark in conference mark—good for sixth in the ECAC. Colgate returns its top six scorers from last year's campaign, including its top goal-scorers in junior forwards Shae Labbe and Bailey Larson and leading point-getter junior forward Jessie Eldridge. Also back is junior goaltender Julia Vandyk, who played in 33 games last season and recorded a 1.88 goals-against average and a .924 goals-against average. In their first outing this season, the Raiders notched a 2-1 overtime exhibition win over the Queen's Gaels.
ALL-TIME SERIES (SCSU leads, 1-0-1): The two programs met last season, January 6-7, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. SCSU defeated the then No.7-ranked Raiders, 7-4, in the series opener before battling to a 0-0 draw in the finale to cap an unbeaten weekend. Forward Hannah Potrykus notched a hat trick and four points and forward Julia Tylke logged three assists in the win, while goaltender Janine Alder was perfect on 57 shots over 89:05 of play after coming on midway through the first game. Forward Alyssa Ericsson (1+1) also notched a multi-point series and forward Janna Haeg was credited with that Friday's game-winning goal.
LAST TIME OUT: Last weekend, St. Cloud State split a pair of non-conference home games against Connecticut to officially open its 2017-18 campaign. The Huskies took UConn to overtime last Friday before falling, 1-0, in the extra period, but bounced back for a thrilling comeback victory, 3-2, to wrap up the weekend. SCSU fell behind, 2-0, early on Saturday, but rallied for three unanswered goals in the third period. Tylke scored twice in the final frame's first 4:42 to tie the score, including a goal for the ages that was featured on SportsCenter. The Huskies capped the comeback with 5:42 to play courtesy of freshman forward Laura Kluge's first career goal. Kluge also set up Tylke's game-tying tally for her first career multi-point outing. Sophomore forward Kayla Friesen (0+2) charted a pair of points in the win as well. Kluge's tally was the first time a rookie's first career goal was a game-winner since Potrykus also accomplished the same feat on Oct. 13, 2015 at Merrimack.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER:
FAB FROSHES: It was a milestone weekend for a trio of SCSU freshman 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.
BLUE LINE SHINES: St. Cloud State's young defensive core—which include five newcomers—held UConn to three goals, and just two at even strength, over the season's first 120:05 of play. It was the Huskies best two-game start, defensively, since also conceding only three times in its 2013-14 season-opening series, Oct. 4-5, 2013, against Quinnipiac.
SILKY TYLKE: Tylke's brace on Saturday lifted the Huskies offense and moved her into a tie for No. 26 on the SCSU all-time points list with 46 (23+23). The Delafield, Wis., native led SCSU with 12 goals and 20 points last season and entered this campaign as the program's active leading scorer.
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, Ericsson and Potrykus—and six of its top eight scorers, overall.
SWISS SENSATION: Despite taking the loss on Friday, sophomore goaltender Janine Alder shined in her first start of the season, turning away all 21 shots she faced in regulation. After a standout rookie campaign in 2016-17, 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: Friesen came on in a big way for SCSU during the second half of last season—a roll she continued with a two-point opening weekend. 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.
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