St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth
Players Mentioned
Insider: St. Cloud State’s newcomers are rapidly gaining confidence
11/1/2017 5:31:00 PM | Women's Hockey
The Huskies' plethora of new faces are growing accustom to team's system
ST. CLOUD—With 12 newcomers, including nine freshmen, on its roster, the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (2-6-0, 1-3-0 WCHA) has been tasked early this season with bringing the WCHA's largest group of incoming players up to speed. But if last weekend's results were any indication, the fruits of that labor are beginning to pay dividends.
The Huskies' new faces carried the load as the team's attack broke out at Minnesota State. They scored two of SCSU's season single series high five goals and accounted for 64 percent of its point production.
"We are starting to get on the same page with some things, finally," head coach Eric Rud said. "It takes time to implement how you want to do things and to see that start to pay off early in the season is a good sign for the future."
Leading the way last weekend were freshmen forward Laura Kluge and sophomore defender Abby Thiessen. Kluge paced the conference in scoring with four points en route to being named WCHA Rookie of the Week, while Thiessen provided the primary helpers for a pair of goals in Friday's win—including Kluge's game-tying power play tally.
For Thiessen, her multi-point effort was a potential realization of the offensive ability that convinced Rud and his staff to bring her over after North Dakota's program folded. The Red Deer, Alberta native charted four assists as a freshman at UND while learning from an experienced defensive group that included former Olympians.
"In doing our homework on her, we felt there was some more offense in there," Rud said of Thiessen. "We have seen her get more comfortable on the power play and joining the rush and think that will continue throughout her career."
Kluge came stateside after a decorated career in Europe. She was one of the top scorers at both the 2017 and 2016 Div. I IIHF Women's World Championships—a trend she has continued at SCSU with a team-leading six points (2-4—6) in eight games.
"Kluge showed what she is capable of," Rud said. "I think we will continue to see those types of things out of her."
Redshirt sophomore Dana Rasmussen and freshmen defender Hannah Bates also scored their first points in a red and black uniform against the Mavericks.
Because of the time it takes to acclimate to the Div. I level and to become comfortable in new systems with fresh sets of expectations, Rud said he does not count on newcomers to win hockey games. When they do contribute he considers it a bonus, albeit a very welcome one.
"Once you get comfortable within the systems, everything, including the offense, comes a little easier," he said. "Some are adjusting quicker than others, but that is just how the learning curve goes sometimes."
As they look ahead to this weekend's series at Minnesota Duluth, the Huskies are seeing its young group's confidence and comfort level grow— offering them a tantalizing early season glimpse of its promising future.
UP NEXT: St. Cloud State (2-6-0, 1-3-0 WCHA) at Minnesota Duluth (3-7-0, 1-5-0)
Friday, November 3 and Saturday, Novembr 4 | 7:00 and 4:00 p.m. | AMSOIL Arena (Duluth, Minn.)
| SCSU WOMEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL, Nov. 3-4, 2017 |
| LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/umd/whockey/xlive.htm |
| RADIO: None |
| TELEVISION: MY9-TV (Friday) |
| VIDEO STREAMING ($): NCHC.TV/UMD |
| GAME NOTES (PDF): SCSU at MINNESOTA DULUTH GAME NOTES |
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER:
- SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: After starting the season by sweeping Penn State, Minnesota Duluth has lost seven of its last eight games including five of six to open WCHA play. The Bulldogs have been held to one goal or less in six of 10 games this season and rank just above SCSU in the conference at 1.70 goals per game. UMD, which lost its top five scorers from a year ago, are led offensively by freshman forward Naomi Rogge (5-3—8) and sophomore defender Jalyn Elmes (3-5—8) at eight points apiece. Senior Jessica Convery has started eight of the team's 10 games in goal and has 2.02 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.
- ALL-TIME SERIES: SCSU is 11-64-5 all-time against UMD. The Huskies were 0-6-0 last season against the Bulldogs, including a two-game WCHA Quarterfinals series, and are 1-8-1 in their last 10 meetings. Their last road win in the series was Nov. 1, 2013—a 4-1 triumph.
- LAST MEETING: St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth met for a WCHA Quarterfinals series at AMSOIL Arena, Feb. 23-24, 2017. The No. 6-seeded Huskies were swept by the No. 3 Bulldogs, 5-0 and 6-2. SCSU started strong in both games, but were unable to capitalize against the nationally ranked Bulldogs. Forward Julia Tylke scored a goal in the series, while four returning players notched at least a point.
- Among returning players, forwards Janna Haeg (1-1—2) and Kayla Friesen (0-2—2) and defender Brittney Anderson (0-2—2) all paced St. Cloud State with two points in the 2016-17 season series against Minnesota Duluth. Haeg and fellow forwards Jordan Stewart and Julia Tylke all notched a goal.
- Tylke is SCSU's active scoring leader against the Bulldogs with three goals and five points in 10 career games. Anderson is not far behind with four assists and points in 14 career games against UMD.
- LAST TIME OUT: In their last outings, the Huskies split a road series at Minnesota State. They picked up their first conference win with a four-goal outburst in the series opener, before succumbing to a Mavericks' third period rally in the finale in a 3-1 setback.
- KLUGE HONORED: Freshman forward Laura Kluge led the way, offensively, for SCSU against MSU, notching a league-high four points (1-3—4) in the series en route to being named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for Oct. 27-29. Her three-point outing (1-2—3) in last Friday's outing was the first for a Huskies' rookie since Holly Roberts on Feb. 24, 2007 at Minnesota Duluth. Kluge leads the Huskies with four assists and six points in eight games this season and ranks second with two goals.
- Kluge's goal in last Friday's win not only tied the score to set the stage for SCSU's third period heroics, but was the team's first power play goal of the season—snapping an 0-for-14 start to the season. With the goal, the Huskies' power play improved to 1-for-16 (6.2 percent) on the season.
- SILKY TYLKE: Junior forward Julia Tylke scored twice in the series at Minnesota State, including a highlight reel-worthy game-winning goal in Friday's win. With a team-leading four goals, Tylke enters this weekend with 48 career points (25-23—48)—just two points shy of the 50-point 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.
- The series in Mankato was a milestone one for a trio of Huskies as redshirt sophomore forward Dana Rasmussen, sophomore defender Abby Thiessen and freshman defender Hannah Bates all recorded their first career points in a red and black uniform. Overall, nine of the team's 14 points at MSU were charted by first-year SCSU players.
- WELCOME TO SCSU: The Huskies roster includes a total of 12 new faces this season—including nine freshman, which is tied with Bemidji State for the most in the conference, as well as two transfers and a redshirt player from last season.
- SWISS SENSATION: Sophomore goaltender Janine Alder is off to a strong start in her second season. The former Swiss Olympian boasts a .926 save percentage in four starts, which ranks fourth in the WCHA and No. 24 nationally.
- St. Cloud State's goaltending duo of Alder and freshman Emma Polusny rank one and two in the WCHA in saves per appearance. Alder averages 31.25 saves per game, while Polusny turns away an average of 28.25 shots per contest.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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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