St. Cloud State
Minnesota
Players Mentioned
Insider: St. Cloud State’s schedule presents “unique” challenge
11/16/2017 9:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Three games over the next six days will test depth of Huskies’ young roster
ST. CLOUD—With three games in the next six days, a unique challenge awaits the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (2-10-0, 1-7-0 WCHA)—one that will put its young, but deep, lineup to the test beginning this weekend at No. 6 Minnesota (9-4-1, 6-3-1).
The Huskies' gauntlet begins with the two-game set against the Gophers and wraps up with a home non-conference match-up against Bemidji State next Wednesday, November 22. It is the first of three midweek turnarounds for SCSU this season, which was a necessity created when it lamentably lost North Dakota from its schedule.
"It's unique out in this neck of the world. We don't have a lot of midweek stuff," head coach Eric Rud said. "It will be an interesting and fun thing. It mixes up your weekly routine."
With three games in less than a week, the Huskies' depth will be tested over this rigourous stretch. They will have to utilize a number of young and inexperienced players to carry them, but with a larger, 27-player roster to call on, Rud and his staff believe are in an enviable position to combat those challenges.
"You have to play your whole lineup because you will be a little run down," Rud said. "That will be part of the challenge of getting through this stretch, but we do have the benefit of a larger roster this season."
The coming week is just the latest test for SCSU's plethora of new faces, which have been thrown into the fire early on this season. The Huskies have weathered the weekly in-game learning moments that have resulted from relying on the nation's second-most underclassmen for significant minutes and contributed to the team's current five-game skid, but trust they are better for the experience.
Rud said that, unlike past seasons, practices have had to be much more focused on learning and implementing systems and other basic components, which has taken away from skill development and other more "enjoyable" team-building exercises. But that is what a young and growing team requires and he believes the building blocks are beginning to stack up.
"We're a little further behind than a lot of teams because we are still learning," he said. "It is a constant work in progress, but overall our trend is going the right way for sure. We're still trying to get some off our basic stuff down that we will keep getting better at this year and in years to come."
UP NEXT: St. Cloud State (2-10-0, 1-7-0 WCHA) at No. 6 Minnesota (9-4-1, 6-3-0)
Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18 | 6:07 and 4:07 p.m. | Ridder Arena (Minneapolis)
| SCSU WOMEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL, Nov. 17-18, 2017 |
| LIVE STATS: Friday | Saturday |
| RADIO (Free): Friday | Saturday |
| TELEVISION: None |
| VIDEO STREAMING ($): BTN Plus: Friday | Saturday |
| GAME NOTES (PDF): SCSU at Minnesota |
ABOUT THE SERIES:
- SCOUTING THE GOPHERS: No. 6-ranked Minnesota rides a four-game win streak into this weekend's series after sweeping Mercyhurst on the road in its last outings. The Gophers have scored five or more goals in three of their four games over their current win streak and rank No. 2 in the WCHA at 3.43 goals per game this season. They also boast the league's top special teams units, ranking No. 1 in both power play (23.9 percent) and penalty kill (88.6 percent). Freshman forward Grace Zumwinkle and senior forward Caitlin Reilly lead the way, offensively, for Minnesota with 15 points apiece. Zumwinkle paces Minnesota with seven goals. Redshirt senior goaltender Sidney Peters and freshman goaltender Alex Gulstene have seen near-equal time in the net, with Gulstene charting a team-leading 1.94 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in seven appearances.
- SCSU is winless in four games (0-4-0) against ranked opponents and 1-5-0 on the road this season. Its lone away win came on Friday, October 27 in a 4-2 triumph at Minnesota State.
- ALL-TIME SERIES: The Huskies trail their all-time series against the Gophers, 3-75-2. They have lost their last 34 meetings, including a 0-4-0 mark last season. Their last win in the series was a 6-3 triumph at home on Feb. 13, 2010. SCSU has never beaten Minnesota on the road in its history, but did manage a 4-4 tie at Ridder Arena on Oct. 12, 2007.
- Among returning players, sophomore forward Kayla Friesen led SCSU with one goal and two points in four games against the Gophers last season. Junior forward Hannah Potrykus also notched a point (0 1) in the 2016-17 season series.
- Friesen (1-1—2) and Potrykus (0-2—2) are tied for the Huskies' active career scoring leader against Minnesota with two points in four and eight career games, respectively. Junior forward Suvi Ollikainen (1-0—1), senior forward Alyssa Erickson (1-0—1) and senior defender Brittney Anderson (0-1—1) also have at least a point in their careers against the Gophers.
- LAST TIME OUT: Last time out, the Huskies were swept at home by Bemidji State with a pair of 3-0 shutout losses. With the setbacks, they have been held off the scoreboard in their last four home games and seven times this season, overall. The games dropped SCSU, which has scored 12 times in 12 games played, to an average of 1.00 goals per game this season, which ranks No. 7 in the WCHA.
- SWISS SENSATION: Sophomore goaltender Janine Alder got back-to-back starts for the first time this season against the Beavers. She stopped a season-high 48 shots in last Friday's game and registered a .947 save percentage on 76 shots in the series. The weekend raised her season save percentage to .931—which ranks No. 4 in the WCHA and No. 15 nationally.
- Alder and freshman goaltender Emma Polusny have shared the load between the pipes this season with seven and five starts, respectively. Alder ranks No. 1 in the WCHA at 32.7 saves per appearance, while Polusny ranks No. 3 with 28.0 stops per contest.
- SILKY TYLKE: Junior forward Julia Tylke was held scoreless against BSU and remains at 49 career points—just one shy of the 50-point plateau. She has a chance to become the 24th player in program history to reach that mark and just the fourth to do so since the 2012-13 season. Tylke, SCSU's active career scoring leader, leads the team with five goals and ranks second with five points this season.
- PK PROWESS: The Huskies penalty kill was 5-for-6 against the Beavers, dropping their season success rate to 87.9 percent (29-for-33)—which is tied for second in the conference and No. 11 nationally. Bemidji State's power play goal last Saturday snapped SCSU's run of 12-straight successful kills.
- WELCOME TO SCSU: The Huskies roster includes a total of 12 new faces this season, including nine freshmen—which is tied with Bemidji State for the most in the WCHA and third nationally. SCSU is one of the youngest teams in the country, overall, with 18 freshmen and sophomores—the second-most underclassmen in the nation.
- 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. Despite all of their returning offense, the Huskies have been shutout in seven of 12 games this season.
- 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.
