St. Cloud State
Bemidji State
Players Mentioned
Insider: Young Huskies learning from their early season lumps
11/8/2017 4:14:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Early season hardships are teaching St. Cloud State what it takes to win
With 18 freshmen and sophomores this season, SCSU features the second-most underclassmen in the nation this season. That youth-laden lineup has taken its lumps early on, but week by week it is learning how it needs to play to win at the NCAA Div. I level and in the ultra-competitive WCHA—a necessity for any inexperienced group.
"It just takes time. You have to learn from situations," head coach Eric Rud said. "When you're an inexperienced team it can be hard to fight through lapses and they end up costing you."
"You can play very well over long periods of time, but three things can shoot you in the foot. That's where we're at right now."
With each passing series, the Huskies are seeing more and more glimpses of the team they have the potential to be, but are working on converting those flashes into consistent complete 60-minute efforts.
No recent outing was more emblematic of this need than last Saturday's 4-2 loss at UMD—SCSU's third straight setback. The Huskies scored twice and dictated play in a dominant third period—nearly doubling the Bulldogs in shot attempts and out-shooting them, 13-8—but it came too late after two flat frames to start the game put them in a three-goal hole.
"That's part of the learning process," Rud said. "But we have seen the way that we can play, so now our expectations are higher. We know we can play at a certain level."
"Our expectations are to play better than we have been and we have that ability," he added. "Right now, the things that are causing us to lose games are under our control and that is a good thing."
Rud said he has seen "mental lapses" like last Saturday's start plague St. Cloud State during its current three game winless skid, but that is the way life goes with a young team. He is confident that time and experience are what the Huskies need to cure what ails them and begin thriving.
"We've had some very good moments and some very average moments and that is just the way it is," he said. "The encouraging thing is that we are still doing a lot of positive things that are leading us in the right direction."
UP NEXT: St. Cloud State (2-8-0, 1-5-0 WCHA) vs. Bemidji State (2-7-1, 1-5-0)
Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11 | 6:07 and 3:07 p.m. | Herb Brooks NHC (St. Cloud, Minn.)
| SCSU WOMEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL, Nov. 10-11, 2017 |
| LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/stcloudstate/whockey/ |
| RADIO: KVSC Sports Stream (Saturday) |
| TELEVISION: None |
| VIDEO STREAMING ($): scsuhuskies.com/live |
| GAME NOTES (PDF): SCSU vs. Bemidji State |
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER:
- SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Bemidji State is coming off of two straight wins, both over Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers split a pair of games with the Bulldogs in Bemidji, October 27-28, and defeated UMD, 3-2, on Monday in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Face-Off Classic—wins which snapped a seven game losing streak. Five of their seven setbacks this season have come by two goals or less. Senior forward Emma Terres leads the Beavers with four goals and is tied with freshman forward Clair DeGeorge (2-6) for the team points lead with eight. Senior goaltender Erin Deters and redshirt freshman goaltender Lauren Bench have split time in the crease. Deters leads the duo with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage—marks that rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the WCHA.
- ALL-TIME SERIES: The Huskies are 34-37-9 (.481) against the Beavers all-time. The two in-state rivals split the season series in 2016-17, 2-2-0, with both sides winning once at home and once on the road. SCSU is 2-7-1 against BSU in their last 10 meetings.
- Junior forward Hannah Potrykus led the Huskies with three goals and tied with sophomore forward Janna Haeg (2-2—4) for the team points lead with four a piece in four games against Bemidji State last season. Overall, 10 returning SCSU players notched at least a point against the Beavers in 2016-17.
- Senior defender Brittney Anderson is the team's active career scoring leader against the Beavers with a goal and five points.
- LAST TIME OUT: The Huskies were swept at Minnesota Duluth, 3-2 (OT) and 4-2, November 3-4. In the first game, redshirt sophomore forward Dana Rasmussen and senior forward Alyssa Erickson scored for the Huskies as they went back and forth with the Bulldogs before the heartbreaking overtime setback. After a slow start in the finale and down 3-0, SCSU mounted a furious third period comeback to draw within one thanks to sophomore defender Abby Thiessen and junior forward Julia Tylke, but the rally fell short.
- Thiessen's goal last Saturday was the first of her collegiate career. The Red Deer, Alberta native now has three points (1-2—3) in her last four games. She is the tied for the second-highest scoring defender in the WCHA over that span.
- SILKY TYLKE: Tylke's goal was her team-leading fifth of the season, which ties her for ninth among conference goal scorers. With five points this season, she is sitting on 49 (26-23) for her career—just one short of the 50-point plateau. Tylke is SCSU's active scoring leader and has a 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.
- PK PROWESS: After killing their opponents' last nine power play opportunities, the Huskies now boast the WCHA's top penalty killing unit. SCSU is 24-for-27 on the penalty kill this season and has not allowed a man advantage marker since October 21 vs. Ohio State. Their 88.9 percent success rate on the kill ranks No. 7 in the country.
- SWISS SENSATION: Sophomore goaltender Janine Alder, an All-WCHA Rookie team selection last season, is off to another strong start. The 2014 Olympic bronze medalist boasts a .924 save percentage in five starts, which ranks No. 4 in the WCHA and is tied for No. 23 nationally. She has made 30 or more saves in three of five starts this season.
- Alder and freshman goaltender Emma Polusny have shared time in the Huskies crease this season with five starts apiece and rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the WCHA in saves per game. Alder averages 31.4 stops per appearance, while Polusny turns away an average of 28 shots per outing.
- 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.
- After being shutout in five of their first six games, the Huskies have averaged over two goals per game (2.25) in their last four contests—which ranks fifth in the WCHA ahead of both Minnesota State and Ohio State over that span.
- 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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