Wahlin the hero as St. Cloud State sweeps Miami, 3-1

Saturday, February 11

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

15-14-1, 9-10-1NCHC

Miami University (OH)

9-13-6, 5-9-4NCHC

Miami

St. Cloud State

Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane

2/11/2017 10:28:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Rookie forward scores breaks tie late in the third to deliver Huskies’ sweep

By: Ryan Evans

ST. CLOUD—Forward Jake Wahlin's flare for the dramatic manifested again on Saturday, as the freshman's late third period goal pushed the St. Cloud State men's hockey team (15-14-1, 9-10-1 NCHC) to a sweep of visiting Miami (9-13-6, 5-9-4), 3-1.

With the win, the Huskies move past idle North Dakota into fourth place, and the last home ice slot, in the NCHC with 28 league points. Both the Fighting Hawks and UNO are two points behind SCSU, though UND has two games in hand.

The victory snapped the Huskies recent Saturday slump. They had not won to wrap up a weekend since defeating Arizona State, 4-2, on December 31 at the Desert Classic. It is also their first sweep in conference play since doing so at Colorado College November 11-12.

"It is just a really good weekend for us," head coach Bob Motzko said. "We've been playing like this for a long while and I like it. You think there might be a slip and there is never a slip. Our play has been consistent and they keep battling."

With the score knotted at one late in the third period, a pair of freshman stepped up to deliver St. Cloud State the victory. With just 2:37 left in regulation, freshman forward Nick Poehling picked out streaking freshman forward Jake Wahlin with a perfect pass and Wahlin made no mistake.

"Nick made an unbelievable pass and I was able to tap it in. I was hoping he saw me," Wahlin said. "It was huge for us. We've been winning on Fridays and losing on Saturdays. It is big to get that consistency. It is going to be huge for us."

The goal is Wahlin's second game-winner of his rookie campaign, following his overtime tally in SCSU's 6-5 comeback win at Minnesota on October 22.

"Wahlin has some clutch goals for us this year," Motzko said. "I think that is a sign of what is to come."

Sophomore forward Jacob Benson tacked on an empty-netter with under a minute to play to seal the triumph.

The RedHawks got on the board first, opening the scoring just over five minutes into the middle frame. Sophomore defenseman Jimmy Schuldt responded quickly for the Huskies, though, notching his second goal of the weekend on the power play just 83 seconds later and setting up Wahlin's third period heroics.

"We have not had a sweep since November, so this one feels good," Schuldt said. "And to see freshman step up and make plays like that was nice to see. Coach says that is where Nic Dowds are born."

St. Cloud State is back in action Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25 on the road at Denver. Game time is 9 p.m. CT on Friday and 8 p.m. CT on Saturday. Friday's contest will be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network.

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