St. Cloud State opens postseason with 5-0 loss to No. 2 UMD

Thursday, February 23

Duluth, Minn.

3:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

9-22-4)(7-18-3WCHA

Minnesota Duluth

23-5-5)(19-5-4WCHA

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

Photo by: Brett Groehler

St. Cloud State opens postseason with 5-0 loss to No. 2 UMD

2/23/2017 5:45:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Despite strong start, Huskies trail best-of-three WCHA Quarterfinals series, 1-0

By: Ryan Evans

DULUTH—The 2017 WCHA Playoffs opened in disappointment for the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (9-22-4, 7-19-3 WCHA) as the Huskies dropped a 5-0 road decision to No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (23-5-5, 19-5-4) in game one of their quarterfinal series.

With the loss, sixth-seeded SCSU trails in the best-of-three series, 1-0, putting it on the brink of elimination and setting up a must-win situation in Friday's game two.

The Husky attack came out of the gates strong, charting six of the game's first nine shot attempts—en route to nearly half in the opening frame, overall—but its momentum was curbed as the third-seeded Bulldogs opened the scoring 2:34 into the contest.

"That was the best start we have had against a top team this year," head coach Eric Rud said. "We came out with jump and energy and had a lot of good chances."

"Unfortunately, when you don't get a bounce or a break, you leave yourself susceptible," he added. We needed to earn better outcomes on those offensive chances, especially early."

UMD turned it on after that and did not look back—rattling off another in the first, two more in the second and one in the third.

The Bulldogs' second first period tally, which came with under a minute to play in the stanza, proved to be especially damaging. After starting strong, the Huskies appeared primed to head into the locker room down by just one, 1-0, but an unlucky bounce off of a shin pad turned into a fluky goal and doubled the deficit.

"When it happens at that point of the game, right at the end of the first period, it is tough," Rud said. "We should have been able to carry the positive momentum we had in the first forward."

Trailing by four, 4-0, after two periods, Rud opted to swap freshman goaltender Janine Alder for sophomore Taylor Crosby to begin the final frame in hopes of producing a spark. The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native finished with 15 saves on 16 shots.

"We were looking to spark some energy at that point," Rud said. "We wanted to mix things up and see what could happen in the third period."

Alder, who made her seventh-straight start, finished with 24 saves on 28 shots in two periods of work.

St. Cloud State will seek to keep its season alive when it resumes its postseason series with Minnesota Duluth on Friday, February 24. Game two will commence from AMSOIL Arena at 3:07 p.m.

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