St. Cloud State skates to 2-2 deadlock at Ohio State

Saturday, February 4

Columbus, Ohio

2:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

8-18-4 (6-15-3-2)

Ohio State

11-15-4 (5-15-4-2)

OT 1

St. Cloud State

Ohio State

Junior Emma Turbyville's first career goal was the Huskies first on the power play since November 26.

Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane

2/4/2017 5:28:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Junior defenseman Emma Turbyville notched her first career goal in the draw

By: Ryan Evans

COLUMBUS, Ohio—After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (8-18-4, 6-15-3-2 WCHA) had to settle for a 2-2 tie Friday, and four of six points from the series, after a two-goal, third period Ohio State (11-15-4, 5-15-4-2) rally knotted the score.

With the draw, the Huskies, with 23 points, remain in sole possession of fifth place in the WCHA standings with four regular season games to play. They lead OSU by two points and Bemidji State by four.

SCSU withstood the Buckeyes' heavy early pressure and jumped out a two-goal, 2-0, lead after two periods on the strength of goals from sophomore forward Julia Tylke and junior defenseman Emma Turbyville. Tylke's was her team-leading 10th of the season, making her the first Husky to reach double digits this season.

Turbyville's power play marker not only snapped the Huskies' 0-for-31 stretch with the man advantage—which dated back to November 26—but was the Chicago native's first goal in 79 career games.

"At this level, when you can generate offense from your defensemen it is huge," Rud said. "It gives you an extra boost because it is like getting a bonus goal sometimes. When you're coming down the stretch, and it is harder and harder to score goals, you need that."

Ohio State, though, generated nearly 60 percent of the game's shot attempts and its offensive thrust finally broke through in the third period—crumbling SCSU's lead with a pair of tallies in a 2:19 span. The Buckeyes drew within one on what Rud called a "goofy" play before tying the game at 4-on-4 after coincidental penalties.

"They came out flying," Rud said. "We were able to deflect them for a bit before we weren't able to get the puck out of our zone and it ended up in the back of our net."

"We hoped that their momentum would slow down when it went to 4-on-4, but they ended up getting a fluky one."

After a scoreless five-minute overtime period, OSU claimed the extra point in the conference standings with a 1-0, three-round shootout win. Though Rud called it "disappointing" not to grab that point, he believes the confidence gained from this weekend's series will be invaluable for the Huskies with the postseason approaching.

"We came on the road and played really well in a pressure situation," Rud said. "We know we'll be on the road for playoffs and now we know we can come into a hostile building and give ourselves chances to win."

St. Cloud State continues its battle for playoff positioning next weekend, Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11 against Bemdji State. Game time is 3:07 p.m. on both days. Saturday's game is Senior Day and the Huskies will celebrate the careers of their seven departing seniors. Tickets are available at scsutickets.com. Youth under 18 and SCSU students with a valid university ID will be admitted for free.

###