#2/3 St. Cloud State saves 5-5 tie with final minute heroics on Feb. 16

Friday, February 16

Kalamazoo, MI

7:05 p.m. ET

St. Cloud State

19-6-4, 13-4-2-1

Western Michigan University

14-13-2, 9-9-1-0

OT 1

St. Cloud State

Western Michigan

Blake Lizotte and Mikey Eyssimont congratulate Jimmy Schuldt (left)

#2/3 St. Cloud State saves 5-5 tie with final minute heroics on Feb. 16

2/16/2018 10:17:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

The #2/3 ranked St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (19-6-4, 13-4-2 NCHC) gained two important league points thanks to a 5-5 tie at #15 Western Michigan (14-13-2, 9-9-1 NCHC) on Friday, Feb. 16. The Huskies added the extra point that clinched home ice advantage for the upcoming NCHC playoffs thanks to a goal by Jimmy Schuldt in the 3X3 overtime session.

In a rollercoaster of a contest, the Huskies relied on an extra attacker goal by Mika Ilvonen with 19:11 left in regulation to tie the game at 5-5. Ilvonen's final minute heroics came after the Huskies had pulled goalie Jeff Smith to added the extra skater up front. Ilvonen scored the GTG with assists from Ryan Poehling and Kevin Fitzgerald.

The goal was Ilvonen's second of the evening as he also started the SCSU offense with the game's first goal at 3:28 of the first period. He was assisted on that play by Patrick Newell and Blake Lizotte.

WMU charged back in the first with an even strength goal at 6:16 by Aidan Muir and a power play goal at 7:05 by Paul Stoykewych , which gave the Broncos a 2-1 lead.

SCSU battled back with a power play goal of its own by Easton Brodzinski at 9:58 of the first period. This was his 11th goal of the season and it was assisted by Jackson and Schuldt. Ryan Poehling then made it 3-2 in favor of SCSU with a goal at 14:29 of the first as Brodzinski and Jackson had assisted on the play.

In the second period, Muir posted his second goal of the night at 4:04 to tie the game at 3-3.

In the final period of regulation, WMU's Hugh McGing gave his squad a 4-3 lead at 7:11 but that was answered by a Schuldt bomb from the blueline that made it 4-4 at 9:15 of the third. He was assisted on the play by Newell and Blake Lizotte. The Broncos posted the go ahead goal at 17:35 of the third period with a marker by Dawson DiPietro.

The Broncos held the 5-4 lead until Ilvonen's final minute goal tied the game and forced the OT session.

ICYMI last night...Mika Ilvonen's GTG for @SCSUHUSKIES_MH at @WMUHockey on Feb. 16. pic.twitter.com/coPgUVphuq
— SCSU HUSKIES (@SCSUHUSKIES) February 17, 2018

On the night, SCSU outshot WMU 48-33. Jeff Smith was the goalie of record for SCSU with 27 saves and Ben Blacker had 43 saves for the Broncos. On the power play, SCSU was 2-6 and WMU was 1-1 as the Huskies only had one penalty in the game. Of note, Blake Lizotte had three assists in the game, while Ilvonen had two goals along with two point nights from Jackson, Schuldt and Newell.

The two teams will complete their weekend series on Feb. 17 at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on The River 96.7 FM with Jim Erickson on the call.