St. Cloud State men's hockey opens Three Rivers Classic with loss to Union

Friday, January 4

Pittsburgh, Penn.

4:00 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

13-2-2, 6-0-2NCHC

Union College

10-4-4, 3-4-1ECAC

St. Cloud State

Union

Kevin Fitzgerald

St. Cloud State men's hockey opens Three Rivers Classic with loss to Union

1/4/2019 6:52:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

The #1 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team 13-2-2, 6-0-2 NCHC) lost a 7-2 decision in first round play of the Three Rivers Classic tournament against #14 Union College (10-4-4) on Friday, Jan. 4. The game was played at the UPMC Lemiuex Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa.

The loss moves the Huskies into the consolation game of the Three RIvers Classic, which will be played at PPG Arena in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa. on Saturday, Jan. 5. The Huskies will face the loser of today's second game between host Robert Morris University and Brown University. The consolation game is slated to start at 4:00 p.m. CT and fans can listen to the game live on The River 96.7 FM and watch the game live at Robert Morris Athletic You Tube

SCSU and Union battled evenly through the opening 15:00 of the first period before the Dutchmen scored first at 15:36 with a goal by Ryan Walker to make it 1-0. Union padded its lead to 2-0 with a goal at 17:23 of the first by Brandon Estes.

In the second perioid, Union extended its lead to 3-0 with a goal at 11:14 by Parker Foo before the Huskies broke the shutout at 16:49 of the period with a power play marker by Kevin Fitzgerald. This was his eighth goal of the season and it was assisted by Robby Jackson and Patrick Newell. The assist was Jackson's 98th career point at SCSU and it was Newell's 94th career point as a Husky.

SCSU's rally was shortlived as Sebastian Vidmar scored at 17:59 of the second period for Union to make the score 4-1 at the end of the second.

Take another look at 3rd period goal by @SCSUHUSKIES_MH Kevin Fitzgerald vs. Union. With 9:24 left in the 3rd, Union leads 7-2. pic.twitter.com/GgQVkc3oQJ
— SCSU Men's Hockey (@SCSUHUSKIES_MH) January 4, 2019

In the final period of play, Union padded their lead to 5-1 with Estes' second marker of the game at :30. Just over a minute later, Brett Supinski pushed the Dutchmen lead to 6-1 with his goal at 1:32. Fitzgerald returned to the scoring column for SCSU at 2:48 of the third period to make the score 6-2. Jack Poehling and Jack Ahcan each added assists on the play, which was Fitzgerald's ninth goal of the season. The point was Ahcan's 12th assist of the season, which places him second on the team this season for assists.

To finish the game's offense, Union's Ryan Walker scored at 5:41 of the third to make the final tally 7-2.

On the night, SCSU outshot Union 38-25. David Hrenak (10-1-1) suffered his first loss of the year for the Huskies in the nets with 13 saves in 41:32 minutes of play. Jeff Smith completed the game for SCSU with five saves to his credit. On the power play, SCSU was 1-2 and the Huskies were a perfect 2-2 on the penalty kill. Of note, the seven goals allowed by the Huskies were the most since a 7-5 setback against Western Michigan at the HBNHC on Jan. 12, 2018.