First period struggles cost Huskies in 4-1 loss at No. 2 Minnesota

Saturday, January 9

Minneapolis, Minn.

4:07 PM CST

St. Cloud State

2-6-0, 2-6-0WCHA

Minnesota

7-1-0, 7-1-0WCHA

St. Cloud State

Minnesota

Sanni Ahola stopped all 22 shots she faced in the Huskies loss (photo courtesy of Brad Rempel)

First period struggles cost Huskies in 4-1 loss at No. 2 Minnesota

1/9/2021 6:45:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

St. Cloud State women's hockey (2-6-0, 2-6-0 WCHA) allowed four first period goals to No. 2 Minnesota (7-1-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) on Saturday night in their 4-1 loss at the hands of the Gophers. Laura Kluge scored the lone Huskies goal in the second period, while Sanni Ahola stopped all 22 shots she faced in relief of Emma Polusny. The Huskies were outshot 41-18 in the defeat.

Minnesota began play with a dominant opening period, as Catie Skaja tallied the first goal of the game at the 16:00 minute mark and Taylor Heise added another score with 9:06 to play. Abbey Murphy scored twice in the last three minutes of the period, giving the Gophers a sturdy 4-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Huskies responded with a stellar second, outshooting Minnesota 12-7 and scoring their only goal of the game. With seven minutes to go in the period Klara Hymlarova broke up a Gophers possesion in her defensive zone, then worked a two-on-one break with Kluge towards the left circle of Minnesota's zone. Hymlarova zipped a pass to Kluge in the slot, and the latter fired in a wrister past the Gophers tender for her first goal of the season.

Both defenses held strong for the remainder of the game, and Ahola played a brilliant 15-save third period. The Huskies' penalty kill eliminated each of the Gophers' three chances, and SCSU piled up 16 blocks. Taylor Lind led the way with three, while Adela Skrdlova, Olivia Hanson, Addi Scribner and Hymlarova each added a pair.

St. Cloud State and Minnesota conclude their three-game series on Sunday at 3:07 p.m. CST in St. Cloud at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The game can be seen on FloHockey and heard on 97.5 RadioX.