Huskies Roll over Wisconsin, 5-1 to Open Series

Friday, October 22

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

5-2-0

Wisconsin

2-3-0

Wisconsin

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Luke Schmidt

10/23/2021 12:22:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Five different Huskies score, special teams thrive for St. Cloud State

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 3/3 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (5-2-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) started hot and kept it rolling throughout, winning 5-1 over Wisconsin (2-3-0, 0-0-0 B1G) in a Friday nonconference matchup at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Five different Huskies scored in the game, while graduate goalie David Hrenak (Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia) made 23 saves to lead St. Cloud State to victory.

TURNING POINT

The Huskies wasted no time displaying their offense prowess Friday evening, scoring two goals in the first period for an early 2-0 lead over the visiting Badgers. Senior captain defenseman Spencer Meier (Sartell, Minn.) kicked off the scoring at 12:17 in the first period, as his power play shot trickled in behind Wisconsin's starting netminder Cameron Rowe to give St. Cloud State the 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, junior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) decided to get in on the scoring as well. After junior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) fed the speedy Fin a beautiful pass Krannila buried it behind Rowe, extending the Huskies lead to 2-0 at 13:30 in the first period.

St. Cloud State wasn't satisfied with a two-goal lead, as graduate forward Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill.) made it 3-0 Huskies at 4:05 in the second period. From there, it was open season for St. Cloud State, as senior forward Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn.) scored his third goal of the season to make it 4-0 Huskies at 9:06 in the second. Freshman defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) scored the first goal of his collegiate career at 17:12 to make it 5-0 Huskies after the second period.

TOP HUSKIES

Five different Huskies scored goals Friday evening with Meier, Krannila, Fitzgerald, Brodzinski and Luedtke all finding the back of the net.
Graduate defenseman Seamus Donohue (North Oaks, Minn.), Krannila and senior defenseman Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minn.) all tallied two points Friday evening. Krannila led the way with one goal and an assist, while both Donohue and Perbix recorded two assists on the night.
Hrenak saw 24 shots and made 23 saves Friday evening, including 10 in the third period.

NOTES

Five Huskies found the back of the net, marking the second time this season five different players have scored in a single game (eight vs. St. Thomas on Oct. 2, 2021).
St. Cloud State scored three of its five goals on the power play and was 3-of-3 with a man advantage in the first two periods. The Huskies finished the night 3-of-4 on the power play and 5-of-5 on the penalty kill.
The Huskies entered the game ranked second in the NCAA in power play goals (10) and third in power play percentage (.435, 10-of-23), now improve to 13 power play goals and 48.1 percent (13-of-27).
St. Cloud State is 2-1 in Friday games so far this season and 3-1 in series openers. As a team, the Huskies have scored 19 total goals in four series openers this season, averaging an impressive 4.75 goals per game and have outscored their opponents 19-5 in that stretch.
The Huskies tallied 33 total shots on goal in three periods against the Badgers, tallying a game-high 13 in the second period alone. It marked the fourth time this season St. Cloud State has recorded 30+ shots on goal as a team, and the Huskies are 3-1 in those games.
Meier and Luedtke found the net for the first time this season. It was Meier's 10^th career goal, while Kuedtke scored for the first time in his career.
Kranilla's goal was his team-leading fourth of the season and his 20^th career goal.
Perbix's pair of assists now puts him in the team lead with five assists this season.

HIGHLIGHTS

POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will host Wisconsin for game two of the series on Saturday, October 23. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Fox 9 +.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2021-22 season are available for purchase at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.