Huskies begin 2022 with the Battle at the Burgh

Saturday, January 1

Cranberry Township, Pa.

6:00 p.m. CST

St. Cloud State

Penn State

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

12/29/2021 3:20:00 PM | Women's Hockey

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey welcomes in the New Year with the Battle at the Burgh this weekend, beginning the 2022 portion of the season with a four-team holiday tournament. The Huskies will play RV Penn State at 7:00 p.m. EST on Saturday evening, then will face either Boston University or Syracuse on Sunday. Hosted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Battle at the Burgh is held at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex – the Penguins' primary training facility in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.

Coverage of the series can be seen on YouTube, with links available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page. The Huskies are 4-0 in nonconference play this season, having swept Lindenwood in their season opener and taking two against RPI on the road in November.

SCSU enters the second half ready to right the ship after a difficult 0-4-0 December. Taylor Lind along with Emma Gentry and Jenniina Nylund have provided SCSU with an extremely reliable point-getting top line, with Lind (5-12-17, +3) leading in points, Gentry (9-3-12, +3) pacing the team in goals while Nylund (7-7-14, +8) is second in goals, assists and points. Mackenzie Bourgerie (4-5-9) owns a career-high nine points, finding a home as a playmaking center. On the blue line, Dayle Ross is fourth in the WCHA with 37 blocks while McKenna Wesloh (1-5-6) leads all Huskies defenders in points. Sanni Ahola has allowed no more than three goals in each of her last four starts and stopped shots at an excellent .926 clip in the team's final series of 2021 at Minnesota State. Emma Polusny moved to second all-time in Huskies history and joined the 3000 save club in her last start against Bemidji State, currently standing 77 saves away from tying the program record held by Laura Gieselman.

Currently receiving votes in both national polls, Penn State has been led by forwards Natalie Heising (12-12-24) and Kiara Zanon (6-16-22), both of whom have eclipsed the 20-point mark as the Nittany Lions are off to a 10-6-2 record. Julia Gough has reached double-digits in scoring with a 7-4-11 line to round out the key forwards. Rene Gangarosa leads Penn State with 33 blocks and paces the blueline in points (2-6-8) while Lyndie Lobdell (2-5-7) has skated to a team-best plus-11. Josie Bothun has started all 18 games in net, posting a .917 save percentage and a 1.88 goals against average.

St. Cloud State will return to WCHA play with a home series against Minnesota-Duluth on January 7-8 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.