Penalties plague Huskies in 3-2 loss at Miami

Friday, February 12

Oxford, OH

6:05 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

12-8-0

Miami University (OH)

5-14-2

St. Cloud St.

Miami (OH)

Joe Molenaar celebrates Spencer Meier's goal in the first period against Miami.

Photo by: Rachel MacNeill, Miami

2/12/2021 10:09:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

OXFORD, OHIO - It seemed like everything was going the St. Cloud State University men's hockey team way Friday evening in Oxford, Ohio. The No. 7 Huskies seemed destined for another victory against Miami University (Ohio) thanks to an early first period goal and stellar play by senior goalie David Hrenak (Povazksa Bystrica, Slovakia / Green Bay). A National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) win seemingly wasn't in the cards, though, as St. Cloud State fell to unranked Miami by a final score of 3-2.

Again, things were rolling the Huskies early, as they scored their first goal exactly five minutes into the game. Junior captain Spencer Meier (Sartell, Minn. / Fargo) lit the lamp first for St. Cloud State, as he wristed one past Ludvig Perrson to give the Huskies an early 1-0 lead, with an assist to Will Hammer (St. Cloud, Minn. / Cathedral).

Neither team scored in the remainder of the first or the second. Then, things got wild midway through the third, as St. Cloud State and the RedHawks scored a combined three goals in 30 seconds, producing a 2-2 score with 9:42 remaining in regulation. Alec Capstick finally broke Hrenak's shutout, evening the score 1-1 at 9:55 in the third. Thirteen seconds later, John Sladic gave Miami a 2-1 lead before Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland / Sioux Falls) evened things up at 2-2 with a breakaway goal at 10:18 in the period.

Krannila's goal seemed to shift the momentum back in St. Cloud State's direction, as the team was fired up to score the go ahead goal in the remaining nine minutes. Penalties, though, and the in ability to score on the power play proved costly for the Huskies, as they fell into a 3-2 hole at 12:50 mere seconds after multiple St. Cloud State skaters and a RedHawk were sent to the sin bin for roughing and boarding.

The Huskies desperately tried to even the score in the remaining 7:10, but they ran into a wall in net for Miami. Persson stopped 37 of 38 shots he faced Friday evening, including a peppering in the final five minutes of play. None snuck past him, as St. Cloud State fell by a final score of 3-2.

Meier was the lone multi-point scorer for the Huskies Friday evening, as she scored a goal and tallied an assist on Krannila's in the third period. Brendan Bushy ( Thief River Falls, Minn. / Dubuque) was also awarded an assists on Krannila's goal, while Hammer tallied the lone apple on Meier's early goal.

Hrenak suffered the loss for St. Cloud State, falling to 9-7-0 on the season despite his 20 saves in net. The Huskies 10 game winning streak against the RedHawks also comes to an end, as head coach Brett Larson suffers his first loss to Miami in his head coaching career.

With the loss, the Huskies record now stands at 12-8-0 and the team is 12-8-0 in NCHC play. St. Cloud State will return to action Saturday afternoon, as the team faces Miami for a second time at 4:05 p.m CT.