.png)
St. Cloud State
14-8-0
Colorado College
4-14-2
Seniors shine in No. 6 men's hockey win over CC
2/20/2021 4:55:00 PM | Men's Hockey
ST. CLOUD, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University men's hockey team could not have scripted Saturday's game against Colorado College any better. It played out, in a way, like an old school Western, with a high noon puck drop and dominating performance by a class of staunch, weathered, determined seniors. In the end, all that mattered was the numbers on the scoreboard Saturday afternoon, which read in the Huskies favor. After 60 minutes of play, No. 6 St. Cloud State downed the visiting Tigers 4-0, honoring the team seniors on Senior Day with its 14th win of 2020-21.
The Huskies seniors were the stars of the game Saturday, as they accounted for three of the four goals scored and earned the win in goal for St. Cloud State. In fact, the scoring, in particular, started early for the Huskies, as Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Green Bay) lit the lamp early, giving St. Cloud State an early 1-0 lead with a sneak attack goal from the left circle. Roughly seven minutes later, his line mate, Nolan Walker (Anchorage, Alaska / Sioux Falls) scored perhaps the prettiest goal of the season on a power play, as he beat Dominic Basse from behind the net to boost the Huskies lead to 2-0 at 13:10 in the first period.
After the flurry of activity in the first period, not much happened in the second, as neither team managed to score any goals. The penalty box did see plenty of action, as St. Cloud State and Colorado College were called for a combined five penalties in the second period, but not a single power play goal was scored. In fact, no one scored until 12:51 in the third period when Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill. / Aberdeen) tallied his eighth goal of the season to give the Huskies a 3-0 advantage with 7:09 remaining in regulation.
With the way David Hrenak (Povazksa Bystrica, Slovakia / Green Bay) was playing in net, Brodzisnki's first goal was the only one needed to clinch victory. The senior stopped all 23 shots he faced, including 10 in the intense second period of play, to clinch the 11th shutout of his career. The win also counted as the 60th of Hrenak's career, moving him within six of Brian Leitza's program record 66 career victories.
Brodzinski, though, wasn't satisfied with St. Cloud State's 3-0 lead and secured the 4-0 with an empty netter at 18:08. The goal counted as his 10th of the season, overtaking Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland / Kiekko-Espoo U20) as team leader, and the 95th point of his Huskies career.
With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 14-8-0 and the team is 14-9-0 in NCHC play. The Huskies will return to the ice the weekend of February 26, when they face conference rival Minnesota-Duluth.
