SCSU scores early, falls late in one-goal game at No. 2 Minnesota

Saturday, October 22

Minneapolis, Minn.

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

2-6-0, 0-6-0

Minnesota

6-0-0, 6-0-0

St. Cloud State

Minnesota

Photo by: Ryan Roehl

SCSU scores early, falls late in one-goal game at No. 2 Minnesota

10/22/2022 10:40:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Emma Gentry scores her fourth goal of 2022-23 while PK goes 7-for-7

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey hung with No. 2 Minnesota punch-for-punch for nearly 56 minutes before a Gopher goal with 4:02 to go put them away 2-1 at Ridder Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Emma Gentry set the tone extremely early for SCSU, burying a rebound just 54 seconds in to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Courtney Hall made a strong poke on the forecheck to create a turnover, throwing the puck on net as Gentry crashed in to finish.

Minnesota drew even on a loose rebound midway through the opening period, knotting the game at 1-1.

Sanni Ahola earned the game's second star with a stellar performance in goal, stopping 43 of 45 shots faced while making a flurry of strong saves. St. Cloud State killed off all seven Gopher power plays, digging deep in critical moments to keep the game even.

Turning Point
Minnesota took advantage of an opportunity just after the Huskies killed a penalty in the third, scoring the go-ahead goal with 4:02 to go. A SCSU penalty with 2:53 remaining served as the dagger, keeping the extra attacker off the ice until a few ticks past the one minute mark.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski

"I thought we competed really hard. Another good second period, it was nice to come out and get a goal early. The game changes a little bit when you play with the lead for a while as well as for us to keep it tied. We just have to keep staying the course – unfortunate with the bounce there at the end, but we have to be focused on our progress and our improvement at this point."

On the strong Huskies' PK… "The penalty kill did a great job. That starts with your goaltender – I thought Sanni was seeing the puck really well and did a good job of limiting the second and third opportunities. Penalty kill is definitely a strength for us – special teams will be very important for us. It's such a big part of the game, and it definitely held us in there tonight."

On Sanni Ahola's terrific evening… "She was tracking, seeing the puck through traffic well. I thought she controlled the flow of the game by catching a lot of things clean, controlling rebounds and limiting multiple shot opportunities. That's huge, especially against a team as talented as Minnesota. An excellent job."

"Ridder is not an easy place to play. They feed off their crowd. They've had so much success here that they expect to win. It's very hard to come into this barn and take points out. I'm proud that we gave ourselves a chance. Again, the improvements with our compete level and ability to execute things we're trying to do continues to get better."

Looking ahead…"The mentality is much different. Let's be honest – we just finished playing the No. 1 , No. 2 and No 4 teams in the country. It's one thing when you're being hunted and defending. It's much different when you're playing an even game and you have the puck, you have more O-zone time. Now, can we switch it into more of an attack mindset. Can we switch it to be more aggressive, create and finish opportunities for ourselves in the offensive zone. It's going to be a very interesting week. As soon as you exhale and think things are going to get easier, and you don't give a full effort, this is when you start losing games. This is going to be a big week for us."

Notables

Emma Gentry scored the lone Huskies goal, her fourth of the season
Sanni Ahola was named the game's second star after stopping 43 of 45 shots faced
Courtney Hall recorded her second assist of 2022-23
Dayle Ross blocked a career-best seven shots
Devyn Millwater piled up a season-high five blocks
The Huskies led 23-6 in blocks
SCSU was outshot 45-21 on the night
The one-goal game is the narrowest margin St. Cloud State has played to against the Gophers at Ridder since February 10, 2010

Up Next
The Huskies continue conference play next weekend with a home-and-home at St. Thomas, beginning with the road half in Mendota Heights on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. followed by a 2:00 p.m. CT puck drop at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Saturday.

Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. 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.