St. Cloud State faces No. 1 Minnesota in U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Face-off Classic

Monday, November 7

Andover, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

St. Cloud State faces No. 1 Minnesota in U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Face-off Classic

11/6/2022 3:05:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies battle Gophers in nonconference tilt at the Andover Community Center

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey travels to Andover, Minnesota to face No. 1 Minnesota in the 2022 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-off Classic on Monday at the Andover Community Center. The Huskies and Gophers will drop the puck at 7:00 p.m. CT with the annual benefit game raising awareness for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minnesota.

Broadcast Information
The game will be broadcast on B1G+ along with live stats provided by Minnesota. Links to both streaming options are available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.

Last Time Out
Three first period goals and stellar special teams led St. Cloud State to a 3-1 win over Bemidji State on Saturday afternoon at the Sanford Center. McKenna Wesloh scored the game's first goal just 3:20 into the first with the Huskies on a power play, taking advantage of heavy traffic up front to throw a screened shot past the goaltender. Emma Gentry made it 2-0 just four minutes later, carrying the puck around from the end boards and launching a heavy wrister through for her eighth career goal against Bemidji State. The Huskies found themselves on the advantage again five minutes later, moving the puck around beautifully to the top of the slot for Klára Hymlárová. SCSU's assistant captain ripped a rocket home for her seventh goal of the year, providing the Huskies a 3-0 lead. JoJo Chobak was stellar between the pipes, earning her third win with 28 saves.

Huskies Primer
SCSU enters Monday's nonconference tilt 6-6-0 with a 4-6-0 mark in WCHA action, riding a four-game winning streak courtesy of back-to-back sweeps of St. Thomas and Bemidji State. Jenniina Nylund (7-7-14), Klára Hymlárová (7-3-10), Emma Gentry (8-1-9) and Taylor Lind (2-6-8) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (0-6-6, 27 BLK), Grace Wolfe (0-5-5, 19 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-1-2, 26 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (3-2-0, .933 SV%, 2.08 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (3-4-0, .922 SV%, 2.54 GAA) have become one of the top goaltending duos in the league. Over their past four games, SCSU has outscored their opponents 13-2 with a pair of shutouts.

Scouting No. 1 Minnesota
The top-ranked Gophers are unbeaten in regulation through 10 games this season, going 9-0-1 with a shootout loss to Ohio State on the road two weekends ago. Minnesota is fresh off a sweep of No. 5 UMD and is led by a host of highly-skilled forwards. Grace Zumwinkle (7-10-17), Abbey Murphy (9-6-15), Taylor Heise (5-10-15), Catie Skaja (5-7-12) and Abigail Boreen (5-5-10) each have already reached the double-digit point threshold.

Series History
The Huskies are 3-101-3 against the Gophers with their last win occurring on February 13, 2010. Holly Roberts delivered a hat trick as part of a six-point night, Felicia Nelson lit the lamp twice and added an assist while Ashley Nixon stopped 45 of 48 shots as SCSU won 6-3 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Since that win, SCSU is 0-60-1 with a 3-3 draw on February 2, 2018 – a game that saw the Huskies erase a 3-1 deficit entering the third and secure the additional WCHA point with a Kayla Friesen shootout win.

A Truly Special Night
St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski will have the pleasure of reuniting with two of his former players as they are honored on Monday with the Hall of Fame Face-off Classic. 2022 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux both played three seasons for Idalski at North Dakota, playing key roles in his rebuild of the UND Women's program into a national contender.

Standings & Such
The Huskies have earned six points in back-to-back series sweeps of St. Thomas and Bemidji State, climbing to fourth in the conference standings with 13 points. SCSU is three points ahead of Minnesota State and four in front of No. 5 Minnesota Duluth – St. Cloud State's upcoming series hosting the Bulldogs is the lone WCHA action scheduled for the weekend, setting up a key opportunity to further their distance over UMD.

Killing Time
Including an 8-for-8 weekend on the kill at Bemidji State, the Huskies have been successful on their last 25 penalty kills. The stellar run has skyrocketed the St. Cloud State PK to second in the league at 89.1%, landing them top-10 nationally on the kill.

Points on Points
Senior center Jenniina Nylund enters the weekend 14^th all-time on the program's scoring list, sitting three points from passing Laura Fast. Nylund is six points away from entering the Huskies' top-10 and currently ranks third in the WCHA with seven goals this season.

Hymlárová on the Hunt
Senior forward Klára Hymlárová is one point away from joining the Huskies 50 Point Club, which would make her the 29^th member in program history. She is looking to join Taylor Lind as 2022-23 Huskies to reach the threshold and would become one of three active members alongside Jenniina Nylund.

Block Party
SCSU's top pair of Dayle Ross and Taytum Geier are one-two in the WCHA with 27 and 26 blocked shots this season, followed closely by Regan Bulger's 22 (5^th) and Grace Wolfe's 19 (9^th). The Huskies are second in the league with 14.75 blocks per game.

Stellar Stoppers
Netminders JoJo Chobak (.933) and Sanni Ahola (.922) are third and fifth respectively across the league in save percentage this season, placing them both among the nation's top 30 goalies in 2022-23. The Huskies' duo has the club second across the WCHA with a .924 team save percentage.

Gopher Connections
St. Cloud State assistant coach Mira Jalosuo played for the Minnesota Gophers from 2009-10 to 2012-13. She appeared in 153 career games for the Maroon and Gold, recording 57 career points with 19 goals and 38 assists. Huskies volunteer goalie coach Megan Van Beusekom-Sweerin also spent time serving as a goaltending coach for the Gophers. Minnesota skaters Madeline and Audrey Wethington are the daughters of inaugural St. Cloud State Women's Hockey head coach Kerry Wethington and the cousins of former Husky Hanna Brodt.

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.