Huskies fall 5-3 in battle with No. 1 Minnesota

Friday, February 11

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:00 p.m. CST

St. Cloud State

9-18-2, 4-17-2

Minnesota

23-7-1, 18-6-1

Minnesota

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

2/11/2022 9:20:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey started off strong against No. 1 Minnesota on Friday afternoon – leading 2-0 after the first 20 minutes – but went on to fall 5-3 at the hands of the Gophers in the series opener. The Huskies scored early in the opening frame on a beautiful wraparound effort by Emma Gentry, then added one more as Nicole Ness kept battling her way into the slot to fire a wrister home. Minnesota scored their first goal with about six to go in the second, then tied things with under a minute to play in the middle period. The Gophers scored three times in the third before Olivia Cvar scored a power play goal with an extra attacker late in the final frame. Grad goaltender Emma Polusny made a career-high 55 saves in the loss, including a flurry of incredible efforts on Gopher one-timers.

TURNING POINT

Minnesota took advantage of Huskies breakdowns to score their first three goals on rushes, gaining numbers and creating strong scoring chances.

TOP HUSKIES

• Emma Gentry (1-1-2), Nicole Ness and Olivia Cvar each scored while Ness and Cvar tied for the team lead with four shots on goal.
• Emma Polusny made a career-high 55 saves.
• Taylor Lind had an assist and blocked a team-high three shots.

NOTES

• Allie Cornelius and Addi Scribner each had an assist for SCSU.
• Minnesota outshot the Huskies 60-17.

QUOTABLES

St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Head Coach Steve Macdonald

"Tonight we had a strong start, then it really was the second period that got us. We had some chances early that we just weren't able to bury. Against a team like that we need to capitalize on that. When they're down they're going to push back, and they did. They were able to get one late in the second period. Those are the game management moments that we need to be better at, that will carry us through and get us through those moments of the game to ultimately lead to a win."

On the Huskies' strong start to the game… "I thought our forecheck was good. We were able to create some turnovers down low and just possess the puck down low. You think of Emma Gentry's goal, coming around from behind the net, and Nicole Ness' goal – that rebound where you have to bear down in those areas. We needed to do that a couple more times, but those were some positives from our game tonight that we'll have to carry forward tomorrow."

On keys to address heading into the finale… "It's that game management piece. We're confident we can put ourselves in a position to win those games, so it's just getting through those critical moments. For us tonight it was the second period. That was a critical moment where we just weren't able to push through and capitalize offensively. We'll get those chances. It's just going to be a matter for us to push through those key moments."

UP NEXT

The Huskies close the home-and-home on Saturday at Ridder Arena with a 3:00 p.m. CT puck drop. Coverage can be found on B1G+ and 88.1 FM KVSC with links available on the St. Cloud State Women's Hockey schedule page.

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.