No. 10 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Earns Tie with No. 5 Western Michigan

Friday, February 11

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

14-9-3, 6-7-3

Western Michigan

19-6-1, 11-5-1

OT 1

OT 2

Western Mich.

St. Cloud St.

No. 10 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Earns Tie with No. 5 Western Michigan

2/12/2022 1:53:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Meier and Okabe score multiple points for the Huskies

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (14-9-3, 6-7-3 NCHC) found itself in a back-and-forth battle against No. 5 Western Michigan (19-6-1, 11-5-1 NCHC) on Friday night, as the team's combined for 10 goals in a 5-5 tie and shootout win for the Broncos. The Huskies scored the game's first goal, but then gave up the next three, followed by scoring the next three to take a 4-3 lead in the second period. The two teams traded goals to start the third before Western Michigan scored with just over five minutes in regulation to force overtime.

Neither team scored in the 3-on-3 overtime period, and the Broncos ended up taking the extra conference point in the shootout with a 2-1 victory in four rounds. It was the Huskies second consecutive tie, after recording a shutout win against Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday (Feb. 8).

TURNING POINT

The Huskies erased a two-goal deficit with three consecutive goals in a 3:07 span in the second period to grab a 4-3 lead with 11:09 left in the second period. St. Cloud State held momentum in the game, even after Western Michigan scored less than a minute into the third period and regained the lead with a short-handed goal from junior Jami Kraniila (Nokia, Finland) with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Western Michigan took the life out of the building just about five minutes later, as Jason Polin beat graduate goalie David Hrenak (Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia) top-shelf to tie the score, 5-5.

TOP HUSKIES

Senior defenseman Spencer Meier (Sartell, Minn.) scored two points, one goal and one assist while recording a game-high three blocks.
Junior forward Zach Okabe (Oktoks, Alberta) scored the game's first goal and added an assist on Meier's power play goal.
Krannila scored a short-handed goal in the third period to give the Huskies a 5-4 lead.

NOTES

The Huskies scored on the power play in the eighth time in the last 10 games and for the 36^th time this season. St. Cloud State is now 34.3 percent (36-of-105) on the power play this season and lead the nation in both power play percentage and power play goals.
St. Cloud State had five athletes score goals in the game, the sixth time this season the Huskies have had five athletes find the back of the net.
Krannila's short-handed goal was the first of his career and the 10^th for the Huskies this season, a mark they lead the nation in.
Meier's two points give him 51 on the season, as he became the 108^th person in program history to score 50+ points.

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Western Michigan return to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for the second game of the series on Saturday. Puck drop Is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2021-22 season are available for purchase at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.