Cvar scores as Huskies fall to No. 1 Gophers

Saturday, February 12

Minneapolis, Minn.

3:00 p.m. CST

St. Cloud State

9-19-2, 4-18-2

Minnesota

24-7-1, 19-6-1

St. Cloud St.

Minnesota

Photo by: Thomas Breach

2/12/2022 5:35:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey battled punch-for-punch with No. 1 Minnesota through the first 40 minutes on Saturday evening, but a late third period collapse led to a 5-1 Huskies loss at Ridder Arena. Minnesota struck first early in the opening period, taking advantage of a Huskies turnover in the offensive zone to produce an odd-man rush which they converted. The Huskies drew a penalty midway through the first and dominated zone time on the power play, culminating in a great chance manufactured by the second line. Courtney Hall carried a rebound behind the net and threaded a pass across the slot to McKenna Wesloh on the left dot. Wesloh ripped a wrister that careened off the tender's pads straight to the stick of Olivia Cvar, who promptly buried the rebound to tie things at one. The Gophers retook the lead with just over four to play in the second, screening Ahola in the slot and opening up a window for a shot from the center point.

TURNING POINT

Just after the Huskies killed their first penalty of the game with 13:00 to play, Minnesota worked the puck to the right point and scored to make it a two-goal game. The Gophers didn't let up, scoring two shorthanded goals in the closing minutes to earn the 5-1 win.

TOP HUSKIES

• Olivia Cvar scored on the power play to account for the Huskies' lone goal.
• Sanni Ahola stopped 42 shots on the night.
• Devyn Millwater blocked four shots while Grace Wolfe added three.

NOTES

• The Huskies killed both Gopher power plays.
• Minnesota outshot the Huskies 47-20.

QUOTABLES

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

"You're down 2-1 against the top team in the country, playing well and creating chances. They get one there with about 13 minutes to go in the third, you're still in the game, and we had an opportunity short-handed. We didn't bury that – you need to bury those. We had opportunities earlier as well, there were a lot of opportunities that we created for ourselves, so I think there's a lot of positives there. Then we just started to give a little bit in the third. With a couple shorties at the end, it wasn't a 5-1 game. It was closer than that. It's a 4-2, 3-2 game if you break it down – I like a lot of the things that we did. They're a good team, they're going to get some zone time and get some rushes. It's just a matter of diffusing those threats and being able to counterattack. We got away from it in the third, and the game got away from us."

On strong individual performances throughout the week… "There's a few. Emma Gentry and Taylor Lind are playing very well. On the back end you have a young Grace Wolfe, I've said this before – Devyn Millwater is quietly having a good last couple weeks. Dayle Ross, she's just a warrior out there. We have a lot of our young D playing very well, and then you have the seniors playing well – it's the usual suspects. I think Allison Green is playing really solid, good minutes. She's finding time on the power play and PK. Obviously Olivia Cvar has a hot stick right now, having a lot of success finding the back of the net. I think overall, we're playing well as a group. We're playing extremely well as a unit so it's hard to pinpoint just a couple. I'm really happy with what we're doing, we just need to find those moments and push through those tough moments on weekends."

On keys heading into the final week of the regular season… "We need to continue doing what we're doing, putting ourselves in these positions – hopefully we're up in them. It's that learning process of getting through these moments of the game whether it's down one or down two, how do we find our way back and dig ourselves out of those holes. We've got a couple three-game series coming up, three games against Duluth and three games against somebody in the playoffs. It's a challenge we look forward to."

UP NEXT

The Huskies hold their 2021-22 home finale on Tuesday, February 15 against Minnesota-Duluth with a 3:00 p.m. CT puck drop. Coverage can be found on B1G+ 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.