No. 10 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Pulls Away for 4-1 Win Over No. 5 Western Michigan

Saturday, February 12

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

15-9-3, 7-7-3

Western Michigan

19-7-1, 11-6-1

Western Mich.

St. Cloud St.

No. 10 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Pulls Away for 4-1 Win Over No. 5 Western Michigan

2/13/2022 12:19:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Molenaar records first career multi-goal game, Hrenak stops 21 of 22 shot attempts

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Sophomore forward Joe Molenaar (Minnetonka, Minn.) scored two goals to lead No. 10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-9-3, 7-7-3 NCHC) to a 4-1 win over No. 5 Western Michigan (19-7-1, 11-6-1 NCHC) on Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals in the second period and added two in the final seven minutes of the game to pick up a crucial three points in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings.

Graduate goalie David Hrenak (Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia) stopped 21 of 22 shots in the game to earn his 13^th victory of the season, while Molenaar tallied his fourth and fifth goals of the season to seal the victory.

TURNING POINT

After the Huskies scored goals from Molenaar and junior Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) at 10:38 and 15:49 in the second period, respectively, the Broncos responded with a goal at 17:40 in the period to tighten things up once again. The one-goal margin remained for most of the third period as the game was a tight battle for who would grab the momentum.

At 13:15 in the period, the Huskies grabbed momentum for good, as Molenaar was able to sneak a shot past the Bronco goalie off a rebound to give St. Cloud State a 3-1 lead. Just like his first goal of the game, Molenaar found himself in the front of the net and in the right place at the right time as a senior forward Nolan Walker's (Anchorage, Ala.) shot bounced off Brandon Bussi's pad and found his stick. Molenaar back-handed the puck around the leg of Bussi to give the Huskies the lead for good.

TOP HUSKIES

Molenaar scored two goals in the game and had a team-leading four shots on goal.
Hrenak made 21 saves to earn his 13^th victory of the season.
Okabe scored on a second period breakaway to record his 11^th goal of the season.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 14-0-2 when leading after two periods and 14-4-1 when scoring first.
The Huskies once again scored on the power play, scoring with a man-advantage for the ninth time in the last 11 games. Molenaar's third-period goal was the Huskies' 37^th power play goal of the season. St. Cloud State's nation-leading power play unit is now 34.3 percent (37-of-108) on the season.
St. Cloud State improves to 14-4-1 on the season when scoring on the power play.
Molenaar recorded his first career multi-goal game with his fourth and fifth goals of the season. In this series alone, Molenaar doubled his career goal total from three to six.
Molenaar's third period goal was his second power play goal of the season.
Hrenak's 21 saves is the 17^th time this season and the 93^rd time in his career he has made 20+ saves in a game. His one goal allowed is the 13^th time this season and the 52^nd time in his career he has given up one or less goals.
Okabe scored for the second consecutive game and for the 11^th time this season, a mark which ranks third on the team.
Junior Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) scored an empty-net goal in the third period, his fourth goal of the season and the seventh of his career.
Recording assists in the game was graduate defenseman Seamus Donohue (North Oaks, Minn.), junior Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland), freshman Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.), Walker and freshman defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.).

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State hits the road for its next conference series, as the Huskies travel to No. 18/RV Omaha on Feb. 18-19. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. CT on 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.