No. 8 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops First Game of Series to Omaha

Friday, February 18

Omaha, Neb.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

15-10-3, 7-8-3

Nebraska Omaha

18-13-0, 8-11-0

St. Cloud State

Omaha

No. 8 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops First Game of Series to Omaha

2/19/2022 12:04:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies score twice in third, but fall 5-2

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 8 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-10-3, 7-8-3 NCHC) came back from being down a goal twice, but ultimately fell to Omaha (18-13-0, 8-11-0 NCHC) on Friday night at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. The Huskies scored a pair of game-tying goals in the third period from graduate forward Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill.) and junior defenseman Ondrej Trejbal (Hamry Nad Sazavou, Czech Republic), but each time the Mavericks responded to claim the lead once again.

TURNING POINT

Each time the Huskies seem to grab any sense of momentum, Omaha took it right back. First, Fitzgerald tied the score at 1-1 with a power play goal 5:52 into the third period, but the Mavericks responded with a goal just 51 seconds later to reclaim the lead at 2-1.

Again, at the 9:23 mark, Trejbal scored his second goal of the game on a wrister from just in front of the blue line to tie the game at 2-2, but it wasn't tied for long, as Omaha's Jimmy Glynn scored two minutes later to make the score 3-2. The Mavericks would tack on another goal 41 seconds later and a fifth on an empty net to seal the victory, 5-2.

TOP HUSKIES

Fitzgerald scored his team-leading 14^th goal and seventh power play goal of the season in the game.
Trejbal scored his second goal of the season in the third period.
Senior forward Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn.) tallied an assist and had a team-high four shots on goal.

NOTES

The nation's-leading power play unit scored with a man advantage once again, doing so for the 10^th time in the last 12 games. Fitzgerald's third period goal was the Huskies 38^th power play goal of the season, as the Huskies improve to 34.5 percent (35-of-110) on the season.
Fitzgerald tallied his 14^th goal and 30^th points of the season with his team-leading seventh power play goal, all career highs.
The graduate forward is the first Husky to score 30 points since 2018-19 when seven Huskies reached that mark (Patrick Newell – 46, Blake Lizotte – 40, Robby Jackson – 39, Jimmy Schuldt – 34, Ryan Poehling – 32, Jack Ahcan – 32, Easton Brodzinski – 31) and the first to score 14 goals since the same season when four did so (Newell – 21, Jackson – 19, Brodzinski – 16, Lizotte – 14).
Fitzgerald's seven power play goals are the most since Brodzinski netted seven with a man advantage in 2018-19.
Trejbal scored his second goal of the season and third of his career with a third period score.
Brodzinski tallied an assist to record his 120^th career point, moving to a tie for 19^th all-time in program history with Patrick Newell (2015-19).
Also recording assists in the game was graduate defenseman Seamus Donohue (North Oaks, Minn.), senior defenseman Spencer Meier (Sartell, Minn.) and freshman defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.)

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Omaha return for the second game of the series on Saturday. Puck drop from Baxter Arena is slated for 7:07 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.