Three Huskies score in scrappy 3-2 win over St. Thomas

Sunday, February 6

Mendota Heights, Minn.

2:00 p.m. CST

St. Cloud State

9-16-2, 4-15-2

St. Thomas

5-21-1, 3-19-1

St. Cloud St.

St. Thomas (MN)

Photo by: Thomas Breach

2/6/2022 5:30:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey had three different goal scorers in a thrilling 3-2 win at St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon, lighting the lamp twice in the second and adding their final tally late in the third. Goaltender Sanni Ahola made 23 saves and added a rare goalie assist to preserve the win. Emma Gentry scored first for St. Cloud State midway through the second period, taking a pass from Courtney Hall through neutral ice into a one-on-one rush. Gentry darted to the high slot and ripped a missile over the tender's shoulder, giving the Huskies the opening lead.

The 🚀🚀🚀 from @emma_gentry12 🚨#HuskiesHockey 🐾 pic.twitter.com/zn4lUl0mpP
— St. Cloud State WHockey (@SCSUHUSKIES_WHK) February 6, 2022

Nicole Ness scored 20 seconds later to make it 2-0. St. Thomas scored their first goal late in the second, setting up an exhilarating final frame. The Huskies dominated possession and zone time, finally breaking through on Allison Green's first collegiate goal with 1:07 to play – a wicked shot from the left dot launched in through traffic. St. Thomas scored with an extra attacker on the ice with 20 seconds to play, but the Huskies held tight for the final ticks to secure the three conference points.

That's goal ☝️ for @allicgreen ‼️#HuskiesHockey 🐾 pic.twitter.com/cUQHLJPkFq
— St. Cloud State WHockey (@SCSUHUSKIES_WHK) February 6, 2022

TURNING POINT

Just seconds after Gentry's goal, a loose puck following the faceoff fluttered towards Sanni Ahola in goal. Ahola batted the puck aside towards Courtney Hall, who threaded a pass ahead to Nicole Ness breaking into neutral ice. Ness turned on the jets and burned her defender, firing in a ringing shot over the tender's shoulder to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

🚨 @NicoleN80955053 with the 💨💨💨 and the wicked finish!!#HuskiesHockey 🐾 pic.twitter.com/Jxt2i7MYLR
— St. Cloud State WHockey (@SCSUHUSKIES_WHK) February 6, 2022

TOP HUSKIES

• Emma Gentry, Nicole Ness and Allison Green each scored for SCSU.
• Courtney Hall gave SCSU a two-point night with a pair of assists.
• Sanni Ahola made 23 saves and added an assist.

NOTES

• Both teams killed their lone penalty.
• Sanni Ahola's goalie assist is the first since Janine Alder had one on October 19, 2018 at Minnesota State – a span of 1,206 days.
• Shots were even at 25.
• Olivia Cvar put a team-high four shots on goal.

QUOTABLES

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

"Obviously you're happy any time you can close out a win. I think there's some things that we need to improve on, but there were some good lessons learned today. I'm proud of our team in terms of how they responded energy-wise and just emotionally, because after a tough loss yesterday coming back and being able to refocus and get a win today is important. We need to learn how to play with the lead and we learned a lot this weekend – so I'm happy we closed it out, but we need to get back to work."

On the Huskies' two quick goals in the second… "Just taking a step and ripping them, you know? Those two players [Emma Gentry and Nicole Ness] have some of the best shots on the team. They're players that just saw the lane in terms of where they could get their shot off. Gentry used a little cut in the middle, used the D as a screen, and Ness coming outside with her speed. Those are players that need to use those tools, and they did that well today."

On line shuffling throughout the contest… "Sometimes you just make changes mid game. Coach Jinelle and I are constantly talking back and forth. She's watching the forwards really carefully and talking about different things, what players are doing things well, and who needs a switch. When you do it in game, sometimes it's responding to players that are doing some things really well and just trying to give a little bit of a jump. Luckily that helped us today – a little line change that allowed Nicole Ness and Emma Gentry to get a little jump with Taylor Lind in the middle. Then also with Allison Green switching to wing quickly and getting that goal to lock down the win. We'll use it in-game to find the little spark but also just moving some of the pieces around with who's playing well."

On defenders that stepped up with a shortened corps… "Taytum Geier – she logs a lot of minutes, she's always an answer to that. Taytum can always step into those moments and she has so much experience. I also thought our freshmen, Dayle Ross and Grace Wolfe. Dayle had an excellent weekend, her poise with the puck and her ability to challenge pucks were really evident this weekend. We saw some of our young D really start to step up and help our team come up with a win today."

UP NEXT

The Huskies continue a short week this Tuesday with a 2:00 p.m. CT start at the HBNHC against Ohio State. 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.