No. 14 St. Cloud State visits Minnesota State to open WCHA Second Half

Friday, January 13

Mankato, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota State

Photo by: Thomas Breach

No. 14 St. Cloud State visits Minnesota State to open WCHA Second Half

1/11/2023 3:40:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Series Notes B1G+Live Stats

Huskies travel to Mankato in search of key conference points in battle for No. 5 seed

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 14 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey begins the second half of WCHA play with a key road series at Minnesota State this weekend in hopes of gaining ground on the No. 5 seed. The Huskies currently lead MSU by three points in the WCHA standings with all four games of the season series left to be played. Game one of the series is set for 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday at the Mayo Clinic HSEC with the finale scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.

THE SERIES
St. Cloud State holds a 47-39-13 edge on the all-time series with a 20-19-6 record in Mankato. The two rivals split last season's matchups with each side sweeping their homestand. SCSU last won in Mankato back on January 18, 2020 with a 2-1 final behind third period goals from Olivia Cvar and Jenniina Nylund and a 40 save effort by Emma Polusny.

HUSKIES PRIMER
SCSU enters the second half of conference play 13-10-0 with a 6-10-0 mark in WCHA action and have won 11 of their last 15 games. Jenniina Nylund (11-14-25), Klára Hymlárová (15-5-20) and Emma Gentry (11-4-15) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (0-8-8, 49 BLK), Grace Wolfe (1-12-13, 44 BLK), Regan Bulger (0-3-3, 49 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-4-5, +5, 41 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (6-4-0, .909 SV%, 2.74 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (7-6-0, .918 SV%, 2.54 GAA) have formed one of the top goaltending duos in the league.

A FIRST HALF TO REMEMBER
Closing the first half at 11-10-0, the Huskies recorded their winningest first half in program history and just their second double-digit win mark at the break. SCSU's first half winning percentage of .524 trails only 2007-08 (.556) and marks the second time the program has entered the break at .500 or better.

LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State closed out a strong weekend at the East/West Showcase with a 3-1 win over Merrimack on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. Klára Hymlárová scored twice on the power play for SCSU while Sanni Ahola made 17 saves in goal as the Huskies opened the second half with their second straight win. Following a scoreless first period and a half, Hymlárová found the back of the net on a power play as she knifed through the defense, ripping home a shot from the right circle 13 minutes into the second. Moments later, Addi Scribner took the puck off the faceoff and skated to the low left circle, firing a wrister then sending her own rebound back in to make it 2-0 Huskies in a 12 second span. Hymlárová would score once more on the power play late in the second, sending the Huskies to the second intermission up 3-0. Merrimack finally snuck one through on a power play with just under three minutes to play in the third but SCSU stood tall the rest of the way, sealing the 3-1 win. Ahola's 17 saves on 18 shots earned her win No. 7 of 2022-23, moving her into 10th on the Huskies' single-season leaderboard.

STANDINGS & SUCH
With the league about to begin the second half, the Huskies find themselves fifth in a hotly-contested fight for fourth place. SCSU enters the weekend fifth in the league with 19 points – eight behind No. 6/7 Minnesota Duluth and three ahead of (RV) Minnesota State. St. Cloud State returns to conference play by visiting Minnesota State, Duluth hosts Bemidji State, Minnesota welcomes St. Thomas and Wisconsin travels east to Ohio State.

PURPLE COW HERDER
Huskies goaltender Sanni Ahola has dominated Minnesota State over her three-year career, going 4-3-0 with a 1.73 goals against average and a .954 save percentage. Ahola has blanked the Mavericks twice in her career including her collegiate debut back in 2020.

GETTING GRITTY
Remaining true to the team's newfound identity, the grind-and-grit Huskies boast the top four shot-blockers in the WCHA. Dayle Ross and Regan Bulger share the league lead with 49 while Grace Wolfe and Taytum Geier go three-four with 44 and 41 respectively. No other skater in the league has more than 40 blocked shots. As a team, St. Cloud State has 328 blocks – good for 14.26 per game – which lands them second in both categories across the WCHA behind only Bemidji State's 339 and 15.41.

SPECIAL TEAMS STONEWALLERS
St. Cloud State's penalty kill has been stellar this season, ranking second across the league and 11th nationally at 87.9%. The Huskies lead the WCHA with 100 penalties taken - 23 more than any other club - and pace the league in penalties taken per game, hitting the box more than four times per night.

POWERING UP
The Huskies complement their strong PK with a dynamic power play that presently ranks third in the league and fifth in the country at 23.5%. Klára Hymlárová has scored eight power play goals, sharing the lead in both the WCHA and NCAA with Ohio State's Sophie Jaques.

LOOKING AT THE LEADERBOARDS
Many Huskies can be found across the WCHA statistical leaders entering the second half. Klára Hymlárová is fifth in the league with 15 goals while Emma Gentry and Jenniina Nylund are tied for 10th with 11 each. Nylund ranks 10th across the league with 80 shots on goal and has the seventh-most faceoff wins with 190 while Hymlárová is ninth with 173.

NYLUND'S CLIMB
Jenniina Nylund's assist at the East/West Showcase moved her out of a tie for ninth in the program's all-time scoring list as she now stands alone with 86 points. This season, Nylund has 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points.

CHASING 20
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey earned their 10th win in their early December series opener against St. Thomas, reaching the double-digit win mark for the first time since 2018-19 when the program finished 10-25-2. The Huskies reached double-digit wins the earliest in a season since 2008-09 and are five wins away from matching the program's all-time mark in a season.

Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. 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.