No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Shuts out No. 3/1 Minnesota, 3-0

Saturday, January 7

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

16-4-0

Minnesota

15-6-0

Minnesota

St. Cloud St.

No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Shuts out No. 3/1 Minnesota, 3-0

1/8/2023 12:35:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Castor logs 23 saves in St. Cloud State’s first shut out of the Gophers since 2001

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – In front of the largest crowd in nearly 10 years, No. 4 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-4-0, 7-3-0 NCHC) knocked off No. 3/1 Minnesota (15-6-0, 10-3-0 B1G), 3-0, on Saturday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Senior goaltender Jaxon Castor (Phoenix, Ariz.) made 23 saves as the Huskies recorded its first shutout of the Gophers since 2001 and its first at the Brooks Center since 1995.

TURNING POINT

Despite plenty of scoring chances from both teams through the first half of the game, neither team found the back of the net. That changed at the 10:51 mark of the second period, as junior forward Joe Molenaar (Minnetonka, Minn.) carried the puck along the right boards on a rush, all the way past the goal where he flipped a pass back to the front of the net where it found the stick of graduate forward Aidan Spellacy (Lakewood, Ohio). Once the puck was on Spellacy's stick, he flipped a shot above the glove of the Minnesota goaltender for the score, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Late in the third period, St. Cloud State would add an empty net goal from senior forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) and a late score from senior forward Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) to make the score 3-0.

TOP HUSKIES

Castor stopped all 23 shots sent his way to be named the first star of the game and earn his first career save.
Spellacy scored his third goal and second game-winning goal of the season to earn the second star.
Molenaar's key assist on Spellacy's goal earned him the third star.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 36-57-12 all-time against Minnesota and 20-18-7 against the Gophers at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
The shutout was St. Cloud State's first against Minnesota since March 16, 2001 (3-0 in St. Paul at WCHA Final Five) and first at home since March 4, 1995 (3-0).
It also marked the first time in 59 games the Gophers have been shutout, dating back to a 4-0 setback to Minnesota State on March 28, 2021.
The announced attendance of 6,051 is the most at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center since renovations occurred to the building ahead of the 2013-14 season, and the most since a crowd of 6,140 against Minnesota on Feb. 9, 2013.
Castor recorded his first career shutout with 23 saves to improve to 8-2-0 on the season while improving his goals-against-average to 1.91 and his save percentage to .926.
Castor's 23 saves marks the eighth time this season and 17^th time in his career he has made at least 20 saves.
Spellacy scored his third goal of the season and the 19^th of his career, as well as his second game-winning goal of the season and fifth of his career.
Cruikshank scored his 13^th goal of the season and the 50^th of his career, as well as his 81^st career point.
Kupka logged his sixth goal of the season and 14^th of his career.
Molenaar and sophomore defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) each logged assists, each their second of the season.

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Minnesota will finish its series on Sunday in Minneapolis. Puck drop from 3M Arena at Mariucci is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT on Bally Sports North.

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 2022-23 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.