No. 10/9 St. Cloud State Heads to Mankato for Early Season Tilt with (RV) Minnesota State

THE MATCHUP

No. 10/9 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will make the short trek south to Mankato to face in-state rival (RV) Minnesota State, a team the Huskies went 3-0 against last season including a victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The series from the Mayo Health Clinic Event Center will begin on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT and will wrap up on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT.
The game will be streamed on FloHockey for a fee, while on the radio, Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). St. Cloud State enters the weekend ranked No. 10 in the USCHO Top-20 Poll and No. 9 in The Rink Live / USA Hockey Top-20 poll, while the Mavericks are currently receiving votes in both polls.

SERIES HISTORY

One of the longest rivalries in program history, the Huskies and Mavericks will meet for the 136th and 137th times this weekend and are currently deadlocked at 61-61-13 following SCSU's three victories over the Mavericks in 2022-23. The Huskies have won nine of the last 10 games dating back to October 2012 and have a 32-19-6 mark since the two programs transitioned to Division-I competition.
In the third series of last season, SCSU swept a home series against Mankato, winning 3-2 and 4-3 at the Brooks Center on Oct. 21-22. Former Husky Grant Cruikshank led the Huskies to the sweep over the Mavericks, scoring three goals and two assists while contributing to both game-winning goals. The two then met once again on March 23 in the NCAA Tournament, where former Husky netminder Jaxon Castor produced a 34-save shutout in a 4-0 victory, the first shutout in an NCAA game in program history. Three current Huskies who scored against the Mavericks in that NCAA game return this season, as Veeti Miettinen, Zach Okabe and Jack Peart will all suit up in Mankato this weekend.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES

The Huskies found themselves in a dog fight in a different in-state rivalry to open the 2023-24 season, as traded road victories with St. Thomas on Saturday and Sunday. First, the Huskies scored four power play goals on Saturday but failed to score in 5-on-5, as St. Thomas stuck around and found the back of the net in overtime for a 5-4 win on Saturday at the Brooks Center. With the series switching to St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, senior goalie Dominic Basse was incredibly sharp between the pipes for the Huskies, lifting his team to victory with a 33-save shutout in a 1-0 win. Sophomore forward Adam Ingram provided all the offense SCSU needed, as he scored an unassisted goal in the second period on a breakaway goal.

OKABE NEARS 100

Fifth-year senior forward Zach Okabe returns for one more campaign in the red and black, and is only four points away from joining an exclusive club in St. Cloud State Men's Hockey history. Okabe currently has 96 points (43 goals / 53 assists) and is four points away from becoming the 38th member of SCSU's 100-point club. Okabe had a career-year in 2022-23, as he set career-bests in goals (18), assists (18), points (36), game-winning goals (fie) and plus/minus (+16) while leading the Huskies to an NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Okabe's overtime winner against North Dakota provided one of the most memorable moments of last season for the Huskies.
Okabe is one of 13 Huskies to record multiple hat tricks in their SCSU career, the only one to record two natural hat tricks, and currently ranks 13th in career game-winning goals with nine. The Husky senior is also closing in on the top-20 list for most career goals, as his 46 is just six away from a four-way tie in 17th place at 52 goals from Joe Motzko (1999-03), Nic Dowd (2010-14), Robby Jackson (2015-19) and Jami Krannila (2019-23).

GAME NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 5-4 OT loss vs. St. Thomas (10-7-23 in St. Cloud)

The Huskies went 4-of-6 on the power play, its most power play goals since scoring four against Bemidji State on Jan. 1, 2022.
Senior forward Veeti Miettinen's three-point night was his ninth career three-point game and his 11th career game with multiple assists.
Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe registered his 15th career power play goal, 43rd career goal and 96th career point with his second period score.
Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn recorded his 19th career goal, 44th career assist and 61st and 62nd career points.
Freshman forward Barrett Hall scored his first career goal and point with the Huskies first goal of the season, while freshman forward Verner Miettinen recorded his first career point with an assist on his brother's goal.
Junior forward Nick Portz recorded his first point as a Husky with the secondary assist on Okabe's goal.
Junior forward Mason Salqust went 20-6 in the faceoff dot and set a new career-best for faceoff wins.

GAME 2 - 1-0 win at St. Thomas (10-8-23 in Mendota Heights)

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 21-25-0 all-time against St. Thomas and 5-1-0 against the Tommies since they moved to Division-I ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Senior goalie Dominic Basse made 33 saves to record his fourth shutout of his Husky career and fifth career shutout overall.
Sophomore forward Adam Ingram scored his first goal of the season with his second period score, marking his third career-game winning goal and ninth career goal overall.
The Huskies were a perfect 5-of-5 on the penalty kill and improved to 80 percent (8-of-10) on the PK this season.
SCSU earned the victory despite being outshot 33-19, its largest deficit in shots on goal in a victory since a 4-3 win over Minnesota State on Oct. 22, 2022.

ANHORN GETS NCHC WEEKLY HONOR

Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn was named NCHC Defenseman of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday. Anhorn scored two points and had seven shots on goal in SCSU's season-opening split of St. Thomas.
Anhorn is the first Husky to earn a weekly conference honor this season. It is his second NCHC weekly honor of his career after earning the same award to start last season's campaign (Oct. 3, 2022).
Anhorn recorded two points, a power play goal and an assist in Saturday's 5-4 OT loss. The Husky D-man helped lead the potent Husky power play that went 4-of-6 on Saturday, recording the most power play goals since scoring four against Bemidji State on Jan. 1, 2022.

Saint Cloud State University Athletics