Idalski Earns 300th Win, No. 14/15 Huskies Women’s Hockey Blanks Bemidji State 2-0

Saturday, October 14

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

5-1-0, 2-0-0

Bemidji State

0-5-1, 0-2-0

Bemidji St.

St. Cloud St.

Idalski Earns 300th Win, No. 14/15 Huskies Women’s Hockey Blanks Bemidji State 2-0

10/14/2023 10:30:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

5-1-0 start to season marks best start in program history as Huskies record six-point weekend

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 14/15 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (5-1-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) head coach Brian Idalski earned his 300^th collegiate win as senior goaltender Sanni Ahola and the Huskies blanked Bemidji State (0-5-1, 0-2-0 WCHA) 3-0 in Saturday's series finale, securing a sweep while improving on the program's best start to a season at 5-1-0. The Huskies closed the conference-opening weekend in first place across the WCHA with six points and outshot Bemidji State 29 to 17.

Idalski is the 25^th coach in NCAA Women's Hockey history to record 300 wins – earning 108 at UW-Stevens Point, 169 at North Dakota and logging his 23^rd win at St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon. Ahola also etched her name in Huskies Hockey history with Saturday's shutout, recording her third consecutive shutout for the longest stretch by any goaltender in program history.

While improving to 3-0-0 on the year – each of her wins being shutouts – Ahola recorded 17 saves with nine in the second period. The backstop played the puck extremely well and stood up to a handful of point-blank chances, anchoring a 2-for-2 penalty kill effort.

Following a scoreless opening period graduate forward CC Bowlby opened the scoring for St. Cloud State five minutes into the second, rocketing home a wrister from the high slot for her third goal of the series. The SCSU defense held strong on the long chance as Ahola made nine saves in the second to send the Huskies to the third period leading 1-0.

St. Cloud State's aggressiveness and dominant possession helped them earn a power play midway through the final frame as Bemidji wore down, creating a fantastic chance to double their lead. Junior defender Dayle Ross took a powerful shot just above the right circle and immediately crashed the net to follow the rebound, finding the puck on her stick in the scrum and throwing it home for a 2-0 advantage. Freshman forward Alice Sauriol scored her first collegiate goal to make it 3-0 with just under four to go, collecting the puck in neutral ice and making a terrific move in the slot to wrist home a strike with a defender draped over her.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski

"I thought it was a solid weekend overall, getting a little bit better each time out. Any time you can get a sweep in the WCHA, that's solid. Sanni played super well in net, third shutout in a row – that's kind of a big deal. I'm happy with the weekend. It's a short turnaround, and we'll get ready for next week."

"Sanni seems this year to just be very even keeled. Goaltenders have a lot of say in what the outcome is going to be – she seems very calm. She's controlling pucks and the flow of the game really well, she's playing it and moving it when we want to rev it up and she understands when we need a whistle. She's been really good for us."

On earning his 300^th collegiate win… "Honestly, it just means I'm old and I've been doing it for a while. It's more credit to the fact that I've coached some pretty awesome players – I've been fortunate to be around a lot of really good kids who work hard. This isn't an easy profession to stay in for a long time. I feel blessed to keep doing it, to get a second chance after everything that happened at North Dakota – a lot of people don't get that on the outside looking in when it comes to college hockey. It's pretty cool."

NOTABLES

Brian Idalski became the 25^th coach in NCAA Women's Hockey history to record 300 wins at the collegiate level
Sanni Ahola recorded her third straight shutout, establishing a new program record while making 17 saves
CC Bowlby scored her third goal of the series and fourth of the season
Dayle Ross scored her second goal of the season while adding her third assist of the year, skating to a plus-two with five shots on goal
Alice Sauriol scored her first collegiate goal while putting three shots on goal
Ella Anick, Katie Kaufman, Addi Scribner, Grace Wolfe and Devyn Millwater each recorded an assist
The Huskies outshot Bemidji State 29-17
SCSU went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off both their penalties
St. Cloud State's 5-1-0 start marks the best start in program history

UP NEXT
The Huskies hit the road on Tuesday for a conference tilt at No. 4 Minnesota with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT at Ridder Arena.

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.