No. 13 SCSU Women’s Hockey Drops 2-1 Battle with No. 4 Minnesota

Tuesday, October 17

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

5-2-0, 2-1-0

Minnesota

5-0-0, 3-0-0

St. Cloud St.

Minnesota

No. 13 SCSU Women’s Hockey Drops 2-1 Battle with No. 4 Minnesota

10/17/2023 10:30:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Farrell scores, Chobak stops 29-of-30 shots faced at Ridder

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 13 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (5-2-0, 2-1-0 WCHA) fell 2-1 on the road to No. 4 Minnesota (5-0-0, 3-0-0 WCHA) at Ridder Arena on Tuesday evening in Minneapolis, battling the Gophers in an early-season classic. Senior goaltender Jojo Chobak made 29 saves on 30 shots faced while sophomore forward Avery Farrell scored the lone Huskies goal late in the third period.

The Huskies penalty kill was terrific, killing off all four Gopher power plays including a 3-for-3 effort in the final 20 minutes. Chobak played a key role in anchoring the unit with nine saves on the kill as part of a phenomenal evening in goal. Seeing the puck extremely well, Chobak made plenty of strong saves in traffic and controlled the pace well with timely freezes and redirections.

Following a scoreless first period in which the Huskies held Minnesota to just eight shots on Chobak, an even-strength Gopher goal eight minutes into the middle frame would lead to SCSU entering the third down a goal. Special teams were key in the final 20 minutes with five combined power plays – three for the Gophers, two for St. Cloud State. Minnesota scored an empty-netter with under a minute to go, then Farrell took advantage of a scrum up front with an extra attacker to make it a one-goal game with five seconds left. SCSU couldn't generate a chance off the ensuing draw, falling 2-1.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski

"That was a big test for us, coming into a place like this – band, crowd, quality opponent – and I thought we handled it well in phases. Other times I thought we were a little too on our heels. I was happy with Jojo, she gave us a chance to win and was solid in net. Overall, a pretty good growth experience for us."

"I thought we did a better job in neutral zone. I'd like to see a little more poise offensively, at the same point, we had some decent looks, penalty kill was pretty good. Power play, on the small sheet, needs to be better. That's going to be an area and a focus for us to improve going forward for sure."

On the Huskies' developing identity… "I think identity is still something we need to figure out. Defensively, I don't know if we'll have the same identity that we had last year. If you're going to be more offensive, then you have to make more plays. You have to possess the puck better, put up more shots and be tougher to play against in the offensive zone. I think we're still searching a little bit for what that looks like."

On the short turnaround to Friday's tilt with No. 10 Northeastern… "A big game ahead if we're going to give ourselves any sort of chance at the end of the year to be in the discussion for the NCAA Tournament. This is a game we're probably going to look back on as one that bumped us in or potentially bumps us out – we have to be ready to go. We have to be better on the smaller sheet. I still don't like the way that we handle the quickness of the game on the smaller sheet, or the physicality. Short turnaround, but that's an area of improvement for us one hundred percent."

NOTABLES

Avery Farrell scored her third goal of the season while leading the Huskies with four shots on goal
Klára Hymlárová recorded her third assist of the year while CC Bowlby provided her second
Jojo Chobak stopped 29 of 30 shots faced including all nine on the kill
Taylor Larson blocked a season-high six shots
SCSU was outshot 31-15
The Huskies' penalty kill was 4-for-4 while the power play went 0-for-4

UP NEXT
The Huskies look ahead to the Ice Breaker this weekend hosted by Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Connecticut. SCSU opens the tournament with No. 10 Northeastern on Friday, October 20 with a 3:00 p.m. CT puck drop.

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.