Miettinen Continues Goal Streak, Huskies Complete Third Period Comeback Against No. 12 Western Michigan

Friday, November 10

Kalamazoo, Mich.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

5-4-0, 3-0-0

Western Michigan

4-2-1, 1-2-0

St. Cloud St.

Western Mich.

Miettinen Continues Goal Streak, Huskies Complete Third Period Comeback Against No. 12 Western Michigan

11/11/2023 1:11:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies score twice in 35 seconds in third period to erase deficit, win at Lawson Arena for first time since 2019

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (5-4-0, 3-0-0) broke a six-game losing streak at Lawson Arena with 3-2 win over No. 12 Western Michigan (4-2-1, 1-2-0 NCHC) on Friday evening in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Huskies fell behind twice in the game but completed its comeback with two goals in a span of 35 seconds, the game-winner coming from senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) in the third period to remain perfect in conference play.

Western Michigan first jumped out to its first lead of the game late in the first period when Joe Cassetti scored with just under two minutes remaining in the period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The scored remained 1-0 until 13:44 into the second period when freshman forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) lite the lamp on a give-and-go rush up the left side of the net with sophomore forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba). Hall's one-timer deflected off the Bronco goaltender and across the goal line to knot the score at 1-1.

Western Michigan's captain Luke Grainger gave WMU its second lead of the game just over the halfway point of the final period, scoring with 8:39 left to mark the score 2-1. The lead would not last long however, as a greasy goal from sophomore forward Jack Rogers (East Northport, N.Y.) would tie the score just 50 seconds later. Rogers used his backhand to go under the cross bar, cleaning up a rebound off a shot from fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) to make the score 2-2.

Next came Veeti Miettinen, who stayed hot by scoring in his fifth consecutive game just 35 seconds later. Sophomore defenseman Mason Reiners (Edina, Minn.) passed the puck up to Miettinen in the middle of the ice, who split two defenders at the blue line and fired his patented quick wrist shot from the high slot for the score at the 12:46 mark of the period, giving SCSU the 3-2 lead and its first win at Lawson Arena since 2019.

TOP HUSKIES

Miettinen scored the game-winning goal and was named the first star of the game.
Rogers got on the scoresheet for the first time this season with his third period score and added an assist, earning the first star of the game.
Hall found the back of the net for the third time this season.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 21-13-5 all-time against Western Michigan and 8-6-3 in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak at Lawson Arena for the Huskies, who last won in Kalamazoo on March 2, 2019, an 8-2 win.
Miettinen continued his scoring streak, finding the back of the net for the fifth consecutive game and the sixth time overall this season. He now leads the Huskies and ranks third in the NCHC with six goals.
The Husky senior's score was his 10^th career game-winning goal, as he moves to 10^th all-time in program history in that category.
Rogers scored for the first time this season and added an assist to record his first career multi-point game. He also skated to a career-best +2 mark on the ice in the game.
Hall scored for the third time this season and had a +2 plus/minus, his best mark to-date in his freshman campaign.
Reiners registered his first collegiate point in his 37^th career game with an assist on Miettinen's game-winning goal.
Senior goalie Dominic Basse (Alexandria, Va.) made 22 saves, marking the sixth time this season and 48^th time in his career he has made 20 or more saves in the game. With the win in net, he improved to 5-4-0 on the season.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Western Michigan will finish its series on Saturday, as puck drop from Lawson Arena is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT. A stream of the game will be available on NCHC.tv with radio coverage on KNSI.

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 2023-24 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.