St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes off Sweep of No. 12 Western Michigan

Saturday, November 11

Kalamazoo, Mich.

5:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

6-4-0, 4-0-0

Western Michigan

4-3-1, 1-3-0

St. Cloud St.

Western Mich.

Photo by: Bill Prout

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes off Sweep of No. 12 Western Michigan

11/11/2023 9:06:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Miettinen scores in sixth consecutive game, Basse records 23-save shutout

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (6-4-0, 4-0-0 NCHC) continued its hot start to conference play, earning its second consecutive sweep to open NCHC play with a 3-0 win over No. 12 Western Michigan (4-3-1, 1-3-0 NCHC) on Saturday night at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. Senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) scored in his sixth consecutive game, while senior goaltender Dominic Basse (Alexandria, Va.) stopped all 22 shots he faced to record his third shutout of the season and lead the Huskies to victory.

Miettinen lite the lamp first for the Huskies, scoring near the end of the first period while the Broncos were in the penalty box for a five-major. Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) led the charge across the blue line and dropped a pass for Miettinen, who worked right to left and fired a wrister to the high slot that caught Bronco goaltender Cameron Rowe, who was unable to corral the puck and squeezed by him for the score. The goal was Miettinen's sixth consecutive game with a score, the longest goal streak by a Husky in more than 15 seasons.

SCSU successfully killed off three penalties in the second period and responded in the shift immediately following the third kill with its second score of the game. Freshman defenseman Warren Clark (Riverside, Ontario) had a long rebound find his stick above the right faceoff dot and immediately fired the puck back on net, where sophomore forward Grant Ahcan (Savage, Minn.) was standing in front of the net for a deflection that went above the right shoulder of Rowe for the score. Just like the night before, the Huskies didn't wait long to strike again as freshman forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) snuck a past through traffic right to senior forward Joe Molenaar's (Minnetonka, Minn.) stick for a goal on the backside. Molenaar's score happened just 2:15 following Ahcan's goal and right as a Husky power play expired.

Basse was superb in the net all night, recording eight saves in the first period, nine in the second and six in the third period for the 23-save shutout in net for the Huskies. He turned away five Western Michigan power plays and eight shots on goal with the man advantage.

TOP HUSKIES

Miettinen scored the game-winning goal and was named the first star of the game after scoring in his sixth consecutive game.
Basse was superb in the net all night, recording eight saves in the first period, nine in the second and six in the third period for the 23-save shutout in net for the Huskies. He turned away five Western Michigan power plays and eight shots on goal with the man advantage.
Molenaar scored his sixth goal of the season while Ahcan recorded his first goal of the season.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 22-13-5 all-time against Western Michigan and 9-6-3 in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The series sweep marked SCSU's first in Kalamazoo since March 1-2, 2019 when the Huskies win 5-4 and 8-2 near the end of the 2018-19 season.
Just two series into the NCHC season, the Huskies take an early lead in the chase for the Penrose Cup, registering all 12 points possible through four games.
SCSU was 1-of-5 on the power play, improving to 4-2-0 on the season when scoring on the man advantage.
The Huskies outshout the Broncos 23-16 to improve to 5-2-0 when outshooting its opponents.
Miettinen extended his scoring streak to sixth consecutive games, as he became the first Husky to score in six consecutive games since Ryan Lasch in the 2007-08 season (Oct. 27 – Nov. 23, 2007).
Miettinen's score was his 11^th career game-winning goal, as he moves to seventh all-time in program history in game-winning goals, moving into a four-way tie with Tim Hanus (1988-92), Garrett Roe (2007-11) and Joey Benik (2012-16).
Basse made 23 saves and matched his career-best mark of three shutouts in a season, equaling the same mark from 2022-23. The senior netminder now has seven career shutouts.
Just 10 games into the season, Molenaar set a new career-best for goals in a season with six, surpassing his previous high of five in 2021-22. It marked his 14^th career goal and 26^th career point.
Ahcan recorded his first goal of the season and the third of his career with his second period score.
Freshman defenseman Tynan Ewart (Duncan, British Columbia) recorded his first collegiate point by recording the secondary assist on Ahcan's goal.
Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) had the primary assist on Molenaar's goal and his now one point away from reaching the 100-point club.
Anhorn, sophomore forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba), Clark and Verner Miettinen all recorded single assists in the game.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will return home for its next series, as the Huskies will host No. 18 Minnesota Duluth Nov. 17-18 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.

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.