No. 19/17 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Completes Sweep of UMD in 11-Goal Thriller

Saturday, November 18

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

8-4-0, 6-0-0

Minnesota Duluth

3-7-3, 0-4-0

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud St.

No. 19/17 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Completes Sweep of UMD in 11-Goal Thriller

11/19/2023 1:35:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Miettinen scores twice, Okabe joins 100-point club, Gross scores first career goal

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 19/17 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (8-4-0, 6-0-0 NCHC) scored six goals and won an 11-goal back-and-forth thriller, 6-5, over (RV) Minnesota Duluth (3-7-3, 0-4-0 NCHC) on Saturday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Five Huskies had multi-point games in the victory, led by two goals from senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) and three assists from fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta).

Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) became the 38^th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club while freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) score his first career goal in the game.

The Huskies jumped out to a quick lead just 1:46 into the game when sophomore forward Jack Rogers (East Northport, N.Y.) was able to get his stick on a pass between two Bulldogs. The pass deflected off Rogers stick and through the five-hole of the UMD goaltender, a fluky goal but a 1-0 lead nonetheless. Veeti Miettinen's first goal of the game came later in the period as his power play tally at the 17:46 mark gave SCSU a 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs responded with a score just one second before the clock ran out at the end of the period to knot the score at 2-2 at the first intermission.

The Huskies penalty kill was on display in the second period, as SCSU killed off a five-minute major and a two-minute hooking in the first 10 minutes of the period before Gross was able to find the back of the net off a rocket wrist shot from the high slot. Gross was all alone in the front of the net after a beautiful pass from Okabe, as the pair connected to reach their own milestones with the score. UMD scored once again late in the score period to tie the score at 3-3 heading into the final intermission.

Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) didn't let the game stay tied for long, as he scored just 0:39 into the final period after cleaning up his own rebound in front of the net. Less than three minutes later, the Huskies extended the lead to two goals after Veeti Miettinen scored his second goal of the night. Okabe had the puck on the left side of the ice at the blue line and flung the puck to the slot, where Miettinen redirected it past the Bulldog goaltender for the only two-goal lead of the night.

Duluth would score at the 9:07 mark to cut the lead the one, but sophomore forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba) would give the Huskies the cushion it needed at the 17:04 mark. Ingram cleaned up the rebound off a shot from the point from junior defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) and fired it past the goalie for the score to make the lead 6-4. UMD would score an extra attacker goal to make the final score 6-5.

TOP HUSKIES

Miettinen scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season and earned the first star of the game.
Anhorn recorded three assists in the game and earned the second star.
Ingram was one of four Huskies with two points as he scored the game-winning goal and added an assist.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 83-63-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 46-29-7 in St. Cloud against the Bulldogs.
The sweep over the Bulldogs is SCSU's first since Jan. 8-9, 2021, in Duluth (4-3 & 1-0) and first in St. Cloud since Jan. 17-18, 2020 (2-1 & 2-0).
The six goals matched a season-high for the Huskies and was the most in a win over the Bulldogs since an 8-2 win in Duluth on Feb. 11, 2011.
St. Cloud State's 6-0-0 start in NCHC play is its best start in conference play since beginning the 2001-02 WCHA season 7-0-0.
The Huskies improved to 5-2-0 when scoring on the power play and 6-2-0 when outshooting its opponent.
Miettinen recorded a season-best two goals and reach two tally's for the sixth time in his career. He has now eight goals in his last eight games and nine goals this season, a team-high and a mark which ranks seventh nationally.
Anhorn set a new career high with three assists while his three points matched a career-high, the fourth time in his career he's reached that mark.
Okabe had two assists in the game and became the 38^th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club, reaching the mark in his 150^th career game. He is the first Husky to reach the mark since Jami Krannila did so last season. He now sits at 43 goals and 58 assists for 101 career points.
Gross recorded first career goal, first career assist and first multi-point game of his career.
Ingram had a goal and an assist for his second multi-point game of the season and the seventh in his career.
Kupka recorded his third goal of the season and 21^st of his career in the third period.
Rogers scored his second goal of the season and fifth of his career.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will host No. 12 Michigan on Nov. 24-25 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for a 7:30 p.m. CT start on Friday and a 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday. It will mark the meeting between the two programs since 2002 and the first-ever trip to St. Cloud for the Wolverines.

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.