No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 14 Michigan to Brooks Center

Friday, November 24

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Michigan

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No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 14 Michigan to Brooks Center

11/22/2023 9:51:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Huskies and Wolverines meet for the first time in St. Cloud

*No. 17/16 ST. CLOUD STATE vs. No. 14 MICHIGAN*
*OPPONENT*	*LOCATION*	*DAY*	*TIME (CT)*	*TV / STREAM*	*RADIO*	*STATS*	*GAME NOTES*
No. 14 Michigan	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Friday, Nov. 24	7:30 p.m.	Fox 9 + / NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	SCSU Notes
No. 14 Michigan	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Saturday, Nov. 25	6:00 p.m.	Fox 9 + / NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	UM Notes

THE MATCHUP

Riding a six-game win streak and its best conference start in more than 20 seasons, No. 17/17 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will play its penultimate nonconference series of the season on Thanksgiving weekend when the Huskies host No. 14 Michigan at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The series begins on Friday, Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. CT and wraps up on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 6:00 p.m. CT. The top-20 series will be televised on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv with Jim Rich, Geno Parrish and Anna Behning on the call, while on the radio, Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
St. Cloud State enters the weekend ranked No. 17 in the USCHO Top-20 Poll and No. 16 in the USA Today / The Rink Live poll, while the Wolverines are ranked No. 14 in both polls.

SERIES HISTORY

Michigan will make its first trip to St. Cloud as this weekend's series will be just the third and fourth meetings between the two programs and the first since 2002. Both prior meetings went the way of the Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament, as Michigan beat SCSU 4-3 in Grand Rapids, Mich., on March 25, 2001 and 4-2 in Ann Arbor, Mich., on March 22, 2022. Husky great Mark Hartigan scored in the first matchup for the Huskies, while Jeff Finger and Jon Cullen scored in the 2002 game, which was played in historic Yost Arena.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES

The Huskies moved to 6-0-0 to begin NCHC play last weekend, sweeping Minnesota Duluth with 2-1 and 6-5 wins at the Brooks Center. On Friday, senior goalie Dominic Basse made 19 saves and senior forward Joe Molenaar scored his seventh goal of the season with just over two minutes left in the game to lift the Huskies to victory. Then, the Huskies outlasted the Bulldogs in an 11-goal thriller on Saturday, as senior forward Veeti Miettinen scored twice and senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn added three assists.
Freshman shined on the weekend for the Huskies, as freshman forwards Jack Reimann and Tyson Gross scored their first collegiate goals during the series. Gross filled in on the Huskies' top line on Saturday due to an injury/illness to junior forward Mason Salquist and responded with two points (one goal / one assist) and 15-7 mark (68.2 percent) in the faceoff dot.

MIETTINEN TAKES NEXT STEP

Senior forward Veeti Miettinen has played especially well over the Huskies last four series, recording eight goals and 10 points with a +2 mark on the ice in eight games since Oct. 20. Miettinen leads the Huskies in both goals (nine) and points (13) while ranking second and eighth in the NCHC in those categories, respectively. The Husky forward scored in six consecutive games between Oct. 20 and Nov. 11, the longest scoring streak by a Husky since Ryan Lasch produced the same mark in the 2007-08 season (Oct. 27 - Nov. 23, 2007).
Miettinen scored twice in SCSU's 6-5 win over UMD on Nov. 18, marking the sixth time in his career he has produced a multi-goal game. He recorded both game-winning goals in each of SCSU's wins over Western Michigan (Nov. 10-11), which were his 10th and 11th career game-winning goals, moving him to seventh all-time in program history in game-winning goals. He currently sits a four-way tie with Tim Hanus (1988-92), Garrett Roe (2007-11) and Joey Benik (2012-16). For his career, he is nearing the 100-point club as he currently has 42 goals and 54 assists for 96 points.

GAME NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 2-1 win vs. Minnesota Duluth (11-17-23 in St. Cloud)
- The Huskies improved to 6-0-0 when leading after two periods and 5-2-0 when outshooting its opponent.
- Senior forward Joe Molenaar netted his seventh goal of the season and matched a career-best with eight points this season.
- Freshman forward Jack Reimann recorded his first career goal and point with his second period score.
- Senior goalie Dominic Basse made 19 saves in the game and improved to a 2.03 GAA and .915 S% for the season.
- Sophomore forward Adam Ingram, junior forward Mason Salquist and fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka all made single assists in the game.
- Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn played in his 100th collegiate game in the contest.
GAME 2 - 6-5 win vs. Minnesota Duluth (11-18-23 in St. Cloud)
- 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 Minnesota Duluth 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.
- Senior forward Veeti 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.
- Fifth-year defenseman Dylan 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.
- Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe had two assists in the game and became the 38th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club, reaching the mark in his 150th 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.
- Freshman forward Tyson Gross recorded first career goal, first career assist and first multi-point game of his career.
- Sophomore forward Adam Ingram had a goal and an assist for his second multi-point game of the season and the seventh in his career.
- Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka recorded his third goal of the season and 21st of his career in the third period.
- Sophomore forward Jack Rogers scored his second goal of the season and fifth of his career.

HISTORIC START TO CONFERENCE PLAY

St. Cloud State has jumped out to an early lead in the chase for the Spencer Penrose Cup, staying perfect through six conference games. The Huskies 6-0-0 start in conference play is its best start to an NCHC season, surpassing its mark of 4-0-2 in 2018-19, and is its best start to a conference season since starting 7-0-0 in the 2001-02 WCHA season.
SCSU's six-game win streak is its first since winning six consecutive between Nov. 11 and Dec. 9, 2022.

OKABE JOINS 100-POINT CLUB

Fifth-year forward Zach Okabe became the 38th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club with a pair of assists against Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 18. This season, Okabe has one goal and five assists for six points with a power play goal and four blocks. For his career, the fifth-year Husky has 43 goals and 58 assists for 101 points with 15 power play goals and nine game-winning goals.
Okabe had a career-year in 2022-23, as he set career-bests in goals (18), assists (18), points (36), game-winning goals (fie) and plus/minus (+16) while leading the Huskies to an NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Okabe's overtime winner against North Dakota provided one of the most memorable moments of last season for the Huskies.
Okabe is one of 13 Huskies to record multiple hat tricks in their SCSU career, the only one to record two natural hat tricks, and currently ranks 14th in career game-winning goals with nine. The Husky senior is also closing in on the top-20 list for most career goals, as his 43 goals is just nine away from a four-way tie in 17th place at 52 goals from Joe Motzko (1999-03), Nic Dowd (2010-14), Robby Jackson (2015-19) and Jami Krannila (2019-23).
Okabe was held off the scoresheet in the first 13 games he skated until he broke through in a huge way against Minnesota State on Dec. 28, 2018 at Mariucci Arena with four goals and his first career hat trick. His four-goal performance is one of seven times in program history a Husky has scored four or more goals in a game, and just one off of the program record of five goals scored by Fred Knipscheer on Jan. 23, 1993.