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Friday, November 10
Kalamazoo, Mich.
6:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
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Western Michigan
St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Travels to #12 Western Michigan for NCHC Road Opener
11/9/2023 2:02:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Huskies and Broncos to play Nov. 10-11 at Lawson Arena
(RV) ST. CLOUD STATE at #12 WESTERN MICHIGAN |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
TV / STREAM |
RADIO |
STATS |
GAME NOTES |
| #12 Western Michigan | Lawson Arena | Friday, Nov. 10 | 6:00 p.m. | NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | SCSU Notes |
| #12 Western Michigan | Lawson Arena | Saturday, Nov. 11 | 5:00 p.m. | NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | WMU Notes |
THE MATCHUP
- St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will play outside the state of Minnesota for the first time this season when the Huskies hit the road for an NCHC series at Western Michigan this weekend. The Huskies and Broncos will play at Lawson Arena on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6:00 p.m. CT and Saturday, Nov. 11 at 5:00 p.m. CT. The series will be streamed on NCHC.tv while Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson will have the radio call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). St. Cloud State enters the weekend receiving votes in both the USCHO and USA Today / The Rink Live Top-20 polls, while Western Michigan checks in at No. 12 in both polls.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Huskies and Broncos will meet for the 39th and 40th times this weekend, with the Huskies holding a 20-13-5 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. Western Michigan holds an advantage in the last 10 games in the series as the Broncos are 6-3-1against the Huskies since Jan. 2021. SCSU is looking to snap a six-game slide in Kalamazoo, as the Huskies have not won inside Lawson Arena since March 2, 2019, a 8-2 win near the end of the 2018-19 season. Last season, the two teams only played in St. Cloud, splitting a Nov. 11-12, 2022 series with a 4-2 Western Michigan on Friday before a 4-1 win from SCSU on Saturday.
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES
- The Huskies got back to their winning ways last weekend, registering their first series sweep of the season while opening NCHC play with six points against Miami, winning 3-2 and 6-0. On Friday, the Miettinen brothers - senior forward Veeti Miettinen and freshman forward Verner Miettinen - both scored to lead the Huskies to a 3-2 victory. It marked the first time since Dec. 7, 2019 a set of brothers scored for the Huskies, when Jack and Nick Poehling scored in a 5-3 win at Miami. Senior forward Joe Molenaar led the way on Saturday, as he recorded his first collegiate hat trick in a 6-0 win to earn the series sweep. Senior goalie Dominic Basse recorded 15 saves in his second shutout of the season.
MOLENAAR'S HAT TRICK LEADS TO NCHC FORWARD OF THE WEEK
- Senior forward Joe Molenaar was named NCHC Forward of the Week after scoring his first career hat trick and recording four points in the Huskies sweep over Miami to open NCHC play. Molenaar scored or assisted on four of nine goals scored on the weekend for SCSU, totaling three goals and an assist for four points and a +3 mark on the ice. Molenaar recorded a hat trick on Saturday, which was the 66th hat trick in program history and the first since teammate fifth-year forward Zach Okabe had a hat trick against North Dakota on Dec. 3, 2022.
- In addition to his first career hat trick, it was also his first career multi-goal game. Just eight games into the season, the Husky senior has matched a career-best for goals in a season with five. Molenaar also added an assist in Friday's 3-2 win, as he had the secondary assist on junior forward Mason Salquist's goal in the first period.
OKABE NEARS 100
- Fifth-year senior forward Zach Okabe is only two points away from joining an exclusive club in St. Cloud State Men's Hockey history. Okabe currently has 98 points (43 goals / 55 assists) and is two points away from becoming the 38th member of SCSU's 100-point club. 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 13th 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).
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Players Mentioned
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