No. 14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes Sweep of Bemidji State with 6-1 Beatdown

Sunday, December 31

St. Cloud, Minn.

4:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

11-5-2

Bemidji State

8-12-0

Bemidji St.

St. Cloud St.

No. 14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes Sweep of Bemidji State with 6-1 Beatdown

12/31/2023 10:35:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Six Huskies score for second straight game, Posch earns first career win in goal

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – For the second game in a row, No. 14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (11-5-2, 7-0-1 NCHC) scored six goals en route to a 6-1 win over Bemidji State (8-12-0, 7-5-0 CCHA) to finish off a series sweep on Sunday afternoon at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Just like on Friday night, six different Huskies found the back of the net, including sophomore forward Ethan AuCoin (Calgary, Alberta) for the first time this season. Freshman goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) recorded 27 saves to earn his first career win in net for the Huskies.

SCSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period after redshirt sophomore forward Ryan Rosborough (Mt Brydges, Ontario) and fifth-year forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) at the 4:04 and 6:25 marks of the first period, respectively. For the Huskies first goal, AuCoin played the puck behind the net to freshman forward Jack Reimann (Ham Lake, Minn.), who was able to get the puck on Rosborough's stick in front of the net for the score. Just over two minutes later in a four-on-four situation, sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) fed Okabe on a 2-on-1 rush to the net for the second score of the game. Rosborough found the back of the net for the third time in four games while Okabe broke a 16-game streak without a goal with his second score.

Bemidji State would pull within a goal soon after at the 8:05 mark of the first period, followed by a 37-minute stretch of the game where neither team found the back of the net.

AuCoin would break the scoreless stretch five minutes into the third period after freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) caused a turnover on a forecheck behind the Bemidji State goal. Once in possession, he passed the puck to sophomore forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba) for a shot in front of the net. Bemidji was able to make a save, but AuCoin was there for the rebound and putback score.

St. Cloud State would open the flood gates later on in the period, as freshman forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) and Ingram would all score in the final 10 minutes of the game to close the scoring at 6-1.

TOP HUSKIES

AuCoin earned the first star of the game with a goal and assist for two points.
In his first career start at home and second overall, Posch earned the win with 27 saves in net.
Okabe had the game-winning goal with his second period score.

NOTES

With the win, the Huskies improve to 54-46-7 all-time against Bemidji State and 15-2-2 in St. Cloud as Division-I opponents.
SCSU improved to 9-3-1 when scoring first, 9-0-0 when leading after two periods, 8-3-1 when outshooting its opponent and 9-2-1 when its opponent fails to score on the power play.
The Huskies scored six goals for the second straight game and for the fourth-time this season, matching a season-high.
St. Cloud State registered a season-best 44 shots on goal in the game.
The Huskies killed off three penalties in the game to improve to 87.3 percent (55-of-63) on the penalty kill this season. SCSU has killed of 19 of its last 20 penalties in its last four games dating back to Nov. 24 against Michigan.
SCSU had 14 skaters record a point in the game with only three – AuCoin, Ingram and Kupka – recording two points.
AuCoin scored his first goal of the season and second of his career while adding his first career assist for his first career two-point game.
Ingram scored his fifth goal of the season with his second power play goal of the season while adding his 11^th assist. Ingram's two points matched a season-best for the fourth time this season and is his 10^th career two-point game.
Kupka recorded his eighth goal of the season and eighth assist for his third game this season and 14^th game of his career with two points.
Posch earned the first win of his collegiate career in his second career start, recording 27 saves and allowing only one goal.
Hall recorded his fourth goal of the season and second power play goal with a third period score.
Junior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) set a new career-best with his eighth point of the season, surpassing his previous best of seven points in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will next hit the road to face No. 5 Denver on Jan. 12-13 in Denver, Colo. Friday's game is slated to start at 8:00 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network, while Saturday's game will start at 7:00 p.m. CT on NCHC.tv.

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.