Friday, February 17
St. Cloud, Minn.
6:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
vs
Minnesota State
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
No. 12 SCSU hosts No. 15 Mavericks in pivotal regular season finale
2/15/2023 5:05:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Huskies and Minnesota State to battle for No. 5 seed in the WCHA Tournament
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 12 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey closes the regular season by hosting No. 15 Minnesota State this weekend at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in a showdown for the No. 5 seed in the WCHA Tournament. Puck drop on Friday is set for 6:00 p.m. CT while Saturday's Senior Day game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. CT.
THE SERIES
St. Cloud State holds a 47-41-13 edge on the all-time series with a 27-20-5 mark in St. Cloud. The Huskies were swept on the road by Minnesota State to open the second half of conference play, outscored 7-2 with a 3-1 and a 4-1 loss at the Mayo Clinic HSEC.
HUSKIES PRIMER
SCSU enters the series 16-16-1 with a 9-16-1 mark in WCHA action. Jenniina Nylund (13-14-27), Klára Hymlárová (15-8-23), Taylor Lind (6-9-15) and Emma Gentry (13-7-20) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (1-12-13, 83 BLK), Grace Wolfe (1-14-15, 75 BLK), Regan Bulger (0-3-3, 76 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-6-7, +9, 64 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (8-6-1, .923 SV%, 2.43 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (8-10-0, .924 SV%, 2.50 GAA) have formed one of the top goaltending duos in the league.
LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State battled No. 7 Minnesota Duluth to the end on Saturday evening at Amsoil Arena, allowing an empty-net goal late to fall 2-0 in the series finale. Huskies netminder Sanni Ahola delivered a terrific performance in the crease, turning away 30 of 31 shots and allowing a lone power play goal. Taytum Geier led the Huskies with four blocked shots while Dayle Ross put three shots on goal and blocked a pair of her own. SCSU outshot the Bulldogs 8-4 in the first period but saw the shots go the other way at a combined 28-7 UMD advantage in the second and third, culminating in a second-period power play goal.
SETTING THE STAGE
A wild weekend of WCHA action awaits as just one tournament seed is set entering the final week of play. St. Cloud State enters the 2022-23 regular season finale tied for fifth in the WCHA standings with Minnesota State as both clubs own 30 points on the season. The Mavericks currently hold the season series edge with a 2-0-0 record against SCSU, which is the first WCHA tiebreaker. Should the Huskies and Mavericks split the points this weekend, Minnesota State would earn the No. 5 seed - as long as SCSU takes four points or more, the Huskies will take the No. 5 seed. Minnesota Duluth has already clinched the fourth spot while Minnesota needs just one win this weekend to lock Wisconsin into the third seed. St. Thomas needs one point to clinch the seventh seed and lock Bemidji State into No. 8, while Ohio State holds a magic number of four to clinch the top seed and the Julianne Bye Cup. Should Minnesota sweep while Ohio State earns just two points, the two clubs would be WCHA co-champions. No. 4 Minnesota is at St. Thomas this weekend, No. 8 Minnesota Duluth visits Bemidji State while No. 6/7 Wisconsin hosts No. 1 Ohio State.
NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
St. Cloud State is on the bubble as they hunt for their first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, currently sitting at No. 14 in the RPI per USCHO - on the outside looking in to the 11-team field. Clarkson (.5733), Penn State (.5649), Vermont (.5583), Providence (.5480) and Cornell (.5443) are all ahead of the Huskies (.5342) in the 9-13 slots. No. 9/10 Clarkson hosts (RV) Princeton and No. 6/7 Quinnipiac this weekend, No. 9/10 Penn State visits RIT, No. 11 Vermont travels to New Hampshire, No. 13 Providence hosts No. 15 Boston College and No. 14 Cornell will pay a trip to RPI and Union.
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN NOTICE
Senior forward Addi Scribner has been named a 2023 Hockey Humanitarian Award nominee, joining Men's Hockey defenseman Spencer Meier to make SCSU the only school to feature a nominee from both their men's and women's program. The Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is celebrating its 28th season, is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
GUTSY GEIER
Graduate student defender Taytum Geier has been phenomenal on the blueline all year long, but over her last eight games the veteran has truly stepped up when the Huskies have needed her most. Over the 12 games in the second half, Geier has skated to a plus-seven with 24 blocks, three assists, 11 shots on goal and has taken just one penalty while anchoring a unit that is currently skating just six with two sophomores, a true freshman and a forward freshly converted to a D.
MAKING HISTORY
Taytum Geier is also set to break the program's career games played record as she enters the weekend tied for the prestigous mark at 149, shared by fearsome linemates Cailtin Hogan and Holly Roberts, both 2010 grads who rank one-two in career scoring at SCSU. Geier will be skating in her 150th career game on Friday, establishing a new standard for consistency. The fifth-year senior has been an anchor on the blueline throughout her career, skating on the top four for the majority of her time in a Huskies sweater.
BLANKED
With six shutouts this season, St. Cloud State has broken their program record for blankings in a single season. JoJo Chobak has turned in a clean sheet five times to establish a new program record for most individual shutouts in a season. The duo of Sanni Ahola and Chobak have combined to provide SCSU with a phenomenal pairing, currently standing as the only pair in the league to both have at least a .920 save percentage.
GETTING GRITTY
Remaining true to the team's newfound identity, the grind-and-grit Huskies boast the top four shot-blockers in the WCHA. Dayle Ross and Regan Bulger go one-two with 83 and 76 while Grace Wolfe and Taytum Geier go three-four with 75 and 64 respectively. Incredibly, Klára Hymlárová's 52 blocks rank her sixth in the league and first among forwards to give the Huskies five skaters in the top six. No other skater in the league has more than 55 blocked shots. As a team, St. Cloud State has 508 blocks – good for 15.88 per game – which leads the league in both categories.
SPECIAL TEAMS STONEWALLERS
St. Cloud State's penalty kill has been stellar this season, leading the league and ranking 10th nationally at 87.6%. The Huskies lead the WCHA with 136 penalties taken - 16 more than any other club - and pace the league in penalties taken per game, hitting the box more than four times per night.
POWERING UP
The Huskies complement their strong PK with a dynamic power play that presently ranks fourth in the league and eighth in the country at 21.4%. Klára Hymlárová has scored eight power play goals, sharing the lead in both the WCHA and NCAA with Ohio State's Sophie Jaques. When SCSU scores on the power play they are 11-1-0 compared to a 5-15-1 record when they do not score on the advantage.
SCHOLAR ATHLETES
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey student-athletes Allie Cornelius, Olivia Cvar, Allison Green and Taylor Lind have been named 2022-23 WCHA Scholar Athletes by the league office on Wednesday. Cornelius has earned her third career Scholar Athlete award, Cvar and Green are second-year winners while Lind has picked up her first career scholar honor. The WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award was developed through member institutional Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the WCHA membership for the 2005-06 season. To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, league-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade point average of at least a 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for their previous two semesters or three quarters. Student-athletes may also qualify if their overall GPA is at least a 3.50 for all terms at their present institution.
ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
13 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey student-athletes have been selected to the WCHA All-Academic Team as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Allie Cornelius, Olivia Cvar, Taytum Geier, Emma Gentry, Allison Green, Courtney Hall, Klára Hymlárová, Taylor Lind, Devyn Millwater, Jenniina Nylund, Karlie Ries, Chace Sperling and Grace Wolfe each earned WCHA All-Academic status. The WCHA All-Academic Team includes student-athletes who have completed one year of eligibility at their present institutions, prior to the academic year, and have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in their previous two semesters or three quarters.
PHENOMENAL FINN
With her game-winning goal at Wisconsin, Jenniina Nylund matched the program's single-season record with her fifth of the season. Megan McCarthy (2008-09), Molly Illikainen (2015-16), Kobi Kawamoto (2000-01) and Ricki-Lee Doyle (2000-01) each provided five game-winners in a single season to share the record with Nylund. The Finland native has nine career GWG, tying her with Roxanne Stang for third all-time behind Felicia Nelson's 11 and Ashley Stewart's 10.
NYLUND'S CLIMB
Jenniina Nylund's goal against Wisconsin moved her out of a tie for eighth in the program's all-time scoring list with 88 career points, placing her four points out of seventh. This season, Nylund has 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points. She is just three points away from giving St. Cloud State their first 30-point scorer since Molly Illikainen put up 32 on 17 goals and 15 assists. Nylund can also be found on the program's goal and assist leaderboards, currently ranked eighth in goals and ninth in assists - two goals and two apples from moving up a spot in each category.
FIVE NATIONS CHECK-IN
Huskies forward Laura Zimmermann competed for Switzerland at the German leg of the Five Nations Tournament last weekend, skating in four games and providing a 1-1-2 line with six shots on goal.
Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
THE SERIES
St. Cloud State holds a 47-41-13 edge on the all-time series with a 27-20-5 mark in St. Cloud. The Huskies were swept on the road by Minnesota State to open the second half of conference play, outscored 7-2 with a 3-1 and a 4-1 loss at the Mayo Clinic HSEC.
HUSKIES PRIMER
SCSU enters the series 16-16-1 with a 9-16-1 mark in WCHA action. Jenniina Nylund (13-14-27), Klára Hymlárová (15-8-23), Taylor Lind (6-9-15) and Emma Gentry (13-7-20) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (1-12-13, 83 BLK), Grace Wolfe (1-14-15, 75 BLK), Regan Bulger (0-3-3, 76 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-6-7, +9, 64 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (8-6-1, .923 SV%, 2.43 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (8-10-0, .924 SV%, 2.50 GAA) have formed one of the top goaltending duos in the league.
LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State battled No. 7 Minnesota Duluth to the end on Saturday evening at Amsoil Arena, allowing an empty-net goal late to fall 2-0 in the series finale. Huskies netminder Sanni Ahola delivered a terrific performance in the crease, turning away 30 of 31 shots and allowing a lone power play goal. Taytum Geier led the Huskies with four blocked shots while Dayle Ross put three shots on goal and blocked a pair of her own. SCSU outshot the Bulldogs 8-4 in the first period but saw the shots go the other way at a combined 28-7 UMD advantage in the second and third, culminating in a second-period power play goal.
SETTING THE STAGE
A wild weekend of WCHA action awaits as just one tournament seed is set entering the final week of play. St. Cloud State enters the 2022-23 regular season finale tied for fifth in the WCHA standings with Minnesota State as both clubs own 30 points on the season. The Mavericks currently hold the season series edge with a 2-0-0 record against SCSU, which is the first WCHA tiebreaker. Should the Huskies and Mavericks split the points this weekend, Minnesota State would earn the No. 5 seed - as long as SCSU takes four points or more, the Huskies will take the No. 5 seed. Minnesota Duluth has already clinched the fourth spot while Minnesota needs just one win this weekend to lock Wisconsin into the third seed. St. Thomas needs one point to clinch the seventh seed and lock Bemidji State into No. 8, while Ohio State holds a magic number of four to clinch the top seed and the Julianne Bye Cup. Should Minnesota sweep while Ohio State earns just two points, the two clubs would be WCHA co-champions. No. 4 Minnesota is at St. Thomas this weekend, No. 8 Minnesota Duluth visits Bemidji State while No. 6/7 Wisconsin hosts No. 1 Ohio State.
NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
St. Cloud State is on the bubble as they hunt for their first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, currently sitting at No. 14 in the RPI per USCHO - on the outside looking in to the 11-team field. Clarkson (.5733), Penn State (.5649), Vermont (.5583), Providence (.5480) and Cornell (.5443) are all ahead of the Huskies (.5342) in the 9-13 slots. No. 9/10 Clarkson hosts (RV) Princeton and No. 6/7 Quinnipiac this weekend, No. 9/10 Penn State visits RIT, No. 11 Vermont travels to New Hampshire, No. 13 Providence hosts No. 15 Boston College and No. 14 Cornell will pay a trip to RPI and Union.
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN NOTICE
Senior forward Addi Scribner has been named a 2023 Hockey Humanitarian Award nominee, joining Men's Hockey defenseman Spencer Meier to make SCSU the only school to feature a nominee from both their men's and women's program. The Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is celebrating its 28th season, is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
GUTSY GEIER
Graduate student defender Taytum Geier has been phenomenal on the blueline all year long, but over her last eight games the veteran has truly stepped up when the Huskies have needed her most. Over the 12 games in the second half, Geier has skated to a plus-seven with 24 blocks, three assists, 11 shots on goal and has taken just one penalty while anchoring a unit that is currently skating just six with two sophomores, a true freshman and a forward freshly converted to a D.
MAKING HISTORY
Taytum Geier is also set to break the program's career games played record as she enters the weekend tied for the prestigous mark at 149, shared by fearsome linemates Cailtin Hogan and Holly Roberts, both 2010 grads who rank one-two in career scoring at SCSU. Geier will be skating in her 150th career game on Friday, establishing a new standard for consistency. The fifth-year senior has been an anchor on the blueline throughout her career, skating on the top four for the majority of her time in a Huskies sweater.
BLANKED
With six shutouts this season, St. Cloud State has broken their program record for blankings in a single season. JoJo Chobak has turned in a clean sheet five times to establish a new program record for most individual shutouts in a season. The duo of Sanni Ahola and Chobak have combined to provide SCSU with a phenomenal pairing, currently standing as the only pair in the league to both have at least a .920 save percentage.
GETTING GRITTY
Remaining true to the team's newfound identity, the grind-and-grit Huskies boast the top four shot-blockers in the WCHA. Dayle Ross and Regan Bulger go one-two with 83 and 76 while Grace Wolfe and Taytum Geier go three-four with 75 and 64 respectively. Incredibly, Klára Hymlárová's 52 blocks rank her sixth in the league and first among forwards to give the Huskies five skaters in the top six. No other skater in the league has more than 55 blocked shots. As a team, St. Cloud State has 508 blocks – good for 15.88 per game – which leads the league in both categories.
SPECIAL TEAMS STONEWALLERS
St. Cloud State's penalty kill has been stellar this season, leading the league and ranking 10th nationally at 87.6%. The Huskies lead the WCHA with 136 penalties taken - 16 more than any other club - and pace the league in penalties taken per game, hitting the box more than four times per night.
POWERING UP
The Huskies complement their strong PK with a dynamic power play that presently ranks fourth in the league and eighth in the country at 21.4%. Klára Hymlárová has scored eight power play goals, sharing the lead in both the WCHA and NCAA with Ohio State's Sophie Jaques. When SCSU scores on the power play they are 11-1-0 compared to a 5-15-1 record when they do not score on the advantage.
SCHOLAR ATHLETES
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey student-athletes Allie Cornelius, Olivia Cvar, Allison Green and Taylor Lind have been named 2022-23 WCHA Scholar Athletes by the league office on Wednesday. Cornelius has earned her third career Scholar Athlete award, Cvar and Green are second-year winners while Lind has picked up her first career scholar honor. The WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award was developed through member institutional Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the WCHA membership for the 2005-06 season. To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, league-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade point average of at least a 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for their previous two semesters or three quarters. Student-athletes may also qualify if their overall GPA is at least a 3.50 for all terms at their present institution.
ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
13 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey student-athletes have been selected to the WCHA All-Academic Team as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Allie Cornelius, Olivia Cvar, Taytum Geier, Emma Gentry, Allison Green, Courtney Hall, Klára Hymlárová, Taylor Lind, Devyn Millwater, Jenniina Nylund, Karlie Ries, Chace Sperling and Grace Wolfe each earned WCHA All-Academic status. The WCHA All-Academic Team includes student-athletes who have completed one year of eligibility at their present institutions, prior to the academic year, and have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in their previous two semesters or three quarters.
PHENOMENAL FINN
With her game-winning goal at Wisconsin, Jenniina Nylund matched the program's single-season record with her fifth of the season. Megan McCarthy (2008-09), Molly Illikainen (2015-16), Kobi Kawamoto (2000-01) and Ricki-Lee Doyle (2000-01) each provided five game-winners in a single season to share the record with Nylund. The Finland native has nine career GWG, tying her with Roxanne Stang for third all-time behind Felicia Nelson's 11 and Ashley Stewart's 10.
NYLUND'S CLIMB
Jenniina Nylund's goal against Wisconsin moved her out of a tie for eighth in the program's all-time scoring list with 88 career points, placing her four points out of seventh. This season, Nylund has 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points. She is just three points away from giving St. Cloud State their first 30-point scorer since Molly Illikainen put up 32 on 17 goals and 15 assists. Nylund can also be found on the program's goal and assist leaderboards, currently ranked eighth in goals and ninth in assists - two goals and two apples from moving up a spot in each category.
FIVE NATIONS CHECK-IN
Huskies forward Laura Zimmermann competed for Switzerland at the German leg of the Five Nations Tournament last weekend, skating in four games and providing a 1-1-2 line with six shots on goal.
Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
G
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
G
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's HockeyPostgame Press Conference | SCSU vs Wisconsin (11/15/2025)
Sunday, November 16
Postgame Press Conference | SCSU vs Wisconsin (11/14/2025)
Saturday, November 15
Postgame Press Conference | SCSU vs Minnesota Duluth (11/1/2025)
Sunday, November 02
Postgame Press Conference | SCSU vs Minnesota Duluth (10/31/2025)
Saturday, November 01
