Friday, February 17
St. Cloud, Minn.
6:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
17-16-1, 10-16-1
6
vs
3
Minnesota State
15-17-1, 9-17-1
1
2
3
F
Minnesota St.
1
0
2
3
St. Cloud St.
0
4
2
6
Photo by: Ethan Halverson
No. 12 Huskies open series with key 6-3 win over No. 15 Mavericks
2/17/2023 11:15:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Hymlárová and Hall each score twice as St. Cloud State earns three WCHA points, Geier breaks program’s career games played record
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 12 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (17-16-1, 10-16-1 WCHA) earned three critical points with a 6-3 win over No. 15 Minnesota State (15-17-1, 9-17-1 WCHA) on Friday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, leading on a four-goal second to swing momentum their way. Klára Hymlárová and Courtney Hall each scored two goals while Taylor Lind provided a three-point night on a goal and two assists to lead the club's highest-scoring output since December 3.
SCSU led 34-24 on shots in a game that featured a high-intensity playoff atmosphere with the fifth seed in the WCHA Tournament and crucial RPI implications on the line. With the regulation win, the Huskies need just one point on Saturday to earn the No. 5 seed and a trip to Duluth in the Quarterfinal.
Huskies assistant captain Taytum Geier skated in her 150th collegiate game in the win, establishing a new program record for career games played while providing an assist and blocking two shots.
The Huskies outshot Minnesota State 15-8 in the first period but headed to the break down 1-0 as the Mavericks scored on a well-executed screen midway through the opening frame.
SCSU came storming back with three goals in just over a three-minute span in the second period, striking first on an unassisted Addi Scribner wrister from the left side of the slot six ticks in. Hymlárová buried a one-timer after intercepting a pass and dishing it to Lind a minute later, finding space near the left circle to beat the tender and make it a 2-1 Huskies advantage. Just 120 seconds later, Hymlárová rocketed home a Geier rebound through traffic to push the lead to 3-1. Hall made it a 5-1 lead with just under five minutes to play in the middle frame, hustling down the ice to outskate both Maverick defenders, collecting the puck and rifling it through five-hole.
After drawing a whistle early in the third period, Lind scored on the power play a minute into the frame as the Huskies captain tipped in an Emma Gentry rebound. MSU scored on a power play four minutes in and added another seven seconds later right off the faceoff to tilt momentum back their way, but St. Cloud State bore down to kill off a pair of late penalties before Hall scored an empty-netter for the final tally.
JoJo Chobak made 21 saves to earn her ninth win of the season and the third in her last four starts. Dayle Ross blocked seven shots to lead all skaters while Hymlárová added three. Ross, Gentry, Geier Grace Wolfe and Avery Myers each provided an assist alongside Lind's team-high two.
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
"I thought it was a hard-fought WCHA game. Back and forth, probably could have gone either way – we were lucky to do what we needed to do to pull out a win."
On competing in a high-stakes game… "More importantly, I thought we performed and executed well in what is very much a game-on-the-line, playoff-like atmosphere – implications heavy with the NCAA's, there's a lot of things to play for. I thought under the scrutiny of that we held up pretty well. Obviously there hasn't been a lot of games with NCAA implications in the past couple of years, so it was nice that the team executed and played."
On the Huskies' shot total… "You can go one of two ways. You can go shot frequency, or you can look to make plays. I thought we were looking to make plays. There happened to be a lot of rebounds, lots of second-chance opportunities, a lot of loose pucks in and around the crease that led to the shot totals. I don't think we were just dumping things in when we got in or that we were shooting from the blue line. I thought we did a good job of trying to possess pucks and make plays. I think some of that shot total is kind of a byproduct of that."
On the message entering the first intermission down 1-0… "The message was, 'That was a good first period. Don't change a thing, stay with what we're doing.' I thought we were playing well, it was disappointing to be down after the first period, but you had to like the way they were competing, moving their feet and executing pretty well. It was simply keep what you're doing and be patient."
On the physicality throughout the evening… "I thought we did a pretty good job, honestly, of being disciplined. That game had an opportunity to spin out of control a little bit. Some of the stickwork, some of the slashing, some of the stuff after the whistles – again, I thought our team did a good job of absorbing, turning the other cheek – that's playoff hockey. You can't retaliate, because you're the one who's going to get caught. We did a good job of that. Hopefully tomorrow we're able to move our feet, execute and play."
On balancing the emotions of senior night with a critical series finale… "That's the hard part. You're never sure what you're going to get with some of the emotions, the feelings of it being the last time playing at home for some of our older players, family being around – we just talked about staying focused, taking care of our bodies and sticking with our routine. Just knowing what's possible for them. If we can take care of business, we can control our own destiny to an extent. That's a powerful message that we need to dream of things beyond this. A good start to the weekend, but tomorrow is even bigger."
Quotables – St. Cloud State senior forward Klára Hymlárová
"We knew these two games are very important in the rankings – we knew we were going to need to win both these games, and that's how we prepared for them. In the second period, I felt we played very good – that's how we have to play tomorrow. Play hard, make some plays, that's what we need to do to win."
On her powerful one-timer… "We've worked on it a lot with Jinelle during my four years here. I feel like every practice I'm trying to work on it and get it better."
Looking ahead to senior night… "Obviously it's going to a big night for us tomorrow. We have a lot of seniors, and it's going to be a little emotional – but we have to focus on our game, make sure we win our game tomorrow and see what happens with the rankings after."
On the mentality of high-stakes games… "Normally it's either one or two games – you need to make sure you don't make mistakes, because they will cost you a lot. One bad play, and the season is over. We just have to make sure we're prepared, manage our pucks and play how we played today. I think we played playoff hockey already against Wisconsin – that's how it started. We have to keep going and be prepared for where we're going to play next week. We have to win tomorrow, and then we'll see what happens. I don't think we care who we play, we just know we need to win the playoff games. Focus on the game tomorrow, and then we will see."
Quotables – St. Cloud State sophomore defender Dayle Ross
On competing hard in key late-season games … "It feels good. In these games, we can't hold back anything. We have to keep going – we did play really well last week, I felt, and we have to keep carrying our positivity into the next weekend. It's something you have to learn through your whole career. For me playing with Taytum, how she deals with everything, I've learned you can't get too high – because then you're too confident – and you can't be too low, because then you'll make mistakes. You have to do the same thing day in, day out and not let anything inside your bubble get to you."
On the excitement building towards the postseason… "It's pretty exciting. Once you get to this time of the year, before the game you start to get the pregame jitters – this is getting real now, playoff season, this is the time where everyone has to show up. If you take one shift off, that's where you're going to lose the game. Everyone has to be on their A-game all the time."
On the possibility of earning an NCAA Tournament berth… "We really want to win. Some girls are leaving next year, and they want to leave everything out on the table. We see that, and we know if we were in their positions we would do everything we could to at least make it to that tournament."
Notables
SCSU led 34-24 on shots in a game that featured a high-intensity playoff atmosphere with the fifth seed in the WCHA Tournament and crucial RPI implications on the line. With the regulation win, the Huskies need just one point on Saturday to earn the No. 5 seed and a trip to Duluth in the Quarterfinal.
Huskies assistant captain Taytum Geier skated in her 150th collegiate game in the win, establishing a new program record for career games played while providing an assist and blocking two shots.
The Huskies outshot Minnesota State 15-8 in the first period but headed to the break down 1-0 as the Mavericks scored on a well-executed screen midway through the opening frame.
SCSU came storming back with three goals in just over a three-minute span in the second period, striking first on an unassisted Addi Scribner wrister from the left side of the slot six ticks in. Hymlárová buried a one-timer after intercepting a pass and dishing it to Lind a minute later, finding space near the left circle to beat the tender and make it a 2-1 Huskies advantage. Just 120 seconds later, Hymlárová rocketed home a Geier rebound through traffic to push the lead to 3-1. Hall made it a 5-1 lead with just under five minutes to play in the middle frame, hustling down the ice to outskate both Maverick defenders, collecting the puck and rifling it through five-hole.
After drawing a whistle early in the third period, Lind scored on the power play a minute into the frame as the Huskies captain tipped in an Emma Gentry rebound. MSU scored on a power play four minutes in and added another seven seconds later right off the faceoff to tilt momentum back their way, but St. Cloud State bore down to kill off a pair of late penalties before Hall scored an empty-netter for the final tally.
JoJo Chobak made 21 saves to earn her ninth win of the season and the third in her last four starts. Dayle Ross blocked seven shots to lead all skaters while Hymlárová added three. Ross, Gentry, Geier Grace Wolfe and Avery Myers each provided an assist alongside Lind's team-high two.
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
"I thought it was a hard-fought WCHA game. Back and forth, probably could have gone either way – we were lucky to do what we needed to do to pull out a win."
On competing in a high-stakes game… "More importantly, I thought we performed and executed well in what is very much a game-on-the-line, playoff-like atmosphere – implications heavy with the NCAA's, there's a lot of things to play for. I thought under the scrutiny of that we held up pretty well. Obviously there hasn't been a lot of games with NCAA implications in the past couple of years, so it was nice that the team executed and played."
On the Huskies' shot total… "You can go one of two ways. You can go shot frequency, or you can look to make plays. I thought we were looking to make plays. There happened to be a lot of rebounds, lots of second-chance opportunities, a lot of loose pucks in and around the crease that led to the shot totals. I don't think we were just dumping things in when we got in or that we were shooting from the blue line. I thought we did a good job of trying to possess pucks and make plays. I think some of that shot total is kind of a byproduct of that."
On the message entering the first intermission down 1-0… "The message was, 'That was a good first period. Don't change a thing, stay with what we're doing.' I thought we were playing well, it was disappointing to be down after the first period, but you had to like the way they were competing, moving their feet and executing pretty well. It was simply keep what you're doing and be patient."
On the physicality throughout the evening… "I thought we did a pretty good job, honestly, of being disciplined. That game had an opportunity to spin out of control a little bit. Some of the stickwork, some of the slashing, some of the stuff after the whistles – again, I thought our team did a good job of absorbing, turning the other cheek – that's playoff hockey. You can't retaliate, because you're the one who's going to get caught. We did a good job of that. Hopefully tomorrow we're able to move our feet, execute and play."
On balancing the emotions of senior night with a critical series finale… "That's the hard part. You're never sure what you're going to get with some of the emotions, the feelings of it being the last time playing at home for some of our older players, family being around – we just talked about staying focused, taking care of our bodies and sticking with our routine. Just knowing what's possible for them. If we can take care of business, we can control our own destiny to an extent. That's a powerful message that we need to dream of things beyond this. A good start to the weekend, but tomorrow is even bigger."
Quotables – St. Cloud State senior forward Klára Hymlárová
"We knew these two games are very important in the rankings – we knew we were going to need to win both these games, and that's how we prepared for them. In the second period, I felt we played very good – that's how we have to play tomorrow. Play hard, make some plays, that's what we need to do to win."
On her powerful one-timer… "We've worked on it a lot with Jinelle during my four years here. I feel like every practice I'm trying to work on it and get it better."
Looking ahead to senior night… "Obviously it's going to a big night for us tomorrow. We have a lot of seniors, and it's going to be a little emotional – but we have to focus on our game, make sure we win our game tomorrow and see what happens with the rankings after."
On the mentality of high-stakes games… "Normally it's either one or two games – you need to make sure you don't make mistakes, because they will cost you a lot. One bad play, and the season is over. We just have to make sure we're prepared, manage our pucks and play how we played today. I think we played playoff hockey already against Wisconsin – that's how it started. We have to keep going and be prepared for where we're going to play next week. We have to win tomorrow, and then we'll see what happens. I don't think we care who we play, we just know we need to win the playoff games. Focus on the game tomorrow, and then we will see."
Quotables – St. Cloud State sophomore defender Dayle Ross
On competing hard in key late-season games … "It feels good. In these games, we can't hold back anything. We have to keep going – we did play really well last week, I felt, and we have to keep carrying our positivity into the next weekend. It's something you have to learn through your whole career. For me playing with Taytum, how she deals with everything, I've learned you can't get too high – because then you're too confident – and you can't be too low, because then you'll make mistakes. You have to do the same thing day in, day out and not let anything inside your bubble get to you."
On the excitement building towards the postseason… "It's pretty exciting. Once you get to this time of the year, before the game you start to get the pregame jitters – this is getting real now, playoff season, this is the time where everyone has to show up. If you take one shift off, that's where you're going to lose the game. Everyone has to be on their A-game all the time."
On the possibility of earning an NCAA Tournament berth… "We really want to win. Some girls are leaving next year, and they want to leave everything out on the table. We see that, and we know if we were in their positions we would do everything we could to at least make it to that tournament."
Notables
- Klára Hymlárová scored two goals, blocked three shots, put four shots on and skated to a plus-three
- Courtney Hall scored twice, led SCSU with seven shots on goal and skated to a plus-two
- Taylor Lind provided a three-point night with a goal, two apples, six shots on goal and a plus-three in the +/-
- Dayle Ross blocked seven shots and had one assist
- Taytum Geier provided an assist while blocking two shots
- Geier skated in her 150th collegiate game, establishing a new program record
- Emma Gentry, Avery Myers and Grace Wolfe each provided an assist
- SCSU outshot Minnesota State 34-24
- Draws were even at 26-26
- With win No. 17 of the season, St. Cloud State is one win away from tying the program's single-season record
- The Huskies are one conference point away from matching their single-season mark for most earned in a season (34)
- St. Cloud State has now beaten or earned a point from all seven conference opponents this season
Team Stats
MSU
STC
Shots
24
34
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
6
4
Penalty Mins
12
8
Faceoffs Won
26
26
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
6
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
7
A
0
+/-
3
Goals
2
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's HockeyCoach Mira Jalosuo Introductory Press Conference - Women's Hockey
Monday, July 21
Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-31-25
Saturday, February 01
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-18-25
Sunday, January 19
SCSU Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-17-25
Saturday, January 18
