No. 14 SCSU pushes No. 8 Badgers to the brink, settles for road split

Saturday, February 4

Madison, Wis.

3:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

16-15-0, 9-15-0

Wisconsin

21-8-1, 17-6-1

St. Cloud St.

Wisconsin

Photo by: Thomas Breach

No. 14 SCSU pushes No. 8 Badgers to the brink, settles for road split

2/4/2023 7:30:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

Hall and Lind each score as Huskies drop 3-2 finale to Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – No. 14 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey put their high-effort, high-compete style of play on full display but couldn't find the equalizer late in a 3-2 loss to No. 8 Wisconsin at LaBahn Arena on Saturday evening. The Huskies return from Wisconsin with a three-point weekend in hand, entering the final two weeks of conference play with a five point lead over Minnesota State for fifth place.

Sanni Ahola made 36 saves on the night, turning away all six power play shots she faced to help the Huskies PK unit go 4-fo-4.

St. Cloud State scored first for the second straight night, this time taking advantage of traffic up front to shake the goaltender's eyes five minutes into the first. Klára Hymlárová took the puck down to the left circle and fed it into the high slot for Courtney Hall, who ripped a heavy wrister past the goalie for the game's first goal.

Wisconsin energized the crowd with two goals in a two minute span midway through the first, taking their first lead of the series. The Huskies withstood chances aplenty for the Badgers in the second before the puck found the back of the net a third time, handing SCSU a 3-1 deficit at the second intermission.

Ahola made 11 saves in the third to keep the Huskies in the game, holding the Badgers at bay until Taylor Lind took advantage of a Wisconsin miscue on the power play with just over five minutes to go. Skating shorthanded after a body checking whistle, the Huskies' captain blitzed ahead on the forecheck as the rest of the unit went for a change on a chip down the ice. Wisconsin's goaltender stepped up to handle the puck off the boards, but it kicked away and sent her sprawling – Lind stayed on the attack and beat her defender to the puck, throwing it home to make it a one goal game.

Despite skating shorthanded again with under a minute to play, SCSU generated offensive zone time over the last 20 seconds but was unable to produce a chance.

The Huskies wore Wisconsin down on draws, winning 32 at a 56.1% clip against the league's best team by faceoff win percentage. Jenniina Nylund went 15-9 in the dot while Hymlárová was 11-8. Grace Wolfe anchored the club's 29-block night with seven, followed by four each from Dayle Ross and Hymlárová.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski

"We knew it would be very important to get off to a good start. I thought we did that, we got a little loose there at the end of the first where they were able to pop a couple of quick ones. Playing from behind is never awesome for us, but we hung in there, hung tough and gave ourselves a chance to steal a point there at the end. Overall, happy with the weekend. I'm happy with the effort and compete – I think we're taking some big steps in terms of understanding the compete level needed playoff-wise. playing big games in February and hopefully into March. Overall – positive for us."

"Moreso today our effort and compete came in the defensive zone. Blocking shots – I thought we spent a little more time in the D zone today. I don't think our exits were as crisp. Obviously it contributed to Wisconsin, I thought they pressured harder. I thought they were a little more desperate in stretches. With their talent level, that can be a dangerous combination. That was a bit of a must-win for them, probably would have pushed them more into the bubble in terms of the national tournament when you think about the games they have left in the league. Understanding that, where they were at and what that looks like, I'm happy we were able to go toe-to-toe."

"I thought we did a really good job, for the most part, of managing our emotions coming into an atmosphere like this in a big game. I definitely thought with the crowd, the energy and the noise in this place and the place last night makes it certainly not an easy place to play. We gave ourselves some chances, that's all you can as for, and I thought we competed super hard."

"You're trying to exist at times in two different spears. In the present – doing what you need to do to win a hockey game – and in developing players, giving them the freedom to try to make plays and try to improve their skillsets, to dare them to play and dare them to try to improve their skillsets. That was a big takeaway for me. We weren't just throwing the puck every time we got into neutral ice and giving it away to them. We were trying to make plays, we were carrying pucks in on the zone entry – I thought poise-wise, we got some good experience about trying to create offense, trying to look for plays and trying to handle pucks. Not always easy, especially this time of year, to have that patience to allow people to make some mistakes and grow, but at the same point I thought we balanced both where we were competing hard and playing to win but at the same time trying to get better as a club."

Notables

Taylor Lind scored her sixth goal of the year and her first shorthanded
Courtney Hall scored her third goal of the season
Sanni Ahola made 36 saves including going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill
Klára Hymlárová provided an assist, went 11-8 on draws and blocked four shots
Jenniina Nylund went 15-9 on faceoffs
SCSU was outshot 39-11
The Huskies were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, completing a 9-for-9 series

Up Next
The Huskies head up to Duluth next weekend for their regular season road finale, matching up with the Bulldogs with key points and quality wins on the line at Amsoil Arena.

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.