No. 12 Huskies prep for road finale at No. 7 Minnesota Duluth

Friday, February 10

Duluth, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

No. 12 Huskies prep for road finale at No. 7 Minnesota Duluth

2/9/2023 5:05:00 PM | Women's Hockey

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St. Cloud State looks ahead to pivotal road tilt at Amsoil Arena

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 12 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey hits the road this weekend to take on No. 7 Minnesota Duluth in their road regular season finale at Amsoil Arena. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. CT finale on Saturday. Both games of the series will be broadcast on B1G+ and 88.1 FM KVSC.

THE SERIES
The Huskies are 14-80-9 all-time against Minnesota Duluth with their last regulation win coming in Duluth in February 9. 2019. Last season SCSU took two points from the Bulldogs with a home shootout win courtesy of Courtney Hall. St. Cloud State has fared better at home against UMD, going 9-32-6.

HUSKIES PRIMER
SCSU enters the series 16-15-0 with a 9-15-0 mark in WCHA action. Jenniina Nylund (13-14-27), Klára Hymlárová (15-8-23), Taylor Lind (6-9-15) and Emma Gentry (12-7-19) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (1-12-13, 77 BLK), Grace Wolfe (1-14-15, 71 BLK), Regan Bulger (0-3-3, 70 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-6-7, +8, 60 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (8-6-0, .918 SV%, 2.54 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (8-9-0, .921 SV%, 2.59 GAA) have formed one of the top goaltending duos in the league.

STANDINGS & SUCH
As the final month of the regular season unfolds, the Huskies find themselves in control of their own destiny in a hotly-contested fight for fifth place. SCSU enters the weekend fifth in the league with 29 points – just five ahead of (RV) Minnesota State. St. Cloud State visits No. 7 Minnesota Duluth this weekend, No. 1/2 Ohio State hosts St. Thomas, (RV) Minnesota State welcomes Bemidji State to Mankato while No. 3 Minnesota and No. 8 Wisconsin clash in the Border Battle at Ridder.

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 10 games in the second half, Geier has skated to a plus-six with 20 blocks, three assists, nine 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. Geier is also closing in on the program's career games played record, having appeared in 147 contests over her five-year career. The program mark stands at 149, shared by fearsome linemates Cailtin Hogan and Holly Roberts, both 2010 grads who rank one-two in career scoring at SCSU.

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 one of just two pairs in the league to both have at least a .900 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 Grace Wolfe go one-two with 77 and 71 while Regan Bulger and Taytum Geier go three-four with 70 and 60 respectively. Incredibly, Klára Hymlárová's 50 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 53 blocked shots. As a team, St. Cloud State has 492 blocks – good for 15.87 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 ninth nationally at 88.6%. The Huskies lead the WCHA with 132 penalties taken - 17 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 22.2%. 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 5-14-0 record when they do not score on the advantage.

PHENOMENAL FINN
With her game-winning goal at Wisconsin on Friday, Jenniina Nylund has 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 last weekend 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 top 10 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.

ALL HAIL JOJO
JoJo Chobak was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week on Monday following her fantastic effort in Madison. Chobak delivered an incredible 39-save performance on Friday night as the Huskies shut out No. 8 Wisconsin in front of 14,430 fans at the Kohl Center, earning the junior her fifth shutout of the season and establishing a new program single-season record. The Huskies netminder made 13 saves in the first, 11 in the second and 15 in the third while anchoring a Huskies penalty kill that went 5-for-5 on the night. This season, the junior has gone 8-6-0 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average. Chobak was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week twice during the 2021-22 season with Minnesota Duluth.

ROSCO TO THE RESCUE
Named WCHA Defender of the Week on Monday, Dayle Ross tied for the WCHA lead in blocked shots with 12, anchoring the 9-for-9 Huskies penalty kill while starring on the top pair as St. Cloud State earned a road split at Wisconsin. Ross added an assist on Friday's game-winning goal, blocking a career-high eight shots in the 1-0 shutout win. This season, the sophomore has skated in all 31 games while providing a goal and 12 assists for a career-high 13 points while leading the WCHA with 77 blocked shots. The honor is the first collegiate Player of the Week notice for Ross.

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.