UMD Pulls Even with No. 8/7 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey in NCHC Quarterfinals Series

Saturday, March 11

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

21-12-3

Minnesota Duluth

16-19-1

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud St.

UMD Pulls Even with No. 8/7 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey in NCHC Quarterfinals Series

3/11/2023 11:57:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Bulldogs score three times in under four minutes of second period, win game two, 5-1

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Despite leading the shots on goal by 12 and winning 40 of 53 faceoffs, No. 8/7 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (21-12-3, 12-9-3 NCHC) fell to Minnesota Duluth (16-19-1, 10-14-0 NCHC), 5-1, on Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. After a tight first period, the Bulldogs scored three times in the span of 3:33 to take control of the game in the second period and even the series at one game a piece.

TURNING POINT

The Huskies scored first on senior forward Micah Miller's (Grand Rapids, Minn.) third goal of the season and the Bulldogs responded with a Carter Looney goal at 12:40 of the first period to tie the score at 1-1 after the game's first 20 minutes.

In the second period, the Bulldogs seized momentum by scoring three goals in the first seven minutes of the period to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Wyatt Kaiser started the scoring with a goal 3:00 into the period before Ben Steeves and Dominic James scored goals at the 6:17 and 6:33 marks, respectively, of the period for the Bulldogs.

TOP HUSKIES

Miller scored the Huskies' lone goal and his third goal of the series.
Graduate forward Aidan Spellacy (Lakewood, Ohio) and senior forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) had assists on Miller's goal.

NOTES

With the loss, St. Cloud State falls to 80-63-11 against Minnesota Duluth and 43-29-7 against the Bulldogs in St. Cloud.
St. Cloud State outshot Minnesota Duluth 35-23 and won the faceoff battle 40-13.
Miller scored his fifth goal of the season with his third goal of the series, improving to 29 career goals and 69 career points. It marks the first time Miller has scored goals in back-to-back games since Jan. 21-22, 2022 against Miami.
Spellacy recorded his seventh assist of the season, matching a career-best mark in a season for the fifth-year forward, which he also reached in 2019-20 and 2020-21 at Robert Morris.
Kupka's 14^th assist of the season set a new career record for most assists in a season, surpassing his mark of 13 in 2021-22.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth will return for the third and deciding game of the quarterfinal series on Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT at the Brooks Center on Fox 9 + and KNSI. The winner will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, scheduled for March 17-18 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

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 2022-23 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.