Castor’s Shutout Lifts Huskies to NCAA Regional Victory over No. 10/9 Minnesota State

Thursday, March 23

Fargo, N.D.

4:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

25-12-3

Minnesota State

25-13-1

Minnesota St.

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Luke Schmidt

Castor’s Shutout Lifts Huskies to NCAA Regional Victory over No. 10/9 Minnesota State

3/24/2023 12:41:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Castor records first shutout in program history for SCSU, four different Huskies find back of the net

FARGO, N.D. – Behind the strength of a 34-save shutout from senior goalie Jaxon Castor (Phoenix, Ariz.), No. 6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (25-12-3, 12-9-3 NCHC) defeated No. 10/9 Minnesota State (25-13-1, 16-9-1 CCHA), 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday evening in Fargo, N.D. Castor's performance marked the first time in program history a Husky goaltender recorded a shutout in an NCAA Tournament game.

With the win, the Huskies advance to Saturday's NCAA Regional final, its sixth trip to the regional championship game in program history.

Despite being outshot 34-21 in the game and by three or more shots in every period, SCSU scored two goals in each of the second and third periods to provide the offensive it needed to snag the victory. Junior Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) got the scoring started with a power play goal, ripping a wrist shot from near the right dot that got past the Mankato goaltender nearside for a 1-0 lead 12:30 into the period. Just under five minutes later, sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) went bar-down from the left faceoff dot, letting a wrister off his own go from just inside the blue line to make the score 3-0.

In the third period, senior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) was the benefactor of being in the right place at the right time, as his shot attempt on SCSU's third try bounced over the Minnesota State goalie and into the back of the net, putting the Huskies up 3-0 with just under seven minutes to play. Graduate forward Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) added an empty net goal later in the period to close the scoring at 4-0.

TOP HUSKIES

Castor had a season-high 34 saves and recorded the first NCAA Tournament shutout in program history for the Huskies.
Miettinen scored his 12^th goal of the season in the second period and assisted on Okabe's goal to record two points in the game.
Senior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) and Cruikshank were 11-7 and 12-9, respectively in the faceoff dot, helping SCSU win 28-of-54 faceoffs in the game.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State pulls even with Minnesota State in the all-time series, 61-61-13 and improves to 33-19-6 against the Mavericks since transitioning to D-I programs.
Minnesota State entered the game with a near 60 percent mark in the faceoff dot, but SCSU controlled the dot on Thursday, winning 51.9 percent (28-of-54) faceoffs.
Castor's 34-save performance marked the first shutout in NCAA Tournament history for the Huskies and was a season-high mark for saves for the Husky senior.
Castor has now recorded shutouts in back-to-back games after a 3-0, 17-save victory in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship game over Colorado College. It marks SCSU's first time recording back-to-back shutouts since Oct. 20, 2018 vs. Northern Michigan (Jeff Smith, 5-0) and Oct. 25, 2018 vs. Boston College (David Hrenak, 7-0).
Castor is the first Husky goalie to record back-to-back shutouts since Charlie Lindgren shutout Minnesota State 4-0 and 3-0 on Oct. 16-17, 2015.
Miettinen skated to a 1-1-2 for his 21^st career multi-point game while setting a new career-best with 12 goals. He now has 12 goals and 24 assists on the season for 36 points.
Peart scored his third goal of the season and now has five career goals and 24 points on the season.
Okabe netted his 18^th goal of the season and now has 36 points this season while itching closer to the century mark with 95 career points (42 goals / 54 assists).
Cruikshank continued his scoring onslaught in his senior campaign, scoring his 23^rd goal and recording his 14^th assist to move to 37 points on the season and 96 career points (60 goals / 37 assists).

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State moves onto the NCAA Fargo Regional Championship game and will face Minnesota on Saturday, March 25. Puck drop from SCHEELS Arena is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

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.