No. 13 St. Cloud State Routs Union 6-1 on Opening Night

Saturday, September 23

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

1-0-0

Union

0-1-0

Union (NY)

St. Cloud St.

The Huskies celebrate a goal by sophomore forward Avery Farrell (L) during No. 13 St. Cloud State's win over Union on Sept. 23, 2023 at the HBNHC

Photo by: Jason Soria

9/23/2023 10:00:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Box Score

11 Huskies record a point, Chobak earns 20th collegiate win as SCSU handles Garnet Chargers

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 13 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (1-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) saw all four lines contribute alongside tremendous efforts by the defensive corps in a 6-1 win over Union (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) on Opening Night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies outshot Union 36 to 20 and scored on two of their four chances on the power play.

11 Huskies recorded a point with five multi-point scorers including three-point efforts from senior forward Emma Gentry and junior defender Ella Anick. Gentry scored two goals with one assist – logging her seventh career multi-goal game – while Anick shined in her Huskies debut by skating to a career best plus-three with a career-high three assists. Junior defenders Dayle Ross and Grace Wolfe recorded identical one goal, one assist efforts with two blocks each while Gentry's linemate Addi Scribner assisted on two goals.

Senior goaltender Jojo Chobak earned her 20^th collegiate win in the crease, making 19 saves on 20 shots. St. Cloud State's power play was extremely effective, going 2-for-4 with 10 shots on goal to wear down the Union defense. The Huskies dominated the puck for long stretches and had success on the forecheck – limiting the Garnet Chargers to just 12 shots on goal over the final two periods.

Ross opened the scoring on the power play with five minutes to go in the first period, taking a short D-to-D pass from Wolfe just wide of the right circle and skating strong to the dot before launching a heavy wrister through the tender. The Huskies' third line generated the game's second goal with under a minute to go in the frame as Scribner skated down the left circle to the goal line and threaded a pass to Gentry as she sank to the dot. SCSU's senior center blasted a one-timer over the right pad to make it 2-0 Huskies entering the break.

Following an early power play strike by Union to make it a one goal game in the second period, St. Cloud State showed off their improved puck possession with a beautiful reversal on the left wall. Anick slipped past a Union wing jumping out to provide pressure, using a strong deke right to open a lane to her left then dropping a pass off to graduate forward CC Bowlby curling up from the corner. Bowlby used the extra space to find a lane to Wolfe, dishing the puck across to the right circle as the junior defender gathered and fired through a screen to make it 3-1.

The Huskies tacked on three more in the third to seal the game, breaking Union down with a pair of goals in 42 seconds midway through the frame before a late sixth strike with under a minute to go. Gentry pushed the lead to three with a rocket wrister from the right circle on a phenomenal zone entry as the Huskies rushed ahead with a delayed penalty oncoming. Puck movement shined on the power play as graduate forward Katie Kaufman cashed in on a beautiful possession in the offensive zone – she and senior forward Klára Hymlárová stretched out the Union PK with a point-to-point passing sequence, drawing the forwards out of the box. Hymlárová dished left to freshman forward Sofianna Sundelin crashing to the left circle, then the exciting first-year Husky read the defense perfectly and rifled the puck into the slot for Kaufman to wrist it home. Excellent stick-to-stick passing late in the third led to sophomore forward Avery Farrell burying a one-timer from the left slot for St. Cloud State's sixth and final goal of the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski

"The first game of the year is always a little unnerving, not knowing what you're going to get and not knowing how prepared you'll really be with the first official day of practice being this past Monday. Overall, it went well for us. I liked the depth – I thought our four lines played really well and contributed, gave us some good jam up front. I'm happy with that. I think we saw some of the things we'd like to do with the D's being a little more involved this year, a couple of the D getting on the stat sheet. A first good step for us against a gritty, tough Union team."

"It helps from an energy standpoint to have everybody getting a chance and contributing, getting back to the bench, cheer their teammates on and get ready for their next shift. That was good for us. I have a lot of options now with different players and different situations, so sorting through some of that, but definitely a good start to look at some different people. Obviously some things to clean up a little bit, but that's the way the beginning of the year goes."

FULL POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

NOTABLES

Emma Gentry recorded her seventh career multi-goal game with two goals and one assist, providing three points while skating to a plus-two with a game-high six shots on goal
Ella Anick set new career marks with three assists and a plus-three rating, adding two blocks and one shot on goal
Dayle Ross scored a goal with one assist and added two blocks
Grace Wolfe recorded two points on a goal and an assist while providing two blocks
Jojo Chobak earned her 20^th collegiate win and 10^th with SCSU on the strength of 19 saves
Addi Scribner tallied two assists and skated to a plus-two
Katie Kaufman scored a goal and put two shots on while making her Huskies debut
Laura Zimmermann put five shots on goal while making her collegiate debut
Avery Farrell scored a goal in her SCSU debut
CC Bowlby, Taylor Larson and Sofianna Sundelin each posted an assist while making their debuts in a Huskies sweater
Klára Hymlárová tallied an assist while putting two shots on goal
The Huskies outshot Union 36 to 20
SCSU's power play went 2-for-4 and put 10 shots on goal
St. Cloud State has won four straight season openers dating back to 2020-21 and is 2-0-0 on Opening Night under Brian Idalski, who is now four wins shy of reaching his 300^th career collegiate victory
The Huskies' six goals are their most scored on Opening Night since the club scored the same amount against Merrimack on October 2, 2015

UP NEXT
The Huskies close their series with Union on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Live coverage is available on B1G+ ($) and 97.5 FM RadioX with live stats provided by SCSU. Links to each coverage option can be found on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.

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.