Comeback Comes Up Short for No. 13 St. Cloud State in Series Opener Against No. 6 North Dakota

Friday, January 19

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

11-7-3, 7-2-2

North Dakota

16-6-1, 7-4-0

North Dakota

St. Cloud St.

Comeback Comes Up Short for No. 13 St. Cloud State in Series Opener Against No. 6 North Dakota

1/20/2024 1:35:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Miettinen becomes 39th member of St. Cloud State’s 100-point club

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 13/12 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (11-7-3, 7-2-2 NCHC) dropped the first game of its series against No. 6/7 North Dakota, 5-3, on Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. After falling behind by two goals in the first period, the Huskies clawed back within a goal three times but failed to score the equalizing goal to complete the comeback.

Senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) became the 39^th member of SCSU's 100-point club with his third period score that pulled the game to 4-3 with under four minutes to play.

North Dakota netted the game's first two goals in the opening frame, scoring at the 6:59 mark and with just six seconds left before intermission. Jackson Blake scored the first of two goals in the game to open the scoring, as he received the puck while streaking down the left side of the ice towards the net in a 2-on-1 breakaway and shot top corner for the score. Garrett Pyke then pushed the lead to 2-0 right before the buzzer sounded for the first intermission, scoring from right below the blue line after a faceoff win.

Junior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) broke through for the Huskies to open the second frame as he lit the lamp just 24 seconds into the period. Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) started the rush, and after getting the puck poke-checked away from him, he re-gathered and flung a no-look pass right to Salquist's stick, who had an open net on the weak side to shoot at and make the score 2-1. North Dakota then responded with a power play goal from Blake, his second score of the game, to move the deficit back to two at the 13:58 mark of the second period.

In the third period, fifth-year forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) cleaned up a rebound from a shot from junior forward Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) to make the score 3-2, but the Fighting Hawks would answer right back with another power play goal to once again push their lead to two goals. SCSU would not go away, however, as Miettinen scored a power play goal on a wicked wrist shot from above the right dot to make the score 4-3 with 3:30 left in the game. The Huskies would then pull its goalie soon after, leading to an empty net goal from North Dakota with 1:32 left to seal the game.

TOP HUSKIES

Anhorn recorded a pair of assists for the second straight game.
Miettinen scored a power play goal and increased his team-leading mark of 12 goals this season.
Okabe scored his fourth goal of the season and his third in four games.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU is now 49-81-17 all-time against North Dakota and 26-31-0 against the Fighting Hawks in St. Cloud.
St. Cloud State outshot North Dakota 37-21 in the game.
Veeti Miettinen became the 39^th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club with a third period goal. He now has 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points.
Anhorn recorded another two points with two assists and now leads the team with 20 points on the season. It marks the third consecutive season Anhorn has produced 20+ points after 20 points (7g/13a) in his 2021-22 season at Union and 25 points (5g/20a) last season with the Huskies.
Anhorn's two assists marks the fourth time this season and 14^th time in his career he has produced two or more assists.
Okabe found the back of the net for the third time in the last four games and for the fourth time overall this season. He now ranks 30^th on SCSU's all-time scoring list with 107 points (46g/61a), tied with Kelly Hultgren (1991-95) and Jami Krannila (2019-23).
Salquist scored his second goal of the season and eighth goal of his career in the second period.
Kupka, Luedtke and sophomore forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba) each recorded single assists in the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and North Dakota will finish its series on Saturday, with puck drop slated for 6:00 p.m. CT at the Brooks Center. The game will be broadcast on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv with radio coverage on KNSI.

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 2023-24 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.