No. 11/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Travels to No. 7/8 Colorado College for Key NCHC Series

Friday, November 22

Ed Robson Arena | Colorado Springs, Colo.

8:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Colorado College

Photo by: Jason Soria

No. 11/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Travels to No. 7/8 Colorado College for Key NCHC Series

11/21/2024 1:25:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies and Tigers to play Friday and Saturday in Colorado Springs

THE MATCHUP

No. 11/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will hit the road for the first time during the NCHC season this weekend when the Huskies travel to Colorado Springs for a top-15 series against No. 7/8 Colorado College on Nov. 22-23 at Ed Robson Arena. Friday's game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. CT (7:00 p.m. MT) while Saturday's contest is slated to start at 7:00 p.m. CT (6:00 p.m. MT) with both games to be streamed on NCHC.tv. On the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). The Huskies are coming off their first bye weekend of the season and enter the weekend at 2-0-0 in NCHC play and 8-3-0 overall. SCSU is one of just four NCHC schools to enter the weekend with a winning record, joining No. 1 Denver (12-0-0), No. 7/8 Colorado College (8-1-1) and No. 9 Western Michigan (6-1-1).

GOING POLLING

After beginning the season at No. 16, St. Cloud State moves back up a few spots after a series sweep over Miami and a bye week. The Huskies are currently ranked No. 11 in the USCHO poll and No. 10 the USA Today / The Rink Live Top-20 polls.

SERIES HISTORY

Old WCHA foes, St. Cloud State and Colorado College will meet for the 128^th and 129^th times this weekend at Ed Robson Arena. The Huskies lead the all-time series between the two programs with a mark of 66-52-9 and have dominated the series over the last decade-plus, posting a 33-7-3 mark against the Tigers since the 2012-13 season.
Last season, the two teams only met for one series, splitting a two-game set in Colorado Springs with the Huskies winning 2-1 in overtime on Feb. 2 before the Tigers responded with a 5-3 win on Feb. 3. Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen provided the game-winner in the Friday night contest, scoring with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock to vault the Huskies to its 38th win in Colorado Springs. Since Ed Robson Arena opened in the 2021-22 season, SCSU is 5-1-0 in the building.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

The Huskies are coming off a sweep of Miami in its NCHC-opening series on Nov. 8-9, winning 3-2 in overtime on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday. Sophomore forward Grant Ahcan provided the hero's work on Friday, scoring twice to lift the Huskies to victory and record the first multi-goal game of his career. First, Ahcan netted a shorthanded goal in the first period to get the scoring started. Then, he struck again in overtime, scoring with 17 seconds left in the extra period to secure the extra point in league play. On Saturday, freshman forward Austin Burnevik continued his impressive start to his collegiate career, recording his second two-goal game of the season with his fifth and sixth goals. Senior forward Mason Salquist had the game-winning goal, while sophomore forward Barrett Hall had the primary assist on both of Burnevik's scores.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

Freshman forward Austin Burnevik is off to a scorching hot start to his collegiate season, recording a team-best six goals and five assists for a team-high 11 points through just 11 games. The Ham Lake native has scored two goals twice already this season, and has twice been named the NCHC Rookie of the Week. Among NCAA freshmen, Burnevik's six goals rank third while his 11 points rank fifth. His six goals through 11 games are the most by a SCSU freshman since 2020-21 NCHC Freshman of the Year Veeti Miettinen had seven.

LED BY POSCH

Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch has quickly taken over the starting spot and made a name for himself this season, earning two NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors and the October NCHC Goaltender of the Month nod. Posch has started all 11 games this season, posting a 8-3-0 mark with a 1.73 goals-against-average, .935 save percentage and two shutouts. His shutouts rank third in the NCAA, while his GAA and S% are both top-15. In CollegeHockeyNews' Hobey Baker tracking system College Hockey Individual Point (CHIP) Rating, Posch currently ranks fifth.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 3-2 OT win vs. Miami (11-8-24)
- The Huskies continued their success in the faceoff dot, going 38-21 (64.4 percent) in the circle in the game. Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen was 12-3 in the circle, while sophomore forward Tyson Gross was 12-5 and senior forward Mason Salquist was 11-5.
- SCSU killed off all three penalties it faced, marking the seventh time in 10 games (nine games with penalties) the Huskies have been perfect on the PK.
- Sophomore forward Grant Ahcan's first period goal was the Huskies first shorthanded goal of the season.
- Ahcan had his first career two-goal game with his second and third tallies of the season. It also marked his first career shorthanded goal since his first career goal against Wisconsin on Oct. 14, 2022.
- The game-winner was Ahcan's second career game-winning goal.
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik notched his fourth goal of the season in the second period, keeping the team lead for goals.
- Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch recorded 23 saves in the game, marking the ninth time in 10 games he has recorded 20 or more saves.
- Sophomore forward Barrett Hall recorded his seventh assist of the season with the secondary helper on Burnevik's goal. Through 10 games, he sits just one assist away from equaling his freshman season campaign.
- Senior defenseman Josh Luedtke had a season-high three blocks in the game.
GAME 2 - 3-1 win vs. Miami (11-9-24)
- With the win, SCSU improves to 36-19-6 all-time against Miami and 23-5-3 against the RedHawks in St. Cloud.
- SCSU improved to 7-1-0 on the season when scoring first.
- SCSU outshot its opponent for just the third time this season, recording a season-high in shots on goal with 36 and recording its best margin at +19 (36-17). The 17 shots on goal SCSU held Miami to was a season-low for an opponent this season.
- The Huskies won the battle in the faceoff dot once again, winning 30-of-55 faceoffs. Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen led the way at 8-4, while senior forward Mason Salquist was at 50 percent on the at 8-8.
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik kept his impressive start to the season going, scoring two goals for the second time this season and moving his season total to six. Among NCAA freshmen, Burnevik's six tallies rank second, only trailing Union's Ben Muthersbaugh at eight.
- Sophomore forward Barrett Hall's two assists moved his season total to nine, surpassing his freshman season mark of eight. It marked his fourth game this season and sixth game of his career with multi-points in a game.
- Hall's nine helpers currently rank fifth in the NCHC and 10th in the NCAA this season.
- Salquist scored his first goal of the season and third career game-winning goal. In his 122nd career game, the game-winning goal was his first since a game-winning score on Oct. 15, 2021 at Minnesota, his third career game.
- Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch made 16 saves and improved to 8-3-0 on the season while lowering his GAA to 1.73.

FACEOFF KINGS

St. Cloud State's centers have faired well in the faceoff dot early on in the season, helping the Huskies gain possession of the puck and control play. As a team, SCSU has produced a 56.5 percent mark (ranked third in NCAA) in the dot (369-284), with each of its top-three faceoff specialist's marks above 56 percent.
Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen has been lights out in the faceoff dot through seven games this season, producing an incredible 64.9 percent mark in the circle (109-59), with his 81 wins ranking 30th nationally. Miettinen set a career-best with 20 wins in the circle against Bemidji State (20-6, Oct. 12), shattering his previous career high mark of 12 set twice, last on March 8, 2024, against Minnesota Duluth.
Senior forward Mason Salquist has won 10 or more faceoffs in a team-leading six games this season and is currently 56.6 percent (107-82) in the circle. He had a season-best 15 faceoff wins against Augustana on Oct. 26.
Sophomore forward Tyson Gross is 58.7 percent in the circle this season (98-69) and had a season-best 14 wins (14-6 against Boston College on Nov. 2.

PENALTY KILLERS

St. Cloud State has produced an impressive 93.8 percent mark on the penalty kill this season, stopping 30 of 33 power play chances for its opponents this season.
SCSU's mark ranks fourth in the NCHC and ninth in the NCAA. Bemidji State (Oct. 12), Boston College (Nov. 1) and Miami (Nov. 8) are the only teams to score on the man advantage this season against the Huskies.
The Huskies are 5-2-0 on the season when holding its opponent scoreless on the power play.

MORE ON POSCH

Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch has quickly established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the NCHC and earned the top mark of Goaltender of the Month in October. Posch has started all 11 games for the Huskies, producing a mark of 8-3-0 with a 1.73 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. Both marks rank in the top-15 in the NCAA this season, while he is one of 10 goaltenders in the nation to produce two or more shutouts.
Posch is the fourth Husky to earn the sixth NCHC Goaltender of the Month honor, following Charlie Lindgren (Oct. 2015), David Hrenak (Feb. 2019, Feb. 2020, Oct. 2021) and Dominic Basse (Oct. 2022).
In seven games in October, Posch earned a mark of 6-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against-average, .946 S% and two shutouts. The Husky sophomore leads the conference save percentage (.946) and total saves (193) and shutouts (two), equaling the mark of all other NCHC netminders combined. He is one of only four goaltenders in the nation to have two shutouts this season, while ranking in the top-10 nationally in saves (third, 193), save percentage (fifth, .946) and goals-against-average (1.58). He has also anchored the Huskies' NCHC-leading penalty kill unit, turning away 17 of 18 power play chances for their opponents.
Posch has made 23 or more saves in nine of 11 games this season, including a season-best 34 saves in a 1-0 shutout of St. Thomas (Oct. 6) to open the season. He earned his second shutout of the season in a 24-save, 4-0 win over No. 10/9 Michigan (Oct. 19), earning NCHC weekly honors after both performances. He has recorded 29 or more saves three times this season and allowed two or fewer goals in eight of 11 games.
The sophomore netminder was also named to the 2023-24 NCHC All-Rookie Team after producing a mark of 5-6-2 with a 2.93 GAA and .901 S% with one shutout.

WINNING THE TIGHT ONES

SCSU is 6-1 on the season in one-goal games, already drastically improving on its mark of 6-6 in one-goal games from a season ago. The Huskies scored the first goal in five of the six one-goal wins and earned its first come-from-behind win of the season against Augustana on Oct. 25, coming back from a 2-1 deficit in the second period to earn a 4-3 win.