No. 8 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Travels to New York for a Nonconference Series Against Union

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 8 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (9-5-2, 5-5-2 WCHA) makes its second out-of-state road trip of the season and first since Sept. 21-22 against Union (N.Y.) (7-9-0, 4-3-0 ECACH) in a series on Friday and Saturday at the Messa Rink at Achilles Center in Schenectady, New York. Puck drop on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT while Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. CT.

Series Notes

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ (note – a paid subscription is required). Live stats will be provided by Union. Links to each coverage option are available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.

Game 17 @ Union (Messa Rink at Achilles Center - Schenectady, N.Y.) – Friday, Nov. 29 / 5 p.m. CT / Livestream ($) / Live Stats

Game 18 @ Union (Messa Rink at Achilles Center - Schenectady, N.Y.) – Saturday, Nov. 30 / 1 p.m. CT / Livestream ($) / Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
SCSU is 3-0-0 all-time against Union. The Huskies opened the 2023-24 season at home against the Garnet Chargers, and swept the series 6-1, 4-0. This will be the first St. Cloud State has played in Schenectady.

LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies are ranked No. 8 in the USCHO Poll and the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll. St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA programs featured in the rankings with one additional club receiving votes. Union enters the series unranked.

LAST TIME OUT
The No. 10/9 Huskies split their home-and-home series against No. 3 Minnesota last weekend. The Gophers took Friday's game 5-2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis but SCSU bounced back with a 3-1 win on Saturday at the Brooks center in St Cloud.

It was the fifth time the Huskies had ever beat Minnesota and the first time on home ice since Feb. 13, 2010, which is also the last time SCSU split a series with the Gophers.

SCSU's penalty kill solid yet again, only allowing one goal in six opportunities over the series, while the powerplay was able to convert 2-of-6 chances after being held scoreless in the previous two series. The Huskies struggled on the dot, winning just 38.5% of the faceoffs.

Junior forward Avery Farrell (Rogers, Minn.) and fifth year forward Brieja Parent (Forest Lake, Minn.) led the Huskies with three points apeice. The duo each scored a goal and added two assists. Fifth year forwards Abby Promersberger (Fargo, N.D.) and Ally Qualley (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) each tallied two points. Promersberger scored two goals, and Qualley recorded a goal and an assist.

Fifth year goaltender Sanni Ahola (Helsinki, Finland) came up huge for SCSU in the series finale, making 38 saves and only allowing one goal for a .974 save percentage. She opened the game extremely strong, making 23 of her 38 saves in the first period while notching her team-leading fifth win of the season.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
Friday, Nov. 29
No. 8 St. Cloud State at Union - 5 PM CT
No. 1 Wisconsin at Maine - 5 PM CT
(RV) Minnesota State at Dartmouth - 5 PM CT
St. Thomas at No. 6 Clarkson - 6 PM CT
Vermont at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth - 6 PM CT

Saturday, Nov. 30
No. 8 St. Cloud State at Union - 1 PM CT
(RV) Minnesota State at Dartmouth - 2 PM CT
No. 1 Wisconsin at Maine - 3 PM CT
Vermont at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth - 3 PM CT
St. Thomas vs Merrimack/No. 12 Penn State - TBA

Monday, Dec. 2
No. 2 Ohio State at Mercyhurst - 5 PM CT

GENTS TO REPRESENT THE STARS AND STRIPES AGAIN
Fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) has been named to the U.S. Collegiate Women's Select Team that will compete at the 2024 Six Nations Tournament, as announced by the organization on Nov. 21. Gentry and Team USA will travel to Tampere, Finland, from Dec. 11-15 for the tournament.

Gentry's upcoming national team appearance will mark the fourth time she has played for Team USA. She has donned the stars and stripes in each of the last two Collegiate Series (2023 and 2024) as well as the 2020 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Junior World Championships, when she helped the U.S. win gold, scoring a goal against Russia in the Semifinals while skating in all five games.

In the 2024 Collegiate Select Series in August at the Canada Games Park in St. Catharines, Ontario, she helped lead the U.S. Collegiate Select Team to a 2-1 record in the three-game series against Canada.

HCA NATIONAL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) was named the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) National Rookie of the Month, as announced by the organization on Nov. 1, following her impressive stretch in the net during the month of October.

As of Nov. 1, Kyrkkö ranked No. 3 in goals-against-average (0.97), No. 3 in save percentage (.962), No. 4 in shutouts (two) and No. 6 in goalie winning percentage (.800) among all Division I goaltenders.

WCHA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) was named Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Month, by the league office on Oct. 30, following her impressive stretch between the pipes during the month of October.

Throughout October, she earned her first three WCHA weekly honors of the season and of her career. She was named Goaltender of the Week on Oct. 7 and Oct. 28 and was tabbed as the league's Rookie of the Week on Oct. 21.

The freshman netminder led the WCHA in goals against average (0.97) and save percentage (.962) during the month while posting an impressive undefeated record of 3-0-2. She began her career with two consecutive shutouts and only two of the five goals she conceded in the month were full strength goals.

Kyrkkö also ranked No. 2 in shutouts (2), No. 2 in shutouts/game (0.4), No. 3 in total saves (126), tied for No. 3 in goaltender wins (3) and No. 5 in saves/game (25.2) among all conference goaltenders during the month.

The Nokia, Finland native tallied a career high 45 saves in SCSU's tie/shootout win over No. 2 Ohio State. Her 45 saves were the most in a single game by a conference goaltender during the month.

WCHA WEEKLY HONORS
Freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) was named Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Goaltender of the Week, by the league office on Oct. 28, following her standout performance in the net during the series against (RV) St. Thomas. It was her third weekly award of the season and of her career (Goaltender of the Week – Oct. 7; Oct. 28 | Rookie of the Week – Oct. 21).

The Nokia, Finland native did not allow an even-strength goal and made 14 saves in Saturday's 3-1 home win over (RV) St. Thomas. The Tommies scored a powerplay goal with just eight seconds left in regulation to take away her third shutout performance of the season. In Friday's 1-1 tie/shootout loss at UST she made 28 saves and allowed just one goal in regulation (.966 save %) while saving three of the penalty shots she faced in the shootout.

Kyrkkö led the WCHA in goals against average (0.96) and was third in save percentage (.955), third in saves (42) and fifth in saves/game (21.0). Kyrkkö remains undefeated through her first five collegiate games (3-0-2) and owns impressive marks for goals against average (0.97), save percentage (.962) and shutout (2).

St. Cloud State has won each of the WCHA weekly awards at least once this season. Kyrkkö has been named the Goaltender of the Week twice (Oct. 7 & Oct. 28) and the Rookie of the Week once (Oct. 21), and senior defender Ella Anick (Hermantown, Minn.) and fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) were named the conference Defender and Forward of the Week respectively on Sept. 23 after SCSU's season-opening sweep of Lindenwood.

It was the second time Anick had been named WCHA Defender of the Week in her career, both coming while playing for SCSU. It was Gentry's third career time being named the WCHA Forward of the Week.

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.

No. 8 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Travels to New York for a Nonconference Series Against Union

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Players Mentioned

Sanni Ahola

Ella Anick

Avery Farrell

Emma Gentry

Brieja Parent

Abby Promersberger

Ally Qualley

Saint Cloud State University Athletics