Ahcan Scores Twice to Lift No. 12/14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey to OT Win over Miami

Friday, November 8

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

7-3-0, 1-0-0

Miami

3-6-2, 0-1-0

OT 1

Miami (OH)

St. Cloud St.

Ahcan Scores Twice to Lift No. 12/14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey to OT Win over Miami

11/9/2024 1:40:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Ahcan records first career multi-goal game, SCSU wins NCHC opener

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A pair of goals from junior forward Grant Ahcan (Savage, Minn.) helped No. 12/14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (7-3-0, 1-0-0 NCHC) earn a 3-2 victory in overtime over Miami (3-6-2, 0-1-0 NCHC) on Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Ahcan scored the game's first goal with a shorthanded score in the first period and then scored the game-winner with 17 seconds in overtime to seal the victory.

SCSU had the first power play chance of the night at the 7:57 mark of the first period, but that man advantage was taken away quick as the Huskies were called for a penalty just 24 seconds into the power play. After the four-on-four situation, SCSU went on the penalty kill where Ahcan and senior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) caused a turnover on a zone entry from Miami, creating a breakaway the other way for Ahcan. The Husky junior charged the net, held off the RedHawk defender and pushed the puck through the five-hole with one hand on his stick at the 10:19 mark of the first period.

The Huskies extended their lead early in the second period after freshman forward Austin Burnevik (Ham Lake, Minn.) flung the puck to the net just above the goal line and past the RedHawk goalie for a goal and 2-0 lead at 1:35 of the period. The lead quickly diminished, however, as the RedHawks scored at the 7:09 and 14:57 marks of the second period to knot the score at 2-2. The game then went to overtime after a scoreless third period.

In the overtime period, both teams had long stretches of puck control with Miami leading shots on goal 4-3 in the extra frame. Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) made all four saves in the overtime session, setting the scene for Ahcan to steal the show and win. Ahcan circled around the o-zone with the puck, staring behind the goal line and then above the right dot and finally to the top of the left dot, where he fired a wrister past the RedHawk goalie for the game-winner.

TOP HUSKIES

Ahcan recorded his first career two-goal game and earned the first star of the game.
Burnevik kept the team-lead in goals with his fourth score of the season.
Posch made 23 saves in the contest, including nine in the third period and four in overtime.

NOTES

With the win, SCSU improves to 35-19-6 all-time against Miami and 22-5-3 against the RedHawks in St. Cloud.
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 (Espoo, Finland) was 12-3 in the circle, while sophomore forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) was 12-5 and Salquist was 11-5. On the season, SCSU is now 56.7 percent (339-259) on the season.
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.
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.
Burnevik notched his fourth goal of the season in the second period, keeping the team lead for goals.
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 (Apple Valley, Minn.) 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.
Salquist, senior defenseman Karl Falk (Vasteras, Sweden) and junior forward Josh Zinger (Red Deer, Alberta) added assists in the game.
Senior defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) had a season-high three blocks in the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Miami will finish its series on Saturday at the Brooks Center, with puck drop scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv.

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 2024-25 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.