No. 12/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Closes 2024 with St. Thomas

THE MATCHUP

No. 12/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will close the 2024 calendar year with a Sunday matinee home game against St. Thomas, concluding its home-and-home annual series which opened the 2024-25 season on Oct. 6 when the Huskies came away with a 1-0 win. The single game will be played on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 4:00 p.m., CT at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, with television coverage available on Fox 9 + (NCHC.tv for stream) with Husky Productions' Jim Erickson, Geno Parrish and Olivia Stephes on the call. On the radio, first-year home play-by-play commentator Nick Maxson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will be donning the airwaves for Husky fans.
SCSU is looking to bounce back from a tough road series at North Dakota in its last time out, with the Huskies only able to take away one conference point in a Fighting Hawk sweep on Dec. 13-14 in Grand Forks. St. Thomas has been idle since Dec. 6-7 when it split a road series at Michigan Tech, falling 2-1 on Friday before a 4-1 win on Saturday.

GOING POLLING

SCSU dipped slightly in the top-20 polls once again, sliding back to No. 12 in the USCHO poll and No. 10 in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live top-20 poll. SCSU is still tracking above its position at the beginning of the season where it ranked No. 16 in both polls. St. Thomas began the season in No. 20 in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live top-20 poll but is currently not ranked in either poll.

SERIES HISTORY

SCSU will be looking to gain ground in the all-time series against St. Thomas, as the Tommies currently lead the all-time series between the two programs, 24-21-0 despite St. Cloud State having a convincing 6-1-0 mark since the Tommies moved to Division-I ahead of the 2021-22 season. Prior to the last five games, all matchups between the two schools happened prior to 1980. The Huskies opened the 2024-25 season with a 1-0 win over the Tommies at the St. Thomas Ice Arena on Oct. 6 behind a 34-save shutout from sophomore goaltender Isak Posch and a tip-in goal from redshirt junior forward Ryan Rosborough.
Last season, the Tommies earned its first victory over the Huskies as Division-I opponents when they earned a 5-4 overtime win at the Brooks Center on Oct. 7 to open the season.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

In its last time out, the Huskies were only able to salvage one point in a 2-0 and 4-3 overtime sweep at the hands of North Dakota in Grand Forks on Dec. 13-14. SCSU couldn't solve UND goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter in Friday night's 2-0 setback, failing to connect on 24 shots on goal or four power play chances in the shutout, marking the third time this season the Huskies have been shutout. On Saturday, the Huskies held three leads at 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, but couldn't close the game as the Fighting Hawks scored in the third period and overtime to take the 4-3 win and series sweep. Scoring in the game for the Huskies was junior forward Grant Ahcan (shorthanded), freshman forward Austin Burnevik (power play) and sophomore forward Barrett Hall.

NEXT MAN UP

Head Coach Brett Larson announced on Dec. 7 that starting goaltender sophomore Isak Posch will be out 10-12 weeks with a lower body injury sustained prior to SCSU's series against Omaha (Dec. 6). The three-time NCHC Goaltender of the Week and potential Hobey Baker candidate had started every game in net leading up to that point, posting a 9-4-0 mark with a 1.68 goals-against-average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts. Each mark ranked near the top of the NCAA when the injury occurred.
Stepping in for the Huskies has been fifth-year senior Gavin Enright, who has started the last three games (1-2-0, 2.67 GAA, .918 S%) and redshirt sophomore James Gray (one start, 0-1-0, 3.88 GAA, .862 S%).

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 2-0 loss at North Dakota (12-13-24)
- With the loss, SCSU moves to 49-82-18 all-time against North Dakota and 19-42-9 in Grand Forks.
- SCSU was a perfect 3-of-3 on the penalty kill to improve to 91.3 percent on the season. It marked the 10th time this season the Huskies have been perfect on the kill.
- Fifth-year senior Gavin Enright made a season-high 29 saves, marking the second time this season and 16th time in his career he has made 25 or more saves.
- Senior forward Mason Salquist had a season-high four shots on goal.
- Junior defenseman Mason Reiners matched a season-high in blocks with three.
GAME 2 - 4-3 OT loss at North Dakota (12-14-24)
- With the loss, SCSU moves to 49-83-18 all-time against North Dakota and 19-43-9 in Grand Forks.
- The Huskies converted 1-of-2 chances on the power play to move to 19.1 percent (9-of-47) on the season while turning away 3-of-4 power play chances for UND to move to 90 percent (45-of-50) on the season.
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik scored a goal and assist for two points, his fifth game this season with multiple points while keeping the team lead with 16 points.
- Sophomore forward Barrett Hall also scored a goal and assist for two points, marking this ninth game this season with an assist and fifth multiple point game. He holds the team lead in assists with 12.
- Junior defenseman Grant Ahcan's shorthanded goal was his second this season and third of his career.
- Fifth-year goaltender Gavin Enright made a season-high 34 saves, marking the first time this season and seventh time in his career he has made 30 or more saves.
- Freshman forward Colin Ralph had a season-best three blocks in the game.

PENALTY KILL MACHINE

St. Cloud State has produced an impressive 90.0 percent mark on the penalty kill this season, stopping 45 of 50 power play chances for its opponents this season.
SCSU's PK mark ranks third in the NCHC and fifth in the NCAA, trailing only Boston College (97.6 percent), St. Lawrence (92.0 percent), Colorado College (90.2 percent) and Denver (90.2 percent).
The Huskies five power play goals surrendered are the fourth-lowest in the NCAA, traling only Boston College (one), St. Lawrence (four) and Western Michigan (four).
The Huskies are 6-5-0 on the season when holding its opponent scoreless on the power play.
Junior forward Grant Ahcan has scored both shorthanded goals for the Huskies this season, netting score against Miami on Nov. 8 and at North Dakota on Dec. 14. His multiple shorthanded goals this season gives SCSU four consecutive seasons with at least one player with multiple shorties dating back to the 2021-22 season.

GROSS' BREAK OUT

Sophomore freshman Tyson Gross had a breakout performance against Omaha, scoring four goals and one assist for five points while earning NCHC Forward of the Week honors.
Gross scored two goals in each game to record his first two career two-goal games, while becoming the first Husky to have back-to-back two-goal games since Kale Kossila on Dec. 11-12, 2015 (two goals, three goals).

TRIO OF HUSKIES ABSENT FOR WORLD JUNIORS

St. Cloud State freshmen Austin Burnevik and Colin Ralph, and head coach Brett Larson are all currently away from the team while the compete for gold with Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held Dec. 26, 2024 – Jan. 5, 2025, in Ottawa, Ontario.
Team USA won its first preliminary round game against Germany on Dec. 26, a 10-4 victory where Burnevik (13:22 TOI) and Ralph (10:00 TOI) each saw the ice time. Burnevik scored in each of Team USA's pre-tournament games against Slovakia (Dec. 21) and Finland (Dec. 23).
Through 17 games in his freshman campaign, Burnevik leads the Huskies in scoring with nine goals and 16 points and has twice been named the NCHC Rookie of the Week. His nine goals lead all NCHC freshmen and rank second nationally. Among team leaders, he leads the team in goals (nine), points (16), power play goals (four) and plus/minus (+3) while ranking third in assists (seven).
Ralph have been a stalwart on the blue line for the Huskies this season, recording one goal and three assists for four points with 18 blocks while playing in all 17 games. Ralph scored the game-winning goal in SCSU's 3-2 road win over Bemidji State on Oct. 12, while his time-on-ice per game (20:43) ranks second among all Huskies.

FACEOFF SUCCESS

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 53.5 percent mark (ranked 10th in NCAA) in the dot (541-471), with each of its top-three faceoff specialist's marks above 55 percent.
Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen has been lights out in the faceoff dot this season, producing an impressive 58.2 percent mark in the circle (149-107). 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.
Sophomore forward Tyson Gross is 55.7 percent in the circle this season (151-120) and had a season-best 14 wins (14-6 against Boston College on Nov. 2.
Senior forward Mason Salquist has won 10 or more faceoffs in a team-leading 10 games this season and is currently 56.7 percent (169-129) in the circle. He had a season-best 15 faceoff wins vs. Augustana (Oct. 26) and vs. Omaha (Dec. 7).

UNDERCLASSMEN PRODUCING IMMEDIATELY

St. Cloud State's underclassmen have started the season strong and produced immediately, helping the Huskies jump out a 10-7-0 start and No. 12/10 ranking.
Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 26 of 38 goals scored (68.4 percent) and 66 of 101 points (65.3 percent) this season. SCSU's top-four leading scorers - Austin Burnevik (9-7-16), Barrett Hall (3-12-15), Tyson Gross (6-5-11) and Verner Miettinen (2-8-10) - are first- or second-year players.
Burnevik's nine goals rank second among all freshmen nationally.
Additionally, sophomore goaltender Isak Posch has been in net for 13 games, producing a 9-4-0 mark with a 1.68 GAA, .938 S% and two shutouts. Posch's two shutouts rank fifth in the NCAA this season.

No. 12/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Closes 2024 with St. Thomas

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Ahcan

Austin Burnevik

Gavin Enright

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Colin Ralph

Mason Reiners

Ryan Rosborough

Mason Salquist

Saint Cloud State University Athletics

No. 12/10 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Closes 2024 with St. Thomas

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Ahcan

Austin Burnevik

Gavin Enright

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Colin Ralph

Mason Reiners

Ryan Rosborough

Mason Salquist

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