Five Huskies Score NCHC Quarterfinals Victory over Western Michigan

Friday, March 15

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

16-14-5

Western Michigan

20-14-1

Western Mich.

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Jason Soria

Five Huskies Score NCHC Quarterfinals Victory over Western Michigan

3/16/2024 2:22:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies jump out to 3-0 lead, seal victory with two late power play tallies

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 18 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (16-14-5, 11-9-4 NCHC) earned a decisive 5-2 victory over No. 14/12 Western Michigan (20-14-1, 11-9-4 NCHC) in game one of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Quarterfinals on Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead then scored two power play goals in the final five minutes of the game to seal the win.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 12-8 in the NCHC Quarterfinals and 20-12 in the NCHC Tournament overall.

At the 4:57 mark of the first period, Western Michigan appeared to strike first with a goal from Alex Bump, but the goal who soon be taken off the board, as head coach Brett Larson challenged for a missed hand pass. After review, his challenge was successful and the game went back to 0-0. The Huskies used the clean slate to its advantage by taking the lead six minutes later. Sophomore forward Jack Rogers (East Northport, N.Y.) broke through first when he redirected a slapshot from just inside the blue line from junior defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) to take a 1-0 lead.

SCSU doubled its lead to 2-0 at the 9:33 mark of the second period when freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) found the back of the net for the third consecutive game. The puck found Gross' stick in the corner under the goal line before he brought it all the way to the high slot where he fired a wrist shot that hit a Bronco defender and got past the netminder to make the score 2-0.

The Huskies appeared to be in a little bit of trouble in the third period when fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) was sent to the penalty box for a tripping, but the PK unit then went to work. Gross won a faceoff draw in the defensive zone with the puck finding junior defenseman Jack Peart's (Grand Rapids, Minn.) stick, who then was able to work his way around a defender and start a three-on-two breakaway the other way. Peart and Gross started a tic-tac-toe play on the strong side before Peart fed senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland), who was streak on the weakside and ready to hammer home the shorthanded goal for the 3-0 lead.

Western Michigan then but the pressure back on the Huskies as Bump scored twice in two minutes to close the score to 3-2 with 9:16 left in the game. Play was tight for the next four minutes before the Broncos were called for a hitting from behind major and game misconduct at the 14:21 mark of the period, sending the Huskies on the power play for five minutes. On the man advantage, the Huskies scored twice, with junior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Luedtke finding the back of the net to seal the victory for the Huskies.

TOP HUSKIES

Gross was named the first star after scoring a goal and adding an assist for two points.
Luedtke and Salquist were named the second and third stars, respectively, after having two points with a goal and an assist, each.
Freshman goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) made his first postseason start and earned the victory in net, making 26 saves.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 24-14-5 all-time against Western Michigan and 14-7-2 against the Broncos in St. Cloud.
The Huskies improved to 3-0 against Western Michigan in the NCHC Tournament, 12-8 in the quarterfinals round and 20-12 in the NCHC Tournament overall.
SCSU improved to 14-7-3 when scoring first, 12-3-1 when leading after two periods, 12-9-1 when scoring on the power play and 12-3-1 when its opponent fails to score on the power play.
The Huskies converted 2-of-5 chances on the power play to increase its season success rate to 24.2 percent (29-of-120) on the man advantage.
Gross continued his hot stretch of play, scoring a goal for the third consecutive game and the fourth time in the last five games. Over his last five games, Gross has scored four goals and three assists for seven points.
Gross' six goals move him into a tie with freshman forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) for the freshman lead in goals and move him to 16^th all-time in program history for freshman.
Luedtke matched a career-best mark with two points, a mark he has now reached four times. He recorded his third goal and 12 assist of the season.
Salquist reached two points for the fourth time in his career as he recorded his seventh goal and 11^th assist of the season.
Salquist was also an impressive 17-8 (68.0 percent) in the faceoff dot, marking the most faceoff victories he has had in a game since winning 21 against Miami on Nov. 3, 2023.
Veeti Miettinen scored his second shorthanded goal and 18^th overall goal of the season with his third period score. Miettinen now has 51 career goals and 116 career points, ranking 21^st and 25^th, respectively, in those categories in program history.
Rogers scored his third goal of the season as he found the back of the net for the first time since scoring on Nov. 18, 2023 against Minnesota Duluth.
Peart matched a season-best with two assists in the game, the second time this season and eighth time in his career he has recorded at least two helpers in the game.
Freshman forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) recorded two assists in the game, the third time this season he has recorded at least two assists. He moves his season total to 18 assists and 22 points, the fourth- and 10^th-best marks by freshman in program history, respectively.
Anhorn logged the primary assist on Gross' goal, his 25^th helper of the season. Anhorn's 25 assists match Jimmy Schuldt (2018-19) and Nick Perbix (2021-22) for the ninth-most by a Husky blue liner in a single season.
Ingram recorded his 18^th assist of the season to reach 50 career points, becoming the 113^th Husky in D-I program history to reach that mark.
Posch made 26 saves in the victory, marking the fifth time this season he has made 25 or more saves.

HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Western Michigan will play game two of the NCHC Quarterfinals series tomorrow at the Brooks Center. Puck drop is slated 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 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.