No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Falls to Minnesota Duluth in Regular Season Finale

Saturday, March 9

Duluth, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

15-14-5, 11-9-4

Minnesota Duluth

12-18-5, 8-14-2

St. Cloud St.

Minn. Duluth

No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Falls to Minnesota Duluth in Regular Season Finale

3/9/2024 10:42:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies outshoot Bulldogs 54-27, get goals from Gross and Okabe

DULUTH, Minn. – No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-14-5, 11-9-4 NCHC) dropped its regular season finale to Minnesota Duluth (12-18-5, 8-14-2 NCHC), 4-2, on Saturday night at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. SCSU and UMD was tied at 2-2 heading into the third period but the Bulldogs scored a power play goal and empty net goal in the final period to finish the scoring and secure the sweep.

The Huskies doubled up the Bulldogs in shots on goal, 54-27, including 22-11 in the second period and 19-4 in the third period but failed to put away chances to get a victory in the final game before postseason play begins.

After a scoreless first period, UMD jumped out to a 2-0 lead following goals at the 8:48 and 18:01 marks of the period. However, the Huskies quickly responded quickly, scoring 50 seconds after the Bulldogs and then again 32 seconds later to tie the score at 2-2. First, freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) hammered home a power play goal in the slot after a feed from fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta). Then, the Huskies started a two-on-one breakaway in the next shift leading to senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) finding fifth-year forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) on the weakside for the score.

SCSU dominated play in the final stanza, but the Bulldogs scored a power play goal at the 8:37 mark and an empty net score right before the clock ran out to seal the victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Okabe scored his 10^th goal of the season in the second period.
Gross netted his fifth goal of the season and second power play goal.
Anhorn extended his team-lead in assists to 24.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU falls to 83-65-11 all-time against UMD and 30-35-3 against the Bulldogs in Duluth.
The Huskies recorded 54 shots on goal and had a season-best +27 advantage in shots-on-goal over the Bulldogs.
SCSU scored on the power play for the seventh time in the last nine games and improved to 23.5 percent (27-of-115) on the man advantage this season.
Okabe scored his 10^th goal of the season, marking his third consecutive season with double figure goals.
Okabe's goal was his 52^nd of his career, moving him to a five-way tie at 17^th all-time in SCSU history with Joe Motzko (1999-03), Nic Dowd (2010-14), Robby Jackson (2015-19) and Jami Krannila (2019-23).
Okabe played in his 172^nd career game as a Husky, the third-most all-time in program history, trailing only Brendan Bushy (2018-23, 176) and Easton Brodzinski (2017-22, 176).
Gross scored his fifth goal of the season and third in the last four games with his second period power play goal.
Anhorn logged his 24^th goal of the season, the 11^th-most by a Husky blue liner all-time and the most since Nick Perbix had 25 assists in 2021-22.
Vetti Miettinen logged his 15^th assist of the season and 115^th career assist.
Ingram recorded his 17^th assist of the season and 32^nd career assist.
Junior defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) recorded his ninth assist and 12^th point of the season in the second period.

HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will next host the NCHC Quarterfinals March 15-17 at the Brooks Center with the opponent still to-be-determined.

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.