No. 15/14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 13 Arizona State Meet for First Time as Conference Oppoents

Friday, January 17

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Arizona State

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No. 15/14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 13 Arizona State Meet for First Time as Conference Oppoents

1/16/2025 3:52:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies and Sun Devils to face off Friday and Saturday at HBNHC

THE MATCHUP

No. 13 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey returns home for its first home conference series in over a month when the Huskies host Arizona State for just the fourth and fifth times ever and the first time as conference opponents. The series at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center begins on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. CT puck drop and will conclude on Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. CT puck drop. Television coverage will be 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 will be looking to bounce back from a tough series to open the calendar year after being swept by Minnesota Duluth in its last time out. Arizona State comes to St. Cloud for the second time and after just getting its eight-game win streak snapped in a series split with North Dakota in Tempe (4-1 ASU win / 4-3 OT UND win) on Jan. 10-11.

NATIONAL POLLS / POST-SEASON OUTLOOK

In an up-and-down season, SCSU dropped five spots in the USCHO poll to No. 15 and four spots in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live top-20 poll to No. 14. The Sun Devils enter the series ranked No. 13 in both polls and are 8-1 in their last nine games. In the PairWise Rankings, SCSU currently checks in at No. 17 while ASU is ranked at No. 14.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be just the fourth and fifth matchups ever between the two programs and the first as conference opponents with Arizona State joining the NCHC ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Previously, SCSU hosted the Sun Devils in their inaugural season as a NCAA Division-I program in 2015-16. The Huskies swept ASU in that series played at the Brooks Center, winning 6-1 and 7-0 on Jan. 1-2, 2016. The next season, SCSU then traveled to the first-ever Desert Hockey Classic in Arizona and played the Sun Devils on the second night of the tournament, winning 4-2 behind a hat trick and two shorthanded goals from Robby Jackson.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

In its last time out, the Huskies dropped a two-game set in Duluth to Minnesota Duluth, extending its losing streak at AMSOIL Arena to six consecutive games. In a Friday goaltender's duel, UMD's Klayton Knapp narrowly edged SCSU fifth-year goaltender Gavin Enright in a 2-0 Bulldog win that included an empty netter from UMD. Knapp made 28 saves in his first career shutout while Enright made 32 saves to lead SCSU's defensive effort. On Saturday, SCSU cut UMD's 3-0 lead down to 3-2 behind goals from sophomore forwards Daimon Gardner and Tyson Gross, but the Bulldogs responded with a power play goal and third period goal to cap the scoring at 5-2.

PENALTY KILL MACHINE

St. Cloud State has produced an impressive 90.2 percent mark on the penalty kill this season, stopping 55 of 61 power play chances for its opponents this season. SCSU's PK mark is currently tracking as a season program record, leading its 87.3 percent mark in 2007-08, ranks second in the NCHC and fifth in the NCAA, trailing only Boston College (92.0 percent), Western Michigan (91.5 percent), AIC (91.3 percent) and Holy Cross (90.8 percent). The Huskies six power play goals surrendered are the third-lowest in the NCAA, trailing only Boston College (four) and Western Michigan (four).
The Huskies are 7-5-0 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 goals 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.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 2-0 loss at Minnesota Duluth (1-10-25)
- SCSU went 2-of-2 on the penalty kill in the game to move to 90.9 percent (50-of-55) on the PK this season.
- Fifth-year goaltender Gavin Enright made 32 saves in the game, marking the second time this season and eighth time in his career he has made 30+ saves in a game.
- Senior forward Mason Salquist went 10-6 in the faceoff dot, marking the sixth consecutive game and team-leading 12th time this season he has won 10 faceoffs.
- Sophomore forward Tyson Gross' 9-4 mark in the dot helped him improve to 58.3 percent (179-128) in the faceoff dot this season.
GAME 2 - 5-2 loss at Minnesota Duluth (1-11-25)
- With the loss, SCSU moves to 83-67-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 30-37-3 in Duluth.
- The Huskies move to 2-7-0 when its opponent scores first and 0-4-0 when trailing after two periods.
- SCSU won 62.3 percent of faceoffs, going 38-23.
- The Huskies were 5-of-6 on the penalty kill to moving to 90.2 percent (55-of-61), a mark still tracking to surpass the single season program record of 87.3 percent (124-of-142) in 2007-08.
- Sophomore forward Tyson Gross netted his third power play and seventh goal of the season overall, while adding an assist for two points. His seven goals this season in 20 match his mark from his freshman campaign when he netted seven in 34 games.
- The Husky sophomore has scored two or more points in four games this season and has now scored points in five of his last seven games, a stretch where he has produced five goals and four assists for nine points.
- Gross' 11-7 mark in the dot helped him improve to 58.5 percent (190-135) in the faceoff dot this season.
- Sophomore forward Daimon Gardner found the back of the net for the third time this season with his second period tally. He has now recorded six points this season, matching his production from his freshman campaign at Clarkson (1g/5a).
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik had the primary assist on Gross' goal to record the eighth assist of his season and move into the team lead in points at 17 (9g/8a).
- Senior forward Mason Salquist went 10-7 in the faceoff dot, marking the seventh consecutive game and team-leading 13th time this season he has won 10 faceoffs.

NCHC'S TOP NETMINDER IN DECEMBER

Fifth-year senior goaltender Gavin Enright was named NCHC Goaltender of the Month for December, going 2-2-0 in four consecutive starts with a 2.25 goals-against average and .929 save percentage while leading the NCHC in December in saves with 118.
In December, Enright earned wins over Omaha (5-2, 27 saves, 2 GA) on Dec. 7 and St. Thomas (2-1, 28 saves, 1 GA) on Dec. 29. He allowed two or fewer goals in three of the four starts and made 25 or more saves in each contest, including a season-best 34 against North Dakota on Dec. 14. The fifth-year senior helped SCSU go 91.7 percent (11-of-12) on the penalty kill while between the pipes, helping contribute to SCSU's fourth-ranked penalty kill in the NCAA (90.7 percent, 48-of-53).
Enright is the sixth Husky to earn the eighth NCHC Goaltender of the Month honor, following Charlie Lindgren (Oct. 2015), David Hrenak (Feb. 2019, Feb. 2020, Oct. 2021), Dominic Basse (Oct. 2022), Jaxon Castor (March 2023) and Posch (Oct. 2024). This second time in NCHC history two netminders from the same team won a Goaltender of the Month honor in the same season, with the other occurrence also being two Huskies (Basse and Castor in 2022-23).

HUSKY TRIO CAPTURES GOLD AT WORLD JUNIORS

St. Cloud State freshmen Austin Burnevik and Colin Ralph, and head coach Brett Larson all helped Team USA capture gold at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario. Burnevik and Ralph are the third and fourth Husky skaters to capture gold for the Americans and eighth and ninth to capture medals at World Juniors overall. Larson earned his second World Junior gold medal, and he is the first SCSU coach to capture gold at the event.
The past Husky gold medalists include Mike Lee (2010) and Jack Ahcan (2017), while other medalists include Mark Parrish (Silver, 1997), Will Borgen (Bronze, 2016), Ryan Poehling (Bronze, 2018; Silver, 2019) and Jack Peart (Bronze, 2023).
Through 18 games in his freshman campaign, Burnevik leads the Huskies in scoring with nine goals and 17 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 (17) and power play goals (four) while ranking second in assists (eight).
Ralph have been a stalwart on the blue line for the Huskies this season, recording one goal and three assists for four points with 20 blocks while playing in 18 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 (20:41) ranks third among all Huskies.

UNDERCLASSMEN PRODUCING IMMEDIATELY

St. Cloud State's underclassmen have started the season strong and produced immediately, helping the Huskies jump out a 11-9-0 start and No. 15/14 ranking.
Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 29 of 42 goals scored (69.0 percent) and 74 of 113 points (65.4 percent) this season. SCSU's top-four leading scorers - Austin Burnevik (9-8-17), Barrett Hall (4-12-16), Tyson Gross (7-7-14) and Verner Miettinen (2-8-10) - are first- or second-year players.
Burnevik's nine goals rank third 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 was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, annually given to the nation's top netminder.

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 54.5 percent mark (ranked sixth in NCAA) in the dot (649-541), with each of its top-three faceoff specialist's marks above 57 percent.
Sophomore forward Tyson Gross leads the way for the Huskies with a 58.5 percent mark in the circle this season (190-135). Gross has won 10 or more faceoffs in nine games this season, including a season-best 19 wins (19-4) against St. Thomas on Dec. 29.
Senior forward Mason Salquist has won 10 or more faceoffs in a team-leading 13 games this season and has 10+ wins in seven consecutive games. He is currently 57.7 percent (203-149) in the circle and a season-best 15 faceoff wins vs. Augustana (Oct. 26) and vs. Omaha (Dec. 7).
Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen has produced a 57.7 percent mark in the circle (168-123). 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.