Comeback Comes Up Short in No. 15/14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey’s 5-3 Loss to No. 13 Arizona State

Saturday, January 18

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

11-11-0, 4-8-0

Arizona State

13-8-1, 8-4-0

Arizona St.

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Jason Soria

Comeback Comes Up Short in No. 15/14 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey’s 5-3 Loss to No. 13 Arizona State

1/19/2025 1:03:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies cut three-goal deficit to one but can’t score equalizer

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A 1-1 game heading into the third period turned into a wild final 20 minutes with No. 15/14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (11-11-0, 4-8-0 NCHC) falling to No. 13 Arizona State (12-8-1, 8-4-0 NCHC), 5-3, on Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The Sun Devils scored four power play goals in the game, including three on a major penalty in the third period to break open the game and take a 4-1 lead. SCSU scored two goals to cut the deficit to one goal, but an empty netter with under a minute to go seal the victory and sweep for ASU.

Despite outshooting Arizona State 12-4 in the first period, the Huskies found themselves down a goal after 20 minutes of play after a Lukas Sillinger power play goal. SCSU then responded in the second period when sophomore forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) hammered home a pass from freshman forward Austin Burnevik (Ham Lake, Minn.) to tie the score at 1-1.

After a defensive battle in the first 40 minutes, the flood gates opened in a six-goal third period. The momentum shifted towards ASU when Gross was called for a five-minute major at the 1:52 mark of the period. The Sun Devils capitalized on the major penalty, scoring three power play goals to snag a 4-1 lead, leaving SCSU in a huge hole. The Huskies showed fight by not giving up, however, and scored two back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to one goal with 3:03 left in the game. First, freshman forward Gavyn Thoreson's (Andover, Minn.) centering pass deflecting off a defender and found the back of the net. Next, with an extra attacker on the ice, sophomore forward Daimon Gardner (Eagle Lake, Ontario) threaded the needle near side on a shot from just above the goal line to make the score 4-3. SCSU had chances to tie the game in the final minutes, including a wide-open net for Thoreson that was turned away with an amazing stick save from goalie Gibson Homer, but ASU finished the scoring with a empty net score with 46 seconds left.

TOP HUSKIES

Junior forward Grant Ahcan (Savage, Minn.) recorded two assists to lead the offense.
Thoreson scored his second goal of the weekend in the third period.
Gross netted his eighth goal of the season in the second period.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU moves to 3-2-0 all-time against Arizona State and 2-2-0 in St. Cloud.
The Huskies move to 2-9-0 when its opponent scores first and 0-6-0 when trailing after two periods.
Ahcan's two assists marked his first career two-assist game and third career two-point game.
Thoreson scored for the second consecutive game, marking the first time in his career he has had a two-game goal streak.
Gross scored his eighth goal of the season to set a new career-best for goals in a season, surpassing his mark of seven from his freshman campaign. In his last nine games, Gross has scored six goals and four assists for 10 points.
Gardner recorded his fourth goal of the season and now has seven points, surpassing his freshman campaign of scoring six points last season.
Burnevik notched his 10^th assist of the season and now has a team-high 19 points.
Salquist recorded his third assist of the season and won 10 faceoffs, marking 9+ faceoff wins in nine consecutive games.
Freshman defenseman Colin Ralph (Maple Grove, Minn.) and junior defenseman Josh Zinger (Red Deer, Alberta) each had an assist in the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will next hit the road to face Omaha on Jan. 24-25 at Baxter Arena. Both games will start at 7:00 p.m. CT with Friday's game on CBS Sports Network and Saturday's game on 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.