St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 16/17 North Dakota Meet for Second Time in 2024-25

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will look to snap a six-game losing streak when the Huskies host rival North Dakota at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this weekend. The series begins on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. CT puck drop and will conclude on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT with television coverage on NCHC.tv (streaming) and Fox 9 + (tape delay) with Jim Erickson, Geno Parrish and Olivia Stephes on the call. On the radio, Nick Maxson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will grace the airwaves on KNSI (99.3 FM / 1450 AM) for the series. SCSU has dropped its last six games and last eight conference games and will look to get back in the win column for the first time since Dec. 29. North Dakota was off last weekend and most recently played on Jan. 17-18 at home against No. 4/5 Western Michigan, falling 3-2 (OT) and 5-1 in Grand Forks.

NATIONAL POLLS / POST-SEASON OUTLOOK

In an up-and-down season, SCSU dropped out of the top-20 polls for the first time this season, but is still receiving votes in both polls. North Dakota is ranked No. 16 in the USCHO poll and No. 17 in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live top-20 poll. In the PairWise Rankings, SCSU currently checks in at No. 27 while North Dakota checks in at No. 26.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be the 151^st and 152^nd all-time meetings between the Huskies and Fighting Hawks, with all but one series happening since the 1989-90 season. The Fighting Hawks lead the overall series, 83-49-18 and a 31-26-9 advantage in games played in St. Cloud. Earlier this season, the Huskies dropped both games of a series in Grand Forks, falling 2-0 and 4-3 (OT) on Dec. 13-14 SCSU held three leads in the Saturday game (1-0, 2-1 & 3-2) with junior forward Grant Ahcan, freshman forward Austin Burnevik and sophomore forward Barrett Hall scoring for the Huskies.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

SCSU played well once again but ended up dropping both games of a weekend series in Omaha, falling 6-3 and 3-1. The Huskies took a 3-2 lead on Friday, outshot the Mavericks in both games (34-32 & 39-32) and commanded the faceoff dot all weekend (70-52) but couldn't get over the hump and back in the win column.
On Friday, junior forward Grant Ahcan continued his hot stretch of play with a goal and assist for two points while freshman forward Austin Burnevik extended his team-lead in goals to 10. In Saturday's setback, sophomore forward Jack Reimann netted his first goal of the season and redshirt sophomore goaltender James Gray made his third career start, making 29 saves in 31 shot attempts to keep the Huskies in the game until the very end.

HOBEY HUSKIES

Nominees for the award given to college hockey's top player were announced on Jan. 22, and St. Cloud State had three athletes on the watch list for the Hobey Baker Award. Freshman forward Austin Burnevik, sophomore forward Barrett Hall and sophomore goaltender Isak Posch each earned a spot on the nominee list which included 90+ of the best collegiate hockey players this season. Burnevik has been SCSU's leading goal- and point-scorer this season while ranking near the top of all freshman nationally, while Hall has been the Huskies leading assist man. Posch was widely considered one of the top netminders in the nation before he sustained an injury on Dec. 6, earning three NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors and the October NCHC Goaltender of the Month honor.
Burnevik is off to a scorching start to his collegiate campaign, as the freshman leads the Huskies in goals (10), points (11) and power play goals (five) while ranking second in assists (10). The Ham Lake native leads all NCHC freshmen in goals and points while ranking third and ninth nationally among NCAA freshmen in those categories, respectively. Burnevik is the first Husky freshman to score 20 points since Adam Ingram in 2022-23 (8-15-23) and first to score 10 goals since Veeti Miettinen (11) in 2020-21. He has twice been named the NCHC Rookie of the Week this season, winning the award after a three-goal, five-point weekend against Bemidji State (Oct. 11-12) and a three-goal performance against Miami (Nov. 8-9).
Hall has been the Huskies' leading assist-man throughout his sophomore campaign, leading the team in assists and ranking 12th in the NCHC with 12 helpers. He's recorded in assist in 10 of 24 games this season, two assists in three contests and ranks second on the team in power play scoring with six points (1g/5a). With four goals and 13 assists in 24 games this season, Hall has already surpassed his freshman scoring output of 16 points (8g/8a) last season.
Prior to his injury (announced on Dec. 7), Posch had quickly established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA and earned the top mark of NCHC Goaltender of the Month in October. Posch started all 13 games for the Huskies leading up to his injury, producing a mark of 9-4-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and .938 save percentage, all ranking in the nation's top-10 at the time of his last appearance. He was named to the Mike Richter Award watch list on Jan. 15, an award annually given to the nation's top goaltender. Posch made season-best 34 saves twice, first in a 1-0 shutout of St. Thomas (Oct. 6) to open the season and second at Colorado College (Nov. 23). He earned his second shutout of the season in a 24-save, 4-0 win over No. 10/9 Michigan (Oct. 19), earning NCHC weekly honors after each of those three performances.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 6-3 loss at Omaha (1-24-25)
- The Huskies move to 2-10-0 when its opponent scores first and 2-6-0 when tied after two periods.
- Junior forward Grant Ahcan recorded his second consecutive two-point game and third overall of the season with a goal and assist. Over his last four games, he now has a goal and four assist for five points.
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik tallied his fifth power play goal and 10th goal overall, registering his 20th point of the season. He becomes the first Husky freshman to score 20 points since Adam Ingram in 2022-23 (8-15-23) and first to score 10 goals since Veeti Miettinen (11) in 2020-21.
- Sophomore forward Barrett Hall recorded his 13th assist and 17th point of the season, surpassing his mark of 16 (8-8-16) from his freshman campaign.
- Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen recorded his third goal of the season and seventh career goal in the second period.
- Sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson recorded an assist to extend his point-streak to a career-best three games.
- Senior defenseman Karl Falk and sophomore defenseman Warren Clark recorded their fourth and third assists of the season, respectively.
- Senior forward Mason Salquist went 10-7 in the faceoff dot, his 15th game this season and ninth time in the last 10 games he's recorded 10 or more wins in the dot.
GAME 2 - 3-1 loss to Omaha (1-25-25)
- With the loss, SCSU moves to 30-20-4 all-time against Omaha and 11-11-2 against the Mavericks in Omaha.
- The Huskies move to 2-11-0 when its opponent scores first and 0-6-0 when trailing after two periods.
- SCSU outshot the Mavericks 39-32 and won the battle in the faceoff dot, 38-25.
- Sophomore forward Jack Reimann netted his first goal of the season and the second of his career, scoring do the first time Nov. 17, 2023 against Minnesota Duluth.
- Junior forward Adam Ingram produced his third assist and fifth point of the season. In nine career games against the Mavericks, the Husky junior now has 10 points (4g/6a) to average 1.11 points per game.
- Redshirt sophomore James Gray made a career-best 29 saves in the game, his third career start, all coming against Omaha.
- Freshman defenseman Colin Ralph recorded his fifth assist and sixth point of the season with the secondary assist on Reimann's goal.
- Senior forward Mason Salquist went 38-25 in the faceoff dot, his 16th game this season and 10th time in the last 11 games he's recorded 10 or more wins in the dot.
- Sophomore forward Tyson Gross went 11-8 in the faceoff dot, marking his 11th game this season with 10 or more wins in the dot.

SPARK PLUG AHCAN

Over the past two series, head coach Brett Larson has deployed junior forward Grant Ahcan on different lines to help produce offensive production, and it has sure paid off. In that four-game span, Ahcan has recorded a goal and three assists for four points with two, two-point games (two assists vs. ASU on Jan. 18, one goal and one assist at Omaha on Jan. 24).
Ahcan has scored a point or been on the ice for five of the last 10 goals SCSU has scored in the last four games
On the season, the Husky junior has produced career-highs in goals (five), assists (six), points (11) and shorthanded goals (two).

FACEOFF SUCCESS

St. Cloud State's centers have produced at an elite level in the faceoff dot this season, helping the Huskies gain possession of the puck and control play. As a team, SCSU has produced a 54.8 percent mark (ranked sixth in NCAA) in the dot (787-648), with each of its top-three faceoff specialist's marks above 57 percent.
SCSU has won the faceoff battle in six of its last seven games and in 17 of 24 games overall.
Senior forward Mason Salquist has won 10 or more faceoffs in a team-leading 16 games this season and has 10+ wins in 10 of the last 11 games. He is currently 58.6 percent (246-174) 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 57.5 percent mark in the circle (202-149). 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 checks in at 57.1 percent in the circle this season (228-171). Gross has won 10 or more faceoffs in 12 games this season, including a season-best 19 wins (19-4) against St. Thomas on Dec. 29.

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 16/17 North Dakota Meet for Second Time in 2024-25

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Ahcan

Austin Burnevik

Warren Clark

Karl Falk

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Adam Ingram

Veeti Miettinen

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Colin Ralph

Jack Reimann

Mason Salquist

Gavyn Thoreson

Saint Cloud State University Athletics

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 16/17 North Dakota Meet for Second Time in 2024-25

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Ahcan

Austin Burnevik

Warren Clark

Karl Falk

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Adam Ingram

Veeti Miettinen

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Colin Ralph

Jack Reimann

Mason Salquist

Gavyn Thoreson

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