St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hosts Alaska Anchorage for Homecoming

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey continues its seven-game home stand when the Huskies host Alaska Anchorage for homecoming weekend on Oct. 24-25 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The series will begin on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. CT on The CW and will finish on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 6:00 p.m. CT on NCHC.tv (subscription required) and The CW (tape delay) with the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Geno Parrish will be on the TV call with Husky Productions providing broadcast support. On the radio on KNSI (99.3 FM / 1450 AM), Nick Maxson will handle play-by-play duties with former Husky captain Dave Reichel on color commentary.
SCSU is coming off a series split with Vermont where the Huskies collectively outshot the Catamounts, 91-42, but dropped the first game, 2-1, in overtime before coming back with a resounding 4-0 shutout win on Saturday. The Seawolves have only played one time this season, with Bemidji State earning a 9-2 and 5-0 sweep over UAA on Oct. 3-4 in Anchorage.

SERIES HISTORY

Former WCHA foes, St. Cloud State and Alaska Anchorage will meet for the first time in 10 seasons and for the 77th and 78th times this weekend. The Huskies hold a convincing 53-17-6 advantage in the all-time series and an even bigger advantage, 34-4-4 in games played in St. Cloud. The last meeting between the two schools was in the 2015 Nye Frontier Classic championship game on Oct. 10, 2015 where the Huskies won 6-2 to capture the Nye Frontier Classic title. Robby Jackson scored the game-winning goal and two goals overall in the title game to lift the Huskies to the in-season championship. The last time the Seawolves traveled to St. Cloud was March 15-16, 2013 in the first round series of the WCHA Tournament where the Huskies earned a sweep over the Seawolves with 6-1 and 5-1 wins to advance to the WCHA Final Five.

WEEKEND AT BURNEY'S

After becoming the first freshman in program history to lead the team in both goals and points, sophomore forward Austin Burnevik is picking up right where he left off a season ago. The rising sophomore has five goals in five games and is one of 11 players nationally to be riding an active point streak of five or more games. Burnevik's five goals rank second in the NCHC and sixth overall in the NCAA. His seven-game point streak dating back to last season is the longest streak by a Husky since the 2022-23 season.

THE SHOWSTOPPER

Freshman goaltender Yan Shostak was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week after 40 saves and his first collegiate shutout in SCSU's series split with Vermont last weekend. Shostak posted a 0.99 goals-against-average and .952 save percentage while not giving up a 5-on-5 goal all series. The Catamounts two goals on Friday came on the power play and in 3-on-3 overtime. The Husky freshman made 21 saves in Saturday's 4-0 victory to earn his first collegiate shutout. He is the first Husky freshman netminder to record a shutout since Feb. 10, 2018, when David Hrenak recorded the third shutout of his freshman campaign. Shostak has started four of five games this season for SCSU, posting a 2-2-0 mark with a 2.00 GAA and .918 S%. His GAA ranks fourth among NCHC netminders. Of the eight goals Shostak has allowed this season, only four have come in 5-on-5 situations (3 PPG, 1 OT).

LETHAL POWER PLAY

The Huskies have been lethal on the man advantage to open the 2025-26 season, scoring nine of its 15 goals on the power play with at least one power play tally in every game this season. SCSU's 39.1 percent success rate (9-of-23) on the power play currently leads the NCHC and ranks third nationally. The Huskies' four power play goals in Saturday's 4-0 win over Vermont were its most since scoring four against St. Thomas on Oct. 7, 2023 while sophomore forward Austin Burnevik netted two of the four power play tallies to become the first Husky to score two power play goals in the same game since Grant Cruikshank scored two at Omaha on Feb. 24, 2023.

BLAZING START TO THE SEASON FOR BURNEY & GROSS

Sophomore forward Austin Burnevik and junior forward Tyson Gross have each jumped out to a hot start this season, beginning the 2025-26 campaign on a five-game scoring streak. The duo are two of 12 players with a scoring streak of 5+ games this season, with 11 active streaks. SCSU is one of just four programs in the nation to have a pair of athletes with an active point streak of 5+ games.
The pair's scoring streak extends past this season, with Burnevik's streak at seven consecutive games dating back to March 14, 2025 and Gross' at six consecutive games dating back to March 15, 2025. Burnevik's seven-game point streak is the longest by a Husky since Grant Cruikshank had a nine-game point streak between Nov. 11 and Dec. 9, 2022.
Burnevik scored in the first three games of the season to become the first Husky to score a goal in each of the first three games of a season since Jimmy Schuldt in the 2017-18 season (Oct. 7, 13, 14).
Last season, Burnevik became the first freshmen in program history to lead the Huskies in both goals and points with 13 goals and 28 points. Burnevik's 13 goals rank 17th among SCSU freshmen all-time and were the most since 2017-18 (Easton Brodzinski, 14). He earned All-NCHC Rookie Team honors, becoming the sixth Husky forward and 14th overall to earn the honor.
Gross has been the leading assist man for the Huskies this season, recording five assists and one goal for six points. He has an assist in four out of five games this season and scored the lone goal in SCSU's 2-1 setback to Vermont on Oct. 17.
After scoring just five points in SCSU's first 13 games of the 2024-25 season, Gross scored 20 points (7g/13a) in the last 23 games last season. Dating back to Dec. 6, 2024, Gross has produced more than a point per game at 1.04 ppg with 26 points (8g/18a) in 25 games.

ONE MORE TIME

A key emphasis for the Huskies this season was to score one more goal per game than last season when SCSU averaged 2.19 goals per game. Consider the small sample size of five games, but the Huskies are on their way to accomplishing their goal in 2025-26, scoring 3.00 goals per game (15 goals overall).
The scoring has been balanced as well with nine Huskies finding the back of the net with sophomore forward Austin Burnevik, junior forward Barrett Hall and freshman forward Noah Urness being the lone Huskies to score multiple goals at five, two and two, respectively.
The power play has been potentially responsible for the added production through three games, with the Huskies finding the back of the net on the man advantage in each game this season and nine times overall. SCSU's 39.1 percent (9-23) success rate on the power play is more than double its success rate from last season (16.8%, 16-95).

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES

GAME 1 - 2-1 OT loss vs. Vermont (10-17-25)
- With the loss, SCSU drops to 4-2-0 against Vermont with the first loss coming Oct. 30, 1998, a 4-3 UVM win in the first meeting between the two schools.
- SCSU's 46 shots on goal is its most in a game since registering 54 on March 9, 2024, against Minnesota Duluth.
- The Huskies extended their streak of consecutive games scoring on the power play to four.
- Junior forward Tyson Gross scored his first goal of the season and the 17th goal of his career with his third period power play tally.
- The Husky junior captain extended his point streak to five games dating back to March 15, 2025, and was an outstanding 16-5 in the faceoff dot in the game.
- Sophomore forward Austin Burnevik recorded his first assist of the season and extended his point streak to six games dating back to March 14, 2025. The six-game point streak is the longest for a Husky since Veeti Miettinen had six between Feb. 24 and March 15, 2024.
- Senior forward Adam Ingram notched his second assist with the primary helped on Gross's goal.
GAME 2 - 4-0 win vs. Vermont (10-18-25)
- With the win, SCSU improves to 5-2-0 against Vermont.
- After recording 46 shots on Friday, SCSU had 45 shots on goal in the victory. The 91 shots on goal are its most in a series since registering 92 shots on goal against Minnesota Duluth on March 8-9, 2024 (38-54) and its first time recording back-to-back games of 40+ shots since Jan. 21-22, 2022, against Miami.
- SCSU went 4-of-5 on the power play to improve to 39.1 percent (9-of-23) on the man advantage this season.
- The Huskies' four power play goals are its most since scoring four against St. Thomas on Oct. 7, 2023.
- Sophomore forward Austin Burnevik is the first Husky to score two power play goals in the same game since Grant Cruikshank scored twice on the man advantage at Omaha on Feb. 24, 2023.
- The Husky sophomore scored two goals for the third time in his career after last doing so against Miami on Nov. 9, 2024. His five goals this season are two off the NCAA lead and rank sixth nationally.
- Freshman goaltender Yan Shostak made 21 saves to record his first collegiate shutout and the first SCSU shutout since Isak Posch on Oct. 19, 2024 against Michigan (4-0).
- Junior forward Barrett Hall scored a goal and assist for his second two-point game of the season and 10th of his career.
- Junior forward Tyson Gross had two assists for his first two-point game of the season and 12th of his career. His five assists this season rank 13th in the NCAA.
- Senior defenseman Max Smolinski scored his first goal as a Husky and 11th career goal overall.