St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey’s Comeback Bid Falls Short in Season-Opening Defeat to St. Thomas

Saturday, October 4

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

0-1-0

St. Thomas

1-0-0

St. Thomas (MN)

St. Cloud St.

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey’s Comeback Bid Falls Short in Season-Opening Defeat to St. Thomas

10/5/2025 12:39:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies erase three-goal deficit before letting in a late goal in 4-3 setback

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) erased a three-goal deficit in the third period only to fall to No. 19/20 St. Thomas (1-0-0, 0-0-0 CCHA), 4-3, on Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. With 4:55 left in the game, the Tommies scored the game-winning goal just over a minute into a major penalty.

The Huskies outshot the Tommies 15-5 in the first period, but St. Thomas scored the game's first goal on a breakaway attempt at 12:42 of the opening period. UST then extended its lead to 3-0 with two goals in the second frame.

SCSU got on the scoreboard just 65 seconds into the third period while on the penalty kill. Junior forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) forced a turnover from a Tommie defenseman near the blue and created an odd-man breakaway the other way before sending a drop pass to senior defenseman Mason Reiners (Edina, Minn.), who had a wide-open net on to shoot and score on to make the score 1-0. The shorthanded score was Reiners' first career goal in his 91^st career game. Just four minutes later the Huskies cut the deficit to one goal when freshman forward Noah Urness (Roseau, Minn.) scored on a power play for his first collegiate score. SCSU then erased the three-goal deficit with its third consecutive goal when sophomore forward Austin Burnevik (Ham Lake, Minn.) tipped in a slap shot from the right dot from junior forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta). Hall started the play again on the rush when he pulled a defenseman to the center of the ice just enough to create a lane for Gross to fire the shot on net and be redirected by Burnevik.

Just when the Huskies had the momentum, St. Thomas was able to flip the script and regain the lead on a power play after the Huskies took a major penalty with just under six minutes left in the game. St. Cloud State had a few chances in the final minute of the game after returning to full strength, but failed to find the game-tying score.

TOP HUSKIES

Hall had two assists in the game to led the offensive charge.
Reiners, Urness and Burnevik scored goals in the game.
Freshman goaltender Yan Shostak (Minsk, Belarus) made 25 saves in his collegiate debut.

NOTES

With the loss, St. Cloud State moves to 24-25-0 all-time against St. Thomas and 7-2-0 since the two schools became Division-I programs.
SCSU outshot UST, 30-29 in the game.
Reiners and Urness both scored their first career goals in the game.
After leading the Huskies in scoring last season, Burnevik scored his 14^th career goal with his third period score.
Freshman forward Nolan Roed (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and freshman defenseman Tanner Henricks (Mission Viejo, Calif.) recorded their first career points with assists in the game.
Hall's two assists marks the ninth time in his career he has recorded a multi-point game and was his 39^th and 40^th career points.
Gross, Roed and freshman forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) all had 10+ faceoff wins with the Huskies winning 57.7 percent of draws (41-30).

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

SCSU will next face Bemidji State in a home-and-home series next weekend, traveling to Bemidji for a 7:00 p.m. CT puck drop on Friday before returning home for a 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.

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 2025-26 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.