St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Falls Short to No. 5/6 North Dakota in Series Opener

Friday, December 5

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

7-8-0, 2-5-0

North Dakota

11-4-0, 5-2-0

North Dakota

St. Cloud St.

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Falls Short to No. 5/6 North Dakota in Series Opener

12/6/2025 1:34:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Hall produces sixth two-point game of the season with a goal and assist

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (7-8-0, 2-5-0 NCHC) traded goals with No. 5/6 North Dakota (11-4-0, 5-2-0 NCHC) before falling short, 4-3, on Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. SCSU trailed by one goal for much of the night and could not find an equalizing goal to tie the score.

North Dakota seemed to capitalize on momentum with the game's first goal at 6:26 in the first period followed by the game's first power play 10 seconds later, but then the Huskies penalty kill evened things up. Halfway through the kill, senior defenseman Cooper Wylie (Stillwater, Minn.) blocked a shot at the right dot, which sprung the puck behind North Dakota and to junior forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.). The Husky alternate captain started his own breakaway, toe-dragged around a defender and then wrapped around the Fighting Hawk goaltender for his first career shorthanded goal.

The Huskies were down 2-1 starting the second period but only trailed for the period's first 25 seconds when junior forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) finished a tic-tac-toe goal on assists from Hall and senior defenseman Max Smolinski (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.). The game remained tied for much of the period before a power play goal from UND's Dylan James at 16:15 made the score 3-2.

North Dakota's Will Zellers scored at the 11:08 mark of the third period to take the first two-goal lead of the game at 4-2, but the Huskies quickly responded to pull back within one goal. Sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson (Andover, Minn.) scored the goal in a flurry in front of the net. After a UND save, freshman forward Nolan Roed (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Thoreson kept the puck alive where sophomore defenseman Finn Loftus (Blaine, Minn.) got to it behind the goal line and sent it back to the slot where Thoreson batted it out of the air and into the back of the net. SCSU had the goalie pulled for near 90 seconds but couldn't find the back of the net for the tying score.

TOP HUSKIES

Hall had his sixth two-point game of the season with a goal and assist.
Gross and Thoreson each scored for the Huskies.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU moves to 50-84-19 all-time against North Dakota and 26-33-10 against the Fighting Hawks in St. Cloud.
On the season, SCSU moves to 0-7-0 when its opponent scores first, 0-6-0 when trailing after the first period, 0-7-0 when trailing after two periods and 1-6 in one-goal games.
SCSU won the faceoff battle, 35-34, the 11^th time in 15 games this season SCSU has won the faceoff battle.
The Huskies scored their third shorthanded goal of the season, its most since scoring eight in 2022-23.
Hall recorded his sixth two-point game of the season and 14^th of his career with a goal and assist. Hall's goal was his first career shorthanded goal and 22^nd career goal overall.
Gross netted his seventh goal of the season and took the team lead with his 19^th point of the season.
Gross went 17-10 in the faceoff dot, marking the sixth time this season he has won 15+ faceoffs.
Thoreson scored his fourth goal of the season and 10^th of his career.
Loftus and Smolinski had single assists in the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

SCSU and North Dakota will finish its series on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Brooks Center.

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.