No. 11 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey and No. 3 Minnesota Set for Home-And-Home Series

Friday, February 14

Ridder Arena • Minneapolis

6 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota

Photo by: Jason Soria

No. 11 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey and No. 3 Minnesota Set for Home-And-Home Series

2/13/2025 3:15:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Series Notes

SCSU travels to Minneapolis Friday, returns to St. Cloud for final home regular season game and Senior Day Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 11 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (14-10-6, 9-10-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) plays No. 3 Minnesota (22-8-1, 16-7-1 WCHA) this weekend in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, while Saturday's game is slated for 2 p.m. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

Series Notes

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Senior Day - Saturday is the final regular season home game of the season, so the team's 10 seniors (Sanni Ahola, Dayle Ross, Brieja Parent, Taylor Larson, Grace Wolfe, Abby Promersberger, Ally Qualley, Ella Anick, Emma Gentry and Avery Myers) will be honored after the game.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Both games will be streamed on B1G+ (note – a paid subscription is required) with radio coverage on 97.5 FM RadioX. KVSC talent Alexander Fern (play-by-play) and Sam Roering (color) will be on the call. Live stats will be provided by each home team. Links to each coverage option are available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.

Game 31 @ #3 Minnesota (Ridder Arena – Minneapolis) – Friday, Feb. 4 / 6 p.m. CT / Livestream ($ - B1G+) / Live Stats / Audio (97.5 FM RadioX)

Game 32 vs. #3 Minnesota (Herb Brooks National Hockey Center – St. Cloud) – Saturday, Feb. 15 / 3 p.m. CT / Livestream ($ - B1G+) / Live Stats / Audio (97.5 FM RadioX) / Tickets

SERIES HISTORY
SCSU trails the all-time series against Minnesota, 5-107-4, but are 1-3-1 in the team's last five matchups. The Huskies are 0-60-1 all-time when playing Minnesota in Minneapolis and 4-44-2 when playing the "U" in St. Cloud.

The then-No. 10/9 Huskies split their home-and-home series against No. 3 Minnesota on Nov. 22-23. The Gophers took the series opener, 5-2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis but SCSU bounced back with a 3-1 win in the second game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St Cloud.

It was just the fifth time the Huskies had ever beat Minnesota and the first time on home ice since Feb. 13, 2010, which is also the last time SCSU split a series with the Gophers.

SCSU's penalty kill was solid, only allowing one goal in six opportunities over the series, while the powerplay was able to convert 2-of-6 chances after being held scoreless in the previous two series. The Huskies struggled on the dot, winning just 38.5% of the faceoffs.

Junior forward Avery Farrell (Rogers, Minn.) and fifth year forward Brieja Parent (Forest Lake, Minn.) led the Huskies with three points apeice. The duo each scored a goal and added two assists. Senior forward Abby Promersberger (Fargo, N.D.) and fifth year forward Ally Qualley (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) each tallied two points. Promersberger scored two goals and Qualley recorded a goal and an assist.

Fifth year goaltender Sanni Ahola (Helsinki, Finland) came up huge for SCSU in the series finale, making 38 saves and only allowing one goal for a .974 save percentage. She opened the game extremely strong, making 23 of her 38 saves in the first period while notching her team-leading fifth win of the season.

LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies are ranked No. 11 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live Polls for the second week in a row. St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA programs featured in the rankings with two additional clubs receiving votes. Minnesota enters the series ranked No. 3 in both polls.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the then-No. 11 Huskies went 1-0-1 against (RV) Minnesota State (11-17-2, 5-17-2 WCHA) at the Mayo Clinic HSEC, winning 3-1 on Friday before skating to a 2-2 tie on Saturday. MSU won the shootout, 2-1, to earn the extra WCHA point. After Saturday, the Huskies moved to 1-5 in shootouts this season.

Fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) was the lone Husky to tally multiple points (one goal/one assist), while both fifth year goaltender Sanni Ahola (Helsinki, Finland) and freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) were solid in net. Kyrkkö earned the win on Friday and did not allow an even-strength goal while Ahola made 27 saves in the Huskies tie on Saturday.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
Friday, Feb. 14
(RV) Minnesota State at No. 6 Minnesota Duluth* - 3 PM CT
No. 11 St. Cloud State at No. 3 Minnesota* - 6 PM CT
Bemidji State at (RV) St. Thomas* - 7 PM CT

Saturday, Feb. 15
(RV) Minnesota State at No. 6 Minnesota Duluth* - 1 PM CT
No. 3 Minnesota at No. 11 St. Cloud State* - 3 PM CT
Bemidji State at (RV) St. Thomas* - 3 PM CT
*WCHA Game

SANNI TIME
Fifth year goaltender Sanni Ahola (Helsinki, Finland) earned her 35th career win on Jan. 31 becoming the program's all-time leader in goaltender wins, passing Laura Gieselman (1999-2003). Ahola also owns career ranks of No. 1 in shutouts (10), No. 3 in goals against average (2.60), No. 4 in save percentage (.918) and No. 5 in saves (2,247).

RECORD BOOK WATCH
Fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) jumped into a tie for fifth in all-time games played (146) just one weekend after joining the top-10 list. She is is 31 shots away from becoming the programs all-time leader and three points away from joining the career points top-10 list.

Head coach Brian Idalski is just one win away from 50 during his SCSU tenure.

WCHA WEEKLY HONORS
Sophomore forward Sofianna Sundelin (Ulvila, Finland) was the named Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Forward of the Week, as announced by the league office on Feb. 3, following her four-point performance in St. Cloud State's home-and-home split against (RV) St. Thomas. It was her first weekly award of the season and the second of her career (Rookie of the Week – Sept. 25, 2023).

The sophomore forward tied for the lead in goals (three), points (four), goals/game (1.50) and points/game (2.00) and was sixth in both faceoff wins (22) and faceoff wins/game (11.00) among WCHA skaters. She posted one of five 3+ point performances and was one of three players to have a 2+ goal, three-point game. Sundelin recorded one of four 15+ faceoff win games in the WCHA.

In the series opening 5-2 home win over (RV) St. Thomas, she tallied three points (two goals and one assist). It was her first career three-point game and first career multi-goal game. She is just the second Husky to score two goals in a game this season. In the series finale overtime loss, Sundelin scored the Huskies lone goal and her third of the weekend while winning a team-high 15 faceoffs. With the goal, she took sole possession of the team lead for goals with eight.

St. Cloud State has won each of the WCHA weekly awards at least once this season and Sundelin is the second to be named Forward of the Week. Freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) was named the Goaltender of the Week twice (Oct. 7 & Oct. 28) and the Rookie of the Week once (Oct. 21), while fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) and senior defender Ella Anick (Hermantown, Minn.) were named the conference Forward and Defender of the Week respectively on Sept. 23 after SCSU's season-opening sweep of Lindenwood.

It was the second time Anick had been named WCHA Defender of the Week in her career, both coming while playing for SCSU. It was Gentry's third career time being named the WCHA Forward of the Week.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.