No. 11 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Set To Open Postseason Play in Duluth

Friday, February 28

AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minn.

2 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

Photo by: Bill Prout

No. 11 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Set To Open Postseason Play in Duluth

2/27/2025 11:14:00 AM | Women's Hockey

Series Notes

Huskies play No. 6 Minnesota Duluth in best-of-three WCHA First Round series

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 11 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (15-13-6, 10-13-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) begins postseason play on the road against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth (19-13-2, 14-12-2 WCHA) this weekend in a WCHA First Round matchup. The best-of-three series will run from Friday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 2. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday (if needed) at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.

Series Notes

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

Game 35 @ #6 Minnesota Duluth (AMSOIL Arena – Duluth) – Friday, Feb. 28 / 2 p.m. CT / Livestream ($ - B1G+) / Live Stats / Radio (97.5 FM RadioX)

Game 36 @ #6 Minnesota Duluth (AMSOIL Arena – Duluth) – Saturday, March 1 / 1 p.m. CT / Livestream ($ - B1G+) / Live Stats / Radio (97.5 FM RadioX)

(IF NECESSARY) Game 37 @ #6 Minnesota Duluth (AMSOIL Arena – Duluth) – Sunday, March 2 / 1 p.m. CT / Livestream ($ - B1G+) / Live Stats / Radio (97.5 FM RadioX)

SERIES HISTORY
SCSU trails the all-time series against the Bulldogs, 15-90-12, including a 1-7-2 mark in the team's last 10 matchups. The Huskies are 5-54-5 when playing UMD in Duluth. This season, SCSU is 0-3-1 against the Bulldogs. Minnesota Duluth leads the all-time playoffs series 9-1, including sweeps in the previous two WCHA tournaments (2022-23 and 2023-24).

In their final series of 2024 (Dec. 6-7), the then-No. 8/9 Huskies went 0-1-1 against then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie in the first game with UMD winning the shootout and the Bulldogs took the series finale 3-1.

Then, in their first series of 2025, the then-No. 10/9 Huskies were swept by then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth. UMD won both games 3-0.

Over the four games this season, SCSU's powerplay went a combined 0-for-14.

LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies are ranked No. 11 in both the USCHO Poll and the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll. St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA programs featured in the rankings, with one additional club receiving votes. Minnesota Duluth enters the series ranked No. 6 in both polls.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the then-No. 11/10 Huskies went 0-2-0 against No. 2 Ohio State at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus. The Buckeyes took the first game 5-3, and won the series finale, 3-2.

Fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) led the way for the Huskies, notching three points (two goals/one assist), while sophomore defender Carmen Bray (Nanaimo, British Columbia) was the only other Husky with multiple points (two assists). Gentry's two-goal weekend gave her sole posession of the team lead in goals this season, with 12 and extended her point streak to six games.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA - 2025 WCHA FIRST ROUND (BEST-OF-THREE SERIES)
Friday, Feb. 28
#5 St. Cloud State at #4 Minnesota Duluth - 2 PM CT
#7 St. Thomas at #2 Ohio State - 5 PM CT/6 PM ET
#6 Minnesota State at #3 Minnesota - 6 PM CT
#8 Bemidji State at #1 Wisconsin - 7 PM CT

Saturday, March 1
#5 St. Cloud State at #4 Minnesota Duluth - 1 PM CT
#6 Minnesota State at #3 Minnesota - 2 PM CT
#7 St. Thomas at #2 Ohio State - 2 PM CT/3 PM ET
#8 Bemidji State at #1 Wisconsin - 3 PM CT

Sunday, March 2
#5 St. Cloud State at #4 Minnesota Duluth* - 1 PM CT
#8 Bemidji State at #1 Wisconsin* - 2 PM CT
#7 St. Thomas at #2 Ohio State* - 2 PM CT/3 PM ET
#6 Minnesota State at #3 Minnesota* - 3 PM CT
*IF NECESSARY / (#) = WCHA Tournament Seed

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. 4 in goals against average (2.61), No. 5 in save percentage (.917) and No. 5 in saves (2,311).

RECORD BOOK WATCH
Fifth year forward Emma Gentry (Alpena, Mich.) became the second Husky in program history to skate in 150 games and moved into a tie with former teammates Jenniina Nylund (2018-23) and Klára Hymlárová (2019-24) for eighth on the all-time points list, with 89. She is is 16 shots away from becoming the programs all-time leader in that category.

Head coach Brian Idalski won the 50th game of his SCSU tenure against Minnesota on Feb. 14.

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.