St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hits the Road to Face No. 4 Western Michigan

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey snapped its losing streak and will now look to get back in the win column this weekend when the Huskies travel to No. 4 Western Michigan for a road series at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. The series begins on Friday with a 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT puck drop and will conclude on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT with a stream available on NCHC.tv (subscription required). On the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will grace the airwaves on KNSI (99.3 FM / 1450 AM) for the series.
The Huskies snapped its six-game losing streak last weekend but are winless in their last eight games (0-7-1) and will look to get back in the win column for the first time since Dec. 29. Western Michigan split a series at Colorado College last weekend (4-1 win / 3-2 OT loss) and have won seven of their last eight. At Lawson this season, WMU has not lost a game in regulation, going 9-1-1 while outscoring its opponents 42-18. The Broncos lone loss at home was a 3-2 loss to then-No. 2 Denver on Dec. 7.

NATIONAL POLLS / POST-SEASON OUTLOOK

In an up-and-down season, SCSU has now spent the last two weeks outside of the top-20 polls, but is still receiving votes in the USCHO poll. Western Michigan is ranked No. 4 in both the USCHO poll and the USA Hockey / The Rink Live top-20 poll. In the PairWise Rankings, Western Michigan is at No. 5 while SCSU checks in at No. 29.

SERIES HISTORY

The Huskies and Broncos will meet for the 46^th and 47^th times this weekend, with the Huskies holding a 25-15-5 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. SCSU holds a 7-3-0 advantage in its last 10 games against the Broncos, including a 5-2-0 mark alone last season.
The first two of seven meetings last season came in Kalamazoo on Nov. 10-11, with SCSU recording its first sweep in five seasons at Western Michigan, winning 3-2 and 3-0 behind a strong series from Veeti Miettinen who had a goal in both games. The two teams then split a series in St. Cloud on Feb. 23-24 with Western Michigan winning 4-3 in OT on Friday before a 3-0 win for SCSU on Saturday where goaltender Isak Posch recorded his first career shutout. Finally, the two teams met in the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 15-17, where three lopsided games occurred with SCSU winning games one and three (5-2, 5-1) and Western Michigan winning the second game (6-1).

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

SCSU was able to snap its six-game losing streak last weekend in a 3-3 tie and shootout loss to North Dakota on Friday, but then dropped Saturday's contest 6-2 despite outshooting the Fighting Hawks, 35-24 and winning the faceoff battle 41-22. SCSU scored the first goal in both contests but couldn't hold its leads, falling to 9-3-1 when scoring the game's first goal. On Friday, junior forward Ethan AuCoin recorded his first career two-goal game with his second and third goals of the season, while freshman forward Austin Burnevik netted his team-leading sixth power play goal and 11th tally overall on Saturday.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 3-3 tie (SOL) vs. North Dakota (1-31-25)
- SCSU moves to 9-2-1 when scoring first, 1-4-1 when trailing after one period, 0-6-1 when trailing after two periods and 7-6-1 when its opponent fails to score on the power play.
- SCSU outshot the Fighting Hawks 12-5 in the third period after being outshot 29-12 over the first two periods.
- The Huskies turned away both power play chances for the Fighting Hawks to move to 83.1 percent (64-of-77) on the penalty kill this season.
- Junior forward Ethan AuCoin recorded the first two-goal game of his collegiate career with his second and third goals of the season, while recording his seventh and eighth career goals.
- The Husky junior is now a team-best +4 on the ice this season.
- Sophomore forward Barrett Hall netted his fifth goal of the season and 13th goal of his career with his game-tying score in the third period.
- Senior defenseman Karl Falk and junior forward Adam Ingram each played in their 100th career games.
- Redshirt sophomore goaltender James Gray recorded a season-high 32 saves to move to a 2.91 goals-against-average and .905 save percentage.
- Sophomore forward Tyson Gross recorded his eighth assist of the season with the primary helper on AuCoin's second goal.
- Sophomore forward Daimon Gardner and junior defenseman Josh Zinger each recorded their fourth assist of the season on Hall's goal.
GAME 2 - 6-2 loss to North Dakota (2-1-25)
- With the loss, St. Cloud State moves to 49-84-19 all-time against North Dakota and 26-32-10 against the Fighting Hawks in St. Cloud.
- On the season, SCSU moves to 9-3-1 when scoring first, 0-7-1 when trailing after two periods and 5-7-0 when outshooting its opponent.
- SCSU outshot the Fighting Hawks 35-24 and won 65.1 percent (41-22) of faceoffs.
- Freshman forward Austin Burnevik scored his team-leading sixth power play and 11th goal overall with his first period tally. His 11 goals are the most by a freshman since Veeti Miettinen hit the same mark in 2020-21.
- Junior defenseman Josh Zinger found the back of the net for the first time since Oct. 26 with his third goal of the season in the third period. His third goal matches his season-best marks for a season from both his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
- Sophomore forward Tyson Gross tallied an assist for the second straight game with the primary assist on Burnevik's score. In his last 13 games, Gross has 12 points (6g/6a) for 0.92 points per game.
- Sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson scored the secondary assist on Burnevik's goal and now has four helpers in the last six games.
- Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen recorded his 10th assist of the season, giving him two consecutive seasons with 10+ assists (19 in 2023-24).
- Freshman defenseman Thor Byfuglien recorded his first career assist with the primary helper on Zinger's goal.
- Miettinen and Gross were both outstanding in the faceoff dot, going 17-5 and 14-5, respectively.

HOBEY HUSKIES

Nominees for the award given to college hockey's top player were announced on Jan. 22, and St. Cloud State had three athletes on the watch list for the Hobey Baker Award. Freshman forward Austin Burnevik, sophomore forward Barrett Hall and sophomore goaltender Isak Posch each earned a spot on the nominee list which included 90+ of the best collegiate hockey players this season. Burnevik has been SCSU's leading goal- and point-scorer this season while ranking near the top of all freshman nationally, while Hall has been the Huskies leading assist man. Posch was widely considered one of the top netminders in the nation before he sustained an injury on Dec. 6, earning three NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors and the October NCHC Goaltender of the Month honor.
Burnevik is off to a scorching start to his collegiate career, as the freshman leads the Huskies in goals (11), points (21) and power play goals (six) while ranking second in assists (10). The Ham Lake native leads all NCHC freshmen in goals and points while ranking fourth and 11th nationally among NCAA freshmen in those categories, respectively. Burnevik is the first Husky freshman to score 20 points since Adam Ingram in 2022-23 (8-15-23) and first to score 10 goals since Veeti Miettinen (11) in 2020-21. He has twice been named the NCHC Rookie of the Week this season, winning the award after a three-goal, five-point weekend against Bemidji State (Oct. 11-12) and a three-goal performance against Miami (Nov. 8-9).
Hall has been the Huskies' leading assist-man throughout his sophomore campaign, leading the team in assists and ranking 17th in the NCHC with 13 helpers. He's recorded in assist in 11 of 25 games this season, two assists in three contests and ranks third on the team in power play scoring with six points (1g/5a). With five goals and 13 assists in 26 games this season, Hall has already surpassed his freshman scoring output of 16 points (8g/8a) last season.
Prior to his injury (announced on Dec. 7), Posch had quickly established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA and earned the top mark of NCHC Goaltender of the Month in October. Posch started all 13 games for the Huskies leading up to his injury, producing a mark of 9-4-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and .938 save percentage, all ranking in the nation's top-10 at the time of his last appearance. He was named to the Mike Richter Award watch list on Jan. 15, an award annually given to the nation's top goaltender. Posch made season-best 34 saves twice, first in a 1-0 shutout of St. Thomas (Oct. 6) to open the season and second at Colorado College (Nov. 23). He earned his second shutout of the season in a 24-save, 4-0 win over No. 10/9 Michigan (Oct. 19), earning NCHC weekly honors after each of those three performances.

FACEOFF SUCCESS

St. Cloud State's centers have produced at an elite level in the faceoff dot this season, helping the Huskies gain possession of the puck and control play. As a team, SCSU has produced a 54.9 percent mark (ranked fourth in NCAA) in the dot (857-704), with each of its top-three faceoff specialist's marks above 57 percent.
SCSU has won the faceoff battle in seven of its last nine games and in 18 of 26 games overall.
Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen has produced a 58.4 percent mark in the circle (226-161). Miettinen set a career-best with 20 wins in the circle against Bemidji State (20-6, Oct. 12), shattering his previous career high mark of 12 set twice, last on March 8, 2024, against Minnesota Duluth.
Sophomore forward Tyson Gross checks in at 57.7 percent in the circle this season (250-183). Gross has won 10 or more faceoffs in 13 games this season, including a season-best 19 wins (19-4) against St. Thomas on Dec. 29.
Senior forward Mason Salquist has won 10 or more faceoffs in a team-leading 16 games this season and has 10+ wins in 10 of the last 13 games. He is currently 57.6 percent (261-192) in the circle and a season-best 15 faceoff wins vs. Augustana (Oct. 26) and vs. Omaha (Dec. 7).

GROSS' BREAK OUT

Sophomore freshman Tyson Gross had a breakout performance against Omaha (Dec. 6-7), scoring four goals and one assist for five points while earning NCHC Forward of the Week honors.
Gross scored two goals in each game to record his first two career two-goal games, while becoming the first Husky to have back-to-back two-goal games since Kale Kossila on Dec. 11-12, 2015 (two goals, three goals).
After scoring just five points in SCSU's first 13 games of the season, Gross has produced 12 points (6g/6a) in the last 13 games since that Omaha series. He has a point in eight of those 13 games and two points in four of those games.

UNDERCLASSMEN PRODUCING IMMEDIATELY

St. Cloud State's underclassmen have produced immediately this season, pacing the SCSU offense.
Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 38 of 59 goals scored (64.4 percent) and 99 of 153 points (64.7 percent) this season. SCSU's top-four leading scorers - Austin Burnevik (11-10-21), Barrett Hall (5-13-18), Tyson Gross (8-9-17) and Verner Miettinen (3-10-13) - are first- or second-year players.
Burnevik's nine goals rank fourth among all freshmen nationally.
Additionally, sophomore goaltender Isak Posch has been in net for 13 games, producing a 9-4-0 mark with a 1.68 GAA, .938 S% and two shutouts. Posch was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, annually given to the nation's top netminder.

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hits the Road to Face No. 4 Western Michigan

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan AuCoin

Austin Burnevik

Thor Byfuglien

Karl Falk

Daimon Gardner

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Adam Ingram

Veeti Miettinen

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Mason Salquist

Gavyn Thoreson

Josh Zinger

Saint Cloud State University Athletics

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hits the Road to Face No. 4 Western Michigan

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan AuCoin

Austin Burnevik

Thor Byfuglien

Karl Falk

Daimon Gardner

James Gray

Tyson Gross

Barrett Hall

Adam Ingram

Veeti Miettinen

Verner Miettinen

Isak Posch

Mason Salquist

Gavyn Thoreson

Josh Zinger

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