Posch Shuts the Door on No. 6 Denver in 2-1 Win for St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey

Saturday, March 1

Magness Arena | Denver, Colo.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

13-18-1, 6-15-1

Denver

24-9-1, 13-8-1

St. Cloud St.

Denver

Photo by: Bill Prout

Posch Shuts the Door on No. 6 Denver in 2-1 Win for St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey

3/1/2025 10:23:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Posch stops 38 of 39 shots, Gardner and Miettinen score in SCSU’s first regulation win at Magness Arena since 2015

DENVER, Colo. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (13-18-1, 6-15-1 NCHC) grinded out a 2-1 win over No. 6 Denver (24-9-1, 13-8-1 NCHC) on Saturday night at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo. Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) stood on his head with 38 saves for the second consecutive night, while the Huskies got timely goals from sophomore forward Daimon Gardner (Eagle Lake, Ontario) and sophomore forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland).

SCSU took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Gardner finished a breakaway and scored a goal at an impossible angle, shooting from near the goal line and just a few feet away from the boards to beat the goaltender. The Huskies held onto the leading heading into the first intermission despite being outshot 10-4 in the opening period.

Denver knotted up the score at the 14:23 mark of the second period when the Pioneers converted a power play chance, but then the Huskies responded just 70 seconds later with a goal off a deflection. Sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph's (Maple Grove, Minn.) shot from above the left dot deflected off sophomore forward Barrett Hall's (Apple Valley, Minn.) stick and then Miettinen's skate and into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Posch made 20 of his 38 saves to fend off the aggressive Pioneer offense and hold onto the 2-1 victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Posch made 38 saves and earned the first star of the game.
Gardner and Miettinen each scored their fifth goals of the season in the game.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 54-61-7 all-time against Denver and 26-35-3 against the Pioneers in Denver.
The win in regulation in Denver was the first for the Huskies since a 6-2 win on Dec. 12, 2015.
SCSU improves to 11-3-1 when scoring first, 10-2-0 when leading after the first period, 11-1-0 when scoring after the second period, 7-10-1 when outshot by its opponent and 9-5-0 in one-goal games.
Posch made 38 saves, marking the third consecutive game he has made 35 or more saves in a game. He allowed one or fewer goals for the sixth time this season and 11^th time in his career while lowering his season goals-against-average to 2.09.
Gardner scored his fifth goal of the season in the first period, as he found the back of the net for the first time since Jan. 18 vs. Arizona State and has now scored a point in three of the last four games.
Miettinen netted his fifth goal of the season and set a new career-high for goals in a season, surpassing his four from his freshman campaign.
The goal was Miettinen's ninth career goal and 40^th career point.
Hall recorded his team-leading 15^th assist of the season with the primary assist on Miettinen's goal.
Gross continued his hot stretch of play with the primary assist on Gardner's goal, recording his 14^th assist of the season. Over the last 19 games since Dec. 6, Gross has produced 17 points (6g/11a) for 0.89 points per game.
Ralph recorded his seventh assist of the season.
Senior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) went 13-8 in the faceoff dot, marking the 19^th time in 32 games he has won 10 or more faceoffs.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will finish its regular season next weekend when the Huskies host Minnesota Duluth March 7-8 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey 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 2024-25 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.