St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops First Game of NCHC Quarterfinals to No. 3 Western Michigan

Friday, March 14

Lawson Arena | Kalamazoo, Mich.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

14-20-1

Western Michigan

27-7-1

St. Cloud St.

Western Mich.

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops First Game of NCHC Quarterfinals to No. 3 Western Michigan

3/14/2025 8:51:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Broncos score two early power play goals in 6-2 loss

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (14-20-1, 7-16-1 NCHC) dropped the first game of its NCHC Quarterfinals series with No. 3 Western Michigan (27-7-1, 19-4-1 NCHC), 6-2, on Friday night at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo. The Huskies gave up two power play goals early, but a late period goal from senior defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) made the score 2-1 right before the intermission. The Broncos would then score three goals in the second period to take control of the game.

SCSU struggled staying out of the penalty box with two of its five penalties coming in the first 20 minutes. Western Michigan was able to capitalize on both man advantages, with Matteo Costantini scoring at the 9:17 and 19:06 marks of the period to take a 2-0 lead. The Huskies would respond after the second goal, however, with Luedtke burying a backside attempt to make the score 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the period. Sophomore forward Daimon Gardner (Eagle Lake, Ontario) created the chance and found Luedtke on a centering pass after freshman forward Gavyn Thoreson (Andover, Minn.) started the rush.

The Broncos extended their lead to 5-1 in the second period with even strength goals at the 2:34, 14:58 and 17:09 marks. Iiro Hakkarainen scored the first and third goals of the period, while Tim Washe had the second score.

Sophomore forward Verner Miettinen's (Espoo, Finland) power play rebound goal cut the lead to three goals at the 7:58 of the last frame, but Western Michigan responded just 1:16 later with a goal from Alex Bump to make the score 6-2.

TOP HUSKIES

Luedtke scored SCSU's first goal in the first period.
Miettinen scored his second power play and seventh goal overall in the third period.

NOTES

With the loss, St. Cloud State moves to 25-18-5 all-time against Western Michigan and 9-9-3 in Kalamazoo.
In the loss, SCSU moves to 3-17-0 when its opponent scores first, 2-8-1 when trailing after the first period, 1-13-1 when trailing after the second period and 7-12-1 when its opponent outshoots the Huskies.
Luedtke scored his third goal of the season and 12^th of his career with his first period score.
Miettinen scored his third power play goal and seventh goal of the season, as well as his 11^th career goal in the third period.
Gardner recorded his ninth assist and 14^th point of the season with the primary assist on Luedtke's goal.
Thoreson had his fourth assist and 10^th point of the season with the secondary assist on Luedtke's goal. He is the second Husky freshman to reach 10 points this season, joining forward Austin Burnevik (Ham Lake, Minn.).
Burnevik recorded his 14^th assist and team-leading 27^th point of the season with the primary assist on Miettinen's score.
Junior defenseman Cooper Wylie (Stillwater, Minn.) had his fifth assist and seventh of the season to match career-best marks in assists and points from his 2022-23 freshman campaign.
Senior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) went 11-7 in the faceoff dot and has now won 10 or more faceoffs in 21 of 35 games this season.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Western Michigan will play the second game of the Quarterfinals series tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT.

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.