Friday, September 19
St. Cloud, Minn.
6 p.m.
St. Cloud State
vs
Lindenwood (Mo.)
No. 13 St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Opens 2025-26 Season with Home Series
9/18/2025 6:52:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Huskies open new season by welcoming Lindenwood (Mo.) to the Brooks Center on Friday and Saturday
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 13 St. Cloud State Women's Hockey (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) will begin the 2025-26 season with a home series against Lindenwood (Mo.) (0-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) on Friday and Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday with a 2 p.m. CT start on Saturday.
SERIES NOTES
Both games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus (note – a paid subscription is required) with radio coverage on 97.5 FM RadioX. Nick Maxson will have the call on B1G+, while KVSC talent Carl Goenner (play-by-play) and Brian Moos (color) will be on the radio broadcast. Live stats will be provided by St. Cloud State. Tickets for the games can be purchased HERE.
Game 1 – vs. Lindenwood (Herb Brooks National Hockey Center // St. Cloud) – Friday, Sept. 19 / 6 p.m. / Watch ($ - B1G+) / Live stats / Listen (97.5 FM RadioX)
Game 2 – vs. Lindenwood (Herb Brooks National Hockey Center // St. Cloud) – Saturday, Sept. 20 / 2 p.m. / Watch ($ - B1G+) / Live stats / Listen (97.5 FM RadioX)
Links to each coverage option are available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.
SERIES HISTORY
The Huskies are 18-2-2 all-time against Lindenwood, including 9-0-1 in its last 10 matchups. SCSU swept Lindenwood in the team's season opening series last fall at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. SCSU took game one 4-0, before finishing the sweep with a 6-2 win. The Huskies are 8-1 all-time at home against LU.
LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies are ranked No. 13 in both the USCHO Preseason Poll and the USA Hockey Preseason Poll. St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA programs featured in the rankings, with two additional clubs receiving votes. Lindenwood enters the series unranked.
THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
Friday, Sept. 19
No. 6/5 Minnesota Duluth at (RV) Mercyhurst - 5 PM
(RV) Minnesota State at RPI - 5 PM
Lindenwood at No. 13 St. Cloud State - 6 PM
Saturday, Sept. 20
No. 6/5 Minnesota Duluth at (RV) Mercyhurst - 12 PM
(RV) St. Thomas at Post - 1:45 PM
Lindenwood at No. 13 St. Cloud State - 2 PM
(RV) Minnesota State at RPI - 2 PM
No. 3 Minnesota vs Bemidji State (Exhibition) - 3 PM
Sunday, Sept. 21
(RV) St. Thomas at Post University - 11 AM
Durham at No. 2 Ohio State (Exhibition) - 2 PM
*WCHA Game
**All times in CT
FAMILIAR FACES
Junior transfer forward Sidney Jackel (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer HS) will be playing against her former team, Lindenwood. In two seasons with the Lions, Jackel skated in 64 games and contributed 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists).
NEW LEADER OF THE PACK
Former assistant coach, Mira Jalosuo (MEER-ah yel-LOW-sue-OH) was named the seventh head coach of the St. Cloud State Women's Hockey team on June 27. She is just the second woman to lead the Huskies during the program's 27-year history after Kerry Brodt Wethington, who was the programs first head coach from 1998-99 to 2001-02.
A highly decorated member of Finland's National Team, the two-time Olympian and five-time World Championships Bronze medalist spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Frost (formerly PWHL Minnesota), helping the franchise win back-to-back PWHL Walter Cups in each of the first two seasons of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
ALL-FEMALE COACHING STAFF
For the first time in program history, the Huskies have an all-female coaching staff. SCSU is one of two programs in the WCHA and one of six programs in all of NCAA DI Women's Hockey with an all-female staff.
WELCOME TO THE PACK
The Huskies welcomed 13 newcomers to the team this fall (10 freshmen and three transfers. Of the 10 freshmen, six are forwards – Lily Erickson (Roseau, Minn. / Roseau HS), Payton Remick (Roseau, Minn. / Roseau HS), Raili Mustonen (Kalajoki, Finland / Team Kuortane (Auroraliiga)), Reese Strauts (Oak Lawn, Ill. / Windy City Storm (19U AAA)), Julianne Labbé (Wendake, Quebec / Cégep Limoilou Titans (QCHL)) and Maria Mikaelyan (Moscow, Russia / North York Storm (OWHL U22 AA)) and four are defenders - Hannah Arnold (Winnipeg, Manitoba / St. Mary's Academy (CSSHL U18)), Sydney Lamb (Lombard, Ill. / Windy City Storm (19U AAA)), Aruba Skiston (Bensenville, Ill. / Chicago Mission (19U AAA)) and Maélie Pion (Sherbrooke, Quebec / Stanstead College (CAHS)).
The transfers are junior forward Payton Holloway (Tomah, Wis. / Shattuck St. Mary's) from Minnesota Duluth, junior forward Sidney Jackel (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer HS), from Lindenwood and senior goaltender Hali Lawrence (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Fire U18AAA) from Post.
SEASON PREVIEW
The Huskies bring back three of its four top scorers from last season's squad that went 15-15-6 and finished inside the top-five of the WCHA standings for the third consecutive season after most recently doing so in 2015-16. The three top returning point scorers, forward Sofianna Sundelin (Ulvila, Finland), forward Alice Sauriol (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and forward Laura Zimmermann (Ringgenberg, Switzerland), are all rising juniors and contributed 15+ points a season ago. The Huskies also return an elite netminder duo in All-WCHA Rookie Team selection Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) and graduate student Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.), who redshirted last season.
O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS!
St. Cloud State named four captains ahead of the 2025-26 season on Friday. Graduate student defender Grace Wolfe (Owatonna, Minn.) with be the fifth Husky to wear the "C" as captain for two seasons, while redshirt junior defender Regan Bulger (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories), graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) and redshirt junior forward Laura Zimmermann (Ringgenberg, Switzerland) will be alternate captains and wear a letter for the first time in their career.
Wolfe, who served as a co-captain in 2024-25 and an alternate captain in 2023-24, becomes just the second Husky to wear a letter in three seasons after Katy Battis (C – 1999-2000, A – 2001-02, 2002-03).
JOJO IS CHOBA(C)K
Graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) is back for her final year of collegiate eligibility after a redshirt season in 2024-25. This summer, Chobak was invited to the USA Hockey National Goaltender Camp and National Festival and was a U.S. Collegiate Select Team selection. In 2023-24, she went 7-11-1 over 17 starts and established new program records for single season save percentage (.939) and goals against average (1.64) while recording four shutouts. In two seasons with the Huskies, she is 16-18-2 with a 2.04 GAA, a .931 SV% and nine shutouts over 36 starts/39 appearance. Chobak currently owns seven season top 10 marks and four career top 10 spots in the record book. She is a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team member and a two-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete. In her four-year career, she owns a 26-22-3 record with a 1.99 GAA, a .929 SV% and 12 shutouts over 50 starts/59 appearances.
WCHA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey was selected to finish fifth in the 2025-26 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league office on Sept. 8. The Huskies are coming off their third fifth place conference finish in a row and tied for the second most conference points in program history a season ago.
SCSU received 24 points overall in the coaches' poll and were selected to finish behind Wisconsin (49 points, seven first-place votes), Minnesota (40 points, one first-place vote) Ohio State (40 points), and Minnesota Duluth (31 points). Rounding out the poll was St. Thomas (17 points), Minnesota State (16 points) and Bemidji State (seven points).
2025-26 WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll
Pl. Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Wisconsin (7) 49
T2. Minnesota (1) 40
T2. Ohio State 40
4. Minnesota Duluth 31
5. St. Cloud State 24
6. St. Thomas 17
7. Minnesota State 16
8. Bemidji State 7
*First-place votes are in parentheses (Coaches could not vote for their own team)
JOJO REPRESENTS THE STARS AND STRIPES AT THE 2025 COLLEGIATE SELECT SERIES
Graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) helped lead the U.S. Collegiate Select Team to a 1-1-1-0 record in the three-game series against Canada in the 2025 Collegiate Select Series in August at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The graduate student goaltender is the third active SCSU player and first netminder to be named to the Collegiate Select Team (*formerly known as the U22 Team) twice in her career. Chobak and former co-captain Emma Gentry became the fourth and fifth Huskies to make the team back in 2023 before Gentry was a back-to-back pick in 2024. Prior to that, goaltender Emma Polusny was the last Husky to make the team in 2019 and before that, defender Brittni Kuyper made back-to-back U22 squads in 2006 and 2007 while forward Holly Roberts joined Kuyper at the 2007 U22 Series.
St. Cloud State Huskies at the U.S. Collegiate Select Series
Year Name Pos.
2025 JOJO CHOBAK G
2024 Emma Gentry F
2023 Emma Gentry F
2023 JOJO CHOBAK G
2019 Emma Polusny G
2007 Holly Roberts F
2007 Brittni Kuyper D
2006 Brittni Kuyper D
THANK YOU, BRIAN
Former head coach Brian Idalski was named the first-ever head coach of Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) expansion team, PWHL Vancouver on June 23.
The 2022-23 U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) National Coach of the Year departed St. Cloud after three seasons in which he helped turn the program around, bringing the Huskies back into national prominence. Under Idalski, SCSU went 50-50-9 and recorded three of its eight highest single season win totals in program history and set numerous other individual and team records.
In 2024-25, Idalski became just the second coach in program history to amass 50 wins and was the first to do so in three seasons or less. He also became the first coach in program history to beat Minnesota on the road (0-60-2 prior) and was just the second coach to post three consecutive 15+ win seasons.
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.
SERIES NOTES
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Both games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus (note – a paid subscription is required) with radio coverage on 97.5 FM RadioX. Nick Maxson will have the call on B1G+, while KVSC talent Carl Goenner (play-by-play) and Brian Moos (color) will be on the radio broadcast. Live stats will be provided by St. Cloud State. Tickets for the games can be purchased HERE.
Game 1 – vs. Lindenwood (Herb Brooks National Hockey Center // St. Cloud) – Friday, Sept. 19 / 6 p.m. / Watch ($ - B1G+) / Live stats / Listen (97.5 FM RadioX)
Game 2 – vs. Lindenwood (Herb Brooks National Hockey Center // St. Cloud) – Saturday, Sept. 20 / 2 p.m. / Watch ($ - B1G+) / Live stats / Listen (97.5 FM RadioX)
Links to each coverage option are available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.
SERIES HISTORY
The Huskies are 18-2-2 all-time against Lindenwood, including 9-0-1 in its last 10 matchups. SCSU swept Lindenwood in the team's season opening series last fall at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. SCSU took game one 4-0, before finishing the sweep with a 6-2 win. The Huskies are 8-1 all-time at home against LU.
LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies are ranked No. 13 in both the USCHO Preseason Poll and the USA Hockey Preseason Poll. St. Cloud State is one of five WCHA programs featured in the rankings, with two additional clubs receiving votes. Lindenwood enters the series unranked.
THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
Friday, Sept. 19
No. 6/5 Minnesota Duluth at (RV) Mercyhurst - 5 PM
(RV) Minnesota State at RPI - 5 PM
Lindenwood at No. 13 St. Cloud State - 6 PM
Saturday, Sept. 20
No. 6/5 Minnesota Duluth at (RV) Mercyhurst - 12 PM
(RV) St. Thomas at Post - 1:45 PM
Lindenwood at No. 13 St. Cloud State - 2 PM
(RV) Minnesota State at RPI - 2 PM
No. 3 Minnesota vs Bemidji State (Exhibition) - 3 PM
Sunday, Sept. 21
(RV) St. Thomas at Post University - 11 AM
Durham at No. 2 Ohio State (Exhibition) - 2 PM
*WCHA Game
**All times in CT
FAMILIAR FACES
Junior transfer forward Sidney Jackel (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer HS) will be playing against her former team, Lindenwood. In two seasons with the Lions, Jackel skated in 64 games and contributed 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists).
NEW LEADER OF THE PACK
Former assistant coach, Mira Jalosuo (MEER-ah yel-LOW-sue-OH) was named the seventh head coach of the St. Cloud State Women's Hockey team on June 27. She is just the second woman to lead the Huskies during the program's 27-year history after Kerry Brodt Wethington, who was the programs first head coach from 1998-99 to 2001-02.
A highly decorated member of Finland's National Team, the two-time Olympian and five-time World Championships Bronze medalist spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Frost (formerly PWHL Minnesota), helping the franchise win back-to-back PWHL Walter Cups in each of the first two seasons of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
ALL-FEMALE COACHING STAFF
For the first time in program history, the Huskies have an all-female coaching staff. SCSU is one of two programs in the WCHA and one of six programs in all of NCAA DI Women's Hockey with an all-female staff.
WELCOME TO THE PACK
The Huskies welcomed 13 newcomers to the team this fall (10 freshmen and three transfers. Of the 10 freshmen, six are forwards – Lily Erickson (Roseau, Minn. / Roseau HS), Payton Remick (Roseau, Minn. / Roseau HS), Raili Mustonen (Kalajoki, Finland / Team Kuortane (Auroraliiga)), Reese Strauts (Oak Lawn, Ill. / Windy City Storm (19U AAA)), Julianne Labbé (Wendake, Quebec / Cégep Limoilou Titans (QCHL)) and Maria Mikaelyan (Moscow, Russia / North York Storm (OWHL U22 AA)) and four are defenders - Hannah Arnold (Winnipeg, Manitoba / St. Mary's Academy (CSSHL U18)), Sydney Lamb (Lombard, Ill. / Windy City Storm (19U AAA)), Aruba Skiston (Bensenville, Ill. / Chicago Mission (19U AAA)) and Maélie Pion (Sherbrooke, Quebec / Stanstead College (CAHS)).
The transfers are junior forward Payton Holloway (Tomah, Wis. / Shattuck St. Mary's) from Minnesota Duluth, junior forward Sidney Jackel (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer HS), from Lindenwood and senior goaltender Hali Lawrence (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Fire U18AAA) from Post.
SEASON PREVIEW
The Huskies bring back three of its four top scorers from last season's squad that went 15-15-6 and finished inside the top-five of the WCHA standings for the third consecutive season after most recently doing so in 2015-16. The three top returning point scorers, forward Sofianna Sundelin (Ulvila, Finland), forward Alice Sauriol (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and forward Laura Zimmermann (Ringgenberg, Switzerland), are all rising juniors and contributed 15+ points a season ago. The Huskies also return an elite netminder duo in All-WCHA Rookie Team selection Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) and graduate student Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.), who redshirted last season.
O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS!
St. Cloud State named four captains ahead of the 2025-26 season on Friday. Graduate student defender Grace Wolfe (Owatonna, Minn.) with be the fifth Husky to wear the "C" as captain for two seasons, while redshirt junior defender Regan Bulger (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories), graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) and redshirt junior forward Laura Zimmermann (Ringgenberg, Switzerland) will be alternate captains and wear a letter for the first time in their career.
Wolfe, who served as a co-captain in 2024-25 and an alternate captain in 2023-24, becomes just the second Husky to wear a letter in three seasons after Katy Battis (C – 1999-2000, A – 2001-02, 2002-03).
JOJO IS CHOBA(C)K
Graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) is back for her final year of collegiate eligibility after a redshirt season in 2024-25. This summer, Chobak was invited to the USA Hockey National Goaltender Camp and National Festival and was a U.S. Collegiate Select Team selection. In 2023-24, she went 7-11-1 over 17 starts and established new program records for single season save percentage (.939) and goals against average (1.64) while recording four shutouts. In two seasons with the Huskies, she is 16-18-2 with a 2.04 GAA, a .931 SV% and nine shutouts over 36 starts/39 appearance. Chobak currently owns seven season top 10 marks and four career top 10 spots in the record book. She is a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team member and a two-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete. In her four-year career, she owns a 26-22-3 record with a 1.99 GAA, a .929 SV% and 12 shutouts over 50 starts/59 appearances.
WCHA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey was selected to finish fifth in the 2025-26 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league office on Sept. 8. The Huskies are coming off their third fifth place conference finish in a row and tied for the second most conference points in program history a season ago.
SCSU received 24 points overall in the coaches' poll and were selected to finish behind Wisconsin (49 points, seven first-place votes), Minnesota (40 points, one first-place vote) Ohio State (40 points), and Minnesota Duluth (31 points). Rounding out the poll was St. Thomas (17 points), Minnesota State (16 points) and Bemidji State (seven points).
2025-26 WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll
Pl. Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Wisconsin (7) 49
T2. Minnesota (1) 40
T2. Ohio State 40
4. Minnesota Duluth 31
5. St. Cloud State 24
6. St. Thomas 17
7. Minnesota State 16
8. Bemidji State 7
*First-place votes are in parentheses (Coaches could not vote for their own team)
JOJO REPRESENTS THE STARS AND STRIPES AT THE 2025 COLLEGIATE SELECT SERIES
Graduate student goaltender Jojo Chobak (Chicago, Ill.) helped lead the U.S. Collegiate Select Team to a 1-1-1-0 record in the three-game series against Canada in the 2025 Collegiate Select Series in August at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The graduate student goaltender is the third active SCSU player and first netminder to be named to the Collegiate Select Team (*formerly known as the U22 Team) twice in her career. Chobak and former co-captain Emma Gentry became the fourth and fifth Huskies to make the team back in 2023 before Gentry was a back-to-back pick in 2024. Prior to that, goaltender Emma Polusny was the last Husky to make the team in 2019 and before that, defender Brittni Kuyper made back-to-back U22 squads in 2006 and 2007 while forward Holly Roberts joined Kuyper at the 2007 U22 Series.
St. Cloud State Huskies at the U.S. Collegiate Select Series
Year Name Pos.
2025 JOJO CHOBAK G
2024 Emma Gentry F
2023 Emma Gentry F
2023 JOJO CHOBAK G
2019 Emma Polusny G
2007 Holly Roberts F
2007 Brittni Kuyper D
2006 Brittni Kuyper D
THANK YOU, BRIAN
Former head coach Brian Idalski was named the first-ever head coach of Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) expansion team, PWHL Vancouver on June 23.
The 2022-23 U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) National Coach of the Year departed St. Cloud after three seasons in which he helped turn the program around, bringing the Huskies back into national prominence. Under Idalski, SCSU went 50-50-9 and recorded three of its eight highest single season win totals in program history and set numerous other individual and team records.
In 2024-25, Idalski became just the second coach in program history to amass 50 wins and was the first to do so in three seasons or less. He also became the first coach in program history to beat Minnesota on the road (0-60-2 prior) and was just the second coach to post three consecutive 15+ win seasons.
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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's HockeyCoach Mira Jalosuo Introductory Press Conference - Women's Hockey
Monday, July 21
Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-31-25
Saturday, February 01
St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-18-25
Sunday, January 19
SCSU Women's Hockey Postgame Press Conference 1-17-25
Saturday, January 18
