St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Captures Cactus Cup Championship with 3-2 Win over UMass Lowell

Saturday, January 3

Acrisure Arena | Palm Springs, Calif.

9:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

10-10-0

UMass Lowell

7-12-0

St. Cloud St.

UMass Lowell

Photo by: Bill Prout

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Captures Cactus Cup Championship with 3-2 Win over UMass Lowell

1/4/2026 2:15:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies capture first in-season tournament title since 2016

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (10-10-0, 3-7-0 NCHC) scored the first three goals of the game and held on at the end to beat Massachusetts Lowell (7-12-0, 3-6-0 HEA), 3-2, on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif., and claim the 2026 Cactus Cup championship. The in-season tournament was the first in nearly 10 years for the Huskies.

Junior forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) scored the first goal of the game and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after four points (1-3—4) and a 73.7 mark (28-10) in the faceoff dot over the weekend.

After being held to no shots on goal for nearly 10 minutes, the Huskies took control of the game in the final 10 minutes of the opening period, mustering six shots on goal and the game's first goal right before the end of the period. While on the power play, UML attempted to clear the puck, but sophomore defenseman Finn Loftus (Blaine, Minn.) was there to keep the puck in the zone, pushing it ahead to Gross in front of the net. The Husky captain got the puck on net, which was initially saved and batted up into the air, where Gross took a swing at it again and knocked it into the back of the net with 1.2 second remaining on the clock. The play was challenged by the River Hawks, but was upheld as SCSU went into the intermission with the lead.

SCSU was forced to begin the second period on the penalty kill after taking a penalty immediately after Gross' goal, and the Huskies were able to not only kill the penalty, but they were also able to extend its lead near the end of the penalty with the team's fourth shorthanded goal of the season. Loftus started the play once again, chipping the puck to the blue line where junior forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) was ready to start a 2-on-1 breakaway with senior forward Grant Ahcan (Savage, Minn.). Miettinen drove the puck almost all the way to the net down the left wing before saucering a pass over to Ahcan for a one-time slapshot on the weakside for the score and 2-0 lead.

The Huskies then extended their lead again to 3-0 just past the midway point of the third period when freshman forward Noah Urness (Roseau, Minn.) scored his second goal in as many nights. SCSU got UML in a line change, with freshman forward Nolan Roed (White Bear Lake, Minn.) leading the rush before a pass to sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson (Andover, Minn.) streaking down the right wing. Thoreson initially missed on the shot attempt but was able to gather and feed a pass back to the slot, where Urness was all alone and able to tap in a shot for the 3-0 lead.

UML scored two third period goals, including one with just three seconds remaining, but SCSU was able to hold on for the 3-2 win and championship win.

TOP HUSKIES

Loftus had two assists to lead the way for the Huskies with two points.
Gross continued his remarkable stretch of play, scoring in his eighth consecutive game with a power play goal in the first period.
Urness scored his fifth goal of the season and already his third game-winning score.
Sophomore goaltender Patriks Berzins (Talsia, Latvia) was solid in-between the pipes for the Huskies once again, making 21 saves in his third consecutive victory.

NOTES

SCSU won its first in-season tournament since winning the 2016 North Star Cup on Jan. 30-31, 2016, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
SCSU improves to 1-1-0 against UMass Lowell with its only other previous matchup coming on Dec. 1, 1987, a 7-4 win for the River Hawks in SCSU's first season as a Division-I program.
On the season, SCSU moves to 10-1-0 when scoring first, 9-0-0 when leading after one period and 9-1-0 when leading after two periods.
The Huskies went 1-for-3 on the power play to improve to 28.9 percent (24-of-83) on the man advantage this season. On the penalty kill, SCSU killed its only penalty to move to 72.4 percent (42-of-58) on the season.
Gross scored his 11^th goal and sixth tally on the power play this season while also extending his point streak to eight consecutive games.
The Husky captain went 17-5 in the faceoff dot, marking the 19^th time in 20 games he's won at least 10 faceoffs and the 18^th time he's won 15+ faceoffs.
Ahcan netted his second shorthanded goal of the season and fourth of his career in the second period. He moves to a tie for 13^th all-time in program history in shorthanded goals with 10 other Huskies.
After recording his first career two-point game in the Cactus Cup opener, Loftus scored two assists for his first career two-assist game. He has scored a point in three consecutive games and in five of the last six games.
Urness scored his fifth goal of the season and marked the first two-game goal streak of his career after netting a goal in the opener. His third period score eventually became the game-winner, marking his third game-winning goal of the season.
Berzins made 21 saves and allowed two goals, marking the 10^th time this season he has made 20+ saves and the seventh time he's allowed two goals or less.
Roed, Thoreson and Miettinen record their eighth, fourth and third assists of the season, respectively.

UP NEXT

SCSU will return to conference play next weekend when the Huskies travel to Omaha, Neb., to face Omaha on Jan. 9-10 at Baxter Arena. Both games are slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and be broadcast on NCHC.tv.

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 2025-26 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.