St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops Series Opener to Omaha

Friday, January 9

Baxter Arena | Omaha, Neb.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

10-11-0, 3-8-0

Omaha

8-13-0, 4-7-0

St. Cloud St.

Omaha

Photo by: Bill Prout

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Drops Series Opener to Omaha

1/9/2026 10:00:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies score first two games before giving up six unanswered goals

OMAHA, Neb. – St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (10-11-0, 3-8-0 NCHC) scored the first two goals of the game but then gave up six unanswered goals in a 6-2 loss to Omaha (8-13-0, 4-7-0 NCHC) on Friday night at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Huskies.

SCSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after scoring twice in the first 11 minutes of the game. First, the Huskies capitalized on the game's first power play when sophomore forward Austin Burnevik (Ham Lake, Minn.) drew the defense to the middle of the ice before feeding junior forward Barrett Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) on the right wing for a one-timer that beat the goalie nearside. Just three minutes later, the Huskies doubled their lead on the fourth goal of the season from senior defenseman Max Smolinski (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.). His blue line partner senior defenseman Cooper Wylie (Stillwater, Minn.) had the puck below the goal line and moved it up to the point where Smolinski shot a wrister towards that net that deflected in front of the net and over the goaltender's shoulder. Just when SCSU thought it had the momentum, Omaha flipped the energy and scored twice in a 2:17 span late in the period to tie the score 2-2.

Omaha took its first lead of the game midway through the second period when the Huskies attempt a breakout but failed to clear the puck, causing a 2-on-1 chance for the Mavericks which they converted for a 3-2 lead. The Mavericks then scored its fourth consecutive goal at the 14:28 mark of the period when Marcus Nguyen finished a shot on the weakside after sophomore goaltender Patriks Berzins (Talsia, Latvia) was dropped by an Omaha skater. The Huskies challenged for goaltender interference but the call on the ice stood.

Omaha added two more goals in the third period to cap the scoring at 6-2.

TOP HUSKIES

Smolinski scored a goal and had an assist for two points.
Hall scored his fifth power play goal and ninth overall of the season in the first period.
Junior forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) went 18-8 in the faceoff dot.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU is now 30-21-4 all-time vs. Omaha and 11-12-2 against the Mavericks in Omaha.
SCSU moves to 2-5-0 on the road, 10-2-0 when scoring first, 0-3-0 when tied after the first period and 1-10-0 when trailing after two periods.
The Huskies went 1-for-2 on the power play to improve to 29.4 percent (25-of-85) on the man advantage this season.
Hall netted his fifth power play goal of the season and ninth goal overall with his first period power play goal. His ninth goal is a new career high for the most in a season for the Husky junior, surpassing the eight goals he scored as a freshman in 2023-24.
Smolinski scored his fourth goal of the season with his first period score while adding an assist for a two-point game, his second this season and ninth of his career.
Burnevik recorded his 10^th assist of the season while recording a point for the 15^th time in 21 games.
Wylie had the primary assist on Smolinski's goal, recording his ninth assist of the season.
Gross went 18-8 in the faceoff dot, marking the 20^th time in 21 games he's won 10+ faceoffs and the 11^th time he's won 15+ faceoffs.
Junior forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) went 15-7 in the faceoff dot, marking the fourth time this season and 19^th time in his career he has recorded 10+ faceoff wins.

UP NEXT

SCSU and Omaha will finish its series on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT at Baxter Arena in Omaha.

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.