(RV) St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Heads East for Road Series at No. 16/15 Boston College

Thursday, October 15

Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Boston College

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Photo by: Kayden Kircher

(RV) St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Heads East for Road Series at No. 16/15 Boston College

10/14/2026 2:58:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies will face Boston College on Thursday and Saturday

THE MATCHUP

Coming off its first win of the season and a "split-plus" against a ranked opponent, St. Cloud State Men's Hockey heads to the east coast for its second consecutive nonconference series against a ranked opponent. The Huskies will face No. 16/15 Boston College in a two-game road series played over three days, with the series beginning on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT and will finish up on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT. Both games will streamed on ESPN+ with Eric Gallanty and Jim Connelly on the call on Thursday, while Luis Sanchez and Bob Dearaney will have the call on Saturday. On the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
The Huskies are coming off a split-plus against No. 12/16 Michigan Tech, falling 3-2 in overtime in its home-opener on Friday before earning its first win of the season, a 5-3 victory on Saturday. Boston College opened its season last Friday, falling 3-2 to Alaska at home.

EARLY SEASON OUTLOOK

SCSU is looking to pick up wins against ranked nonconference opponents, as this weekend's stretch concludes a stretch of four consecutive games against teams ranked in the top-20 before NCHC play begins. The Huskies earned its first vote in the USCHO poll, but is not receiving any votes in the USA Hockey top-20 poll. SCSU was selected to finish eighth in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll.
Boston College enters the weekend ranked No. 16 in the USCHO poll and No. 15 in the USA Hockey poll. The Eagles were selected to finish fourth in the Hockey East Preseason Poll.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be the eighth and ninth all-time meetings between the two programs and just the second-ever trip to Chestnut Hill for the Huskies. SCSU leads the all-time series, 4-3-0, but Boston College won the last two meetings in the first set of the current home-and-home agreement played on Nov. 1-2, 2024 in St. Cloud (4-1 & 2-1 wins). In SCSU's only other trip to Conte Forum, the Huskies walked away with a commanding 7-0 victory on another Thursday game, place Oct. 25, 2018 at the beginning of the 2018-19 season. Then-freshman forward Sam Hentges led the way with a hat trick performance as the Huskies spent the entirety of the 2018-19 campaign ranked in the top-five nationally.
The two teams also met once in postseason play at the 2021 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship game, where the Huskies earned a 4-1 win to clinch its second-ever trip to the NCAA Frozen Four. After falling behind 1-0 in the game, the Huskies scored three goals in the second period to take control and punch their trip to the Frozen Four.

NEW ERA OF HUSKY HOCKEY

After being hired as the fourth head coach in the Division-I era of St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, Head Coach Nick Oliver continues his initial campaign as bench boss of the Huskies. The former Husky captain is back for his third stint in the Granite City after playing in 145 career games over four seasons in the black and red, serving as team captain his senior season and alternate captain as a junior. He then returned to St. Cloud as an assistant coach from 2018-22, where the Huskies experienced one of the most successful four year runs in program history. He is the only coach or player to be a part of both NCAA Frozen Fours in SCSU history, playing in the 2013 Frozen Four and serving as an assistant on the 2021 team that reached the national championship game.
Oliver earned his first career victory as a head coach in SCSU's 5-3 win over No. 12/16 Michigan Tech on Saturday, Oct. 10 behind goals from five different Huskies and a three-point performance (1g/2a) from senior forward captain Gavyn Thoreson.
Oliver joined his college coach, Bob Motzko, as the only two SCSU head coaches in the Division-I era to earn their first win with the Huskies against a ranked opponent. Motzko's Huskies beat No. 12 Northern Michigan, 3-2, in overtime on Oct. 15, 2006 in Marquette.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

SCSU earned a split-plus in its home-opening series last weekend, falling 3-2 in overtime on Friday before coming back and winning 5-3 on Saturday for the first win of the Coach Oliver era. The Huskies took a 2-0 lead in Friday's contest before the Michigan Tech Huskies scored three unanswered goals to take the game. Saturday's contest was a back-and-forth affair with each team holding leads before SCSU scores three third period goals to seal the victory.
3-2 OT loss to Michigan Tech (10-9-26)
- The Huskies scored on the power play for the second consecutive game to open the season and remain at 25 percent (2-of-8) on the man advantage this season.
- SCSU was a perfect 5-of-5 on the penalty kill and improved to 90.0 percent (9-of-10) on the kill this season.
- The Huskies went 31-19 in the faceoff dot, led by a 16-7 night from junior forward William Ahlrik and a 10-5 night from sophomore forward Nolan Roed.
- Thoreson scored his first goal of the season and 18th of his career with his first period score.
- Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis scored his first collegiate goal and first power play goal in the second period.
- Sophomore defenseman Finn McLaughlin recorded his second assist of the season to take the team lead in assists while also setting a new season-best for his career after record one assist in 31 games last season.
- Roed and sophomore forward Noah Urness recorded their first assists of the season.
- Freshman goaltender Yan Shostak made 26 saves, marking the second time this season and 12th time in his career he has made 25 or more saves.
- Two Huskies – freshman forward John Hirschfeld and freshman defenseman Will Sharpe – made their SCSU and collegiate debuts in the game.
5-3 win to Michigan Tech (10-10-26)
- The win was Nick Oliver's the first collegiate head coaching victory and first as SCSU head coach.
- With the win, St. Cloud State improves 57-28-5 all-time against Michigan Tech and 34-10-3 against the Huskies in St. Cloud. In the last 10 meetings between the two programs, SCSU is 7-3-0.
- SCSU led in shots on goal (35-33) and faceoff wins (36-31).
- The Huskies scored on the power play for the third consecutive game to open the season and is now 27.3 percent (3-of-11) on the man advantage this season.
- SCSU killed off both Michigan Tech power plays and has now killed seven consecutive penalties over the last two games. On the season, SCSU is now 91.7 percent (11-of-12) on the kill this season.
- Junior forward William Ahlrik scored a goal and assist for two points while going 13-13 in the faceoff dot.
- Junior forward Gavyn Thoreson tied a career-high for points in a game with three after scoring a goal with two assists.
- Freshman forward Brock Souch scored his first collegiate goal and point with his first period power play tally.
- Sophomore defenseman Joe Belisle netted his first career game-winning goal and second goal overall.
- Junior defenseman Thor Byfuglien scored his first goal of the season and third of his career.
- Junior goaltender Patriks Berzins made 30 saves to earn the victory.
- Freshman forward Adam Vigfusson made his collegiate and SCSU debut in the game.

TOP LINE RETURNS

Although listed as the second or third line for a large majority of the second half of last season, the trio of junior captain Gavyn Thoreson, sophomore forward Nolan Roed and sophomore forward Noah Urness were arguably SCSU's best line for the final stretch of the season. The trio are SCSU's top-three returning scorers from a season ago, with each scoring 18+ points while accounting for 73.9 percent (54-of-73) of SCSU's production from its seven returning skaters.
Through three games this season, the trio has picked up right where they left off, with Thoreson and Roed scoring a point or more in each game this season and Urness scoring a point in two of three games.
Thoreson's five points (2g/3a) currently rank 14th nationally among all skaters.
Thoreson has been SCSU's leading scorer early on, scoring two goals and three assists for five points, which includes a three-point performance (1g/2a) in the Oct. 10 win over Michigan Tech. Roed found the back of the net in the Huskies season-opener against Bemidji State (Oct. 3), while Urness had an assist in each game of the Michigan Tech series.
The group was able to grow together as the 2025-26 season went along, playing together for 14 of 36 games last season, including the last eight, and provided 40.7 percent of their production in the final 10 games of the season.
Thoreson led the way with 20 points (11-9--20) and made the jump from his freshman campaign where he only scored 10 points. Urness notched seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points while leading the team with four game-winning goals. Roed ranked fourth on the team in assists with 13 and added five goals for 18 points in his freshman campaign.
The trio picked up right where they left off a season ago, as Roed and Thoreson scored on the Huskies' first goal of the season, with Roed netting a power play goal in SCSU's season-opener at Bemidji State (Oct. 3) with Thoreson recording the secondary assist.

SOLID PK

The penalty kill unit has been strong through three games this season, clicking at a 91.7 percent success rate with stops on 11-of-12 man advantages for SCSU's opponents. The Huskies have killed off seven consecutive penalties over the last two games with perfect 5-for-5 and 2-for-2 performances in the Michigan Tech series.
The lone goal SCSU's PK unit surrendered was Bemidji State's overtime-winning goal on Oct. 3 in 4-on-3 play. The Huskies have turned away every 5-on-4 situation so far this season.
Often considered a team's best penalty killers, SCSU's goaltenders, sophomore Yan Shostak and junior Patriks Berzins have posted a 92.3 save percentage on kills this season with Shostak stopping 9-of-10 shots in two starts while Berzins stopped two shots on goal in his Oct. 10 start.

BUSY SUMMER

Coach Oliver has been busy since his return, as the coaching staff and roster have been near complete rebuilds, with the hiring of two assistant coaches, an assistant to the head coach and the recruitment of 17 newcomers. Clark Kuster serves as the lone returning member of the coaching staff and was joined by former Yale Interim Head Coach Joe Howe and former Husky captain Spencer Meier. Joining the trio is former Husky forward Daniel Tedesco, who will serve as the Assistant to the Head Coach, a position formerly known as the Director of Operations and Video Coordinator.
The coaching staff worked diligently throughout the summer to put together the 2026-27 Huskies, with 11 freshmen and six transfers joining the program. Included in the mix of newcomers are 10 forwards, six defenseman and one goaltender, as well as three NHL draft picks.
Through three games, 16 of 17 newcomers have seen action for the Huskies this season. Among the six transfers, two have scored and four have recorded a point, while two freshmen have found the back of the net and four have recorded a point.