St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hosts No. 7 Minnesota Duluth for Military Appreciation Weekend

Friday, November 13

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

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Photo by: Kayden Kircher

11/12/2026 3:15:00 PM | Men's Hockey

GAME NOTES

Huskies and Bulldogs to play Friday and Saturday at the Brooks Center

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey is set to begin a stretch of eight consecutive games against top-20 ranked opponents, first hosting No. 7 Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT on Friday and 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday with the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson, former captain Geno Parrish and iceside reporter Zach Rudeen on call on The CW and NCHC.tv. Over the airwaves, Husky Productions alum Nick Maxson and SCSU Hall of Famer Dave Reichel will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
SCSU is coming off a tough road weekend at Omaha, skating to a 2-2 tie and shootout loss on Friday before a 5-3 defeat to the Mavericks on Saturday. Minnesota Duluth is coming off a home split against Miami, falling 3-2 on Friday before a 2-1 win on Saturday at Amsoil Arena.

MILITARY APPRECIATION WEEKEND

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and Kwik Trip are partnering to show appreciation for military personnel for this weekend's Military Appreciation Weekend.
The Huskies will wear specialty camouflage jerseys purchased by Kwik Trip for both games of this weekend's series against UMD, and the jerseys will be auctioned off online. The auction will open for bidding on Friday, Nov. 13 at 6:00 p.m. CT and will close on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 12:00 a.m. CT. Winning bidders can select to pick up their jerseys or have them shipped, although a shipping fee will be charged. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Ice Hockey program.
Visit SCSUHuskies.com/Auctions to bid.

RANKING OUTLOOK

Minnesota Duluth is right in the thick of the postseason chase, checking in at No. 7 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey top-20 polls this week. SCSU had been receiving votes in both polls earlier this season, but did not receive any votes this week after the Omaha series. In the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI), which replaced the Pairwise prior to last season and is the official system for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Tournament, UMD sits at No. 8 (7-3-2, 0-1 OT) while the Huskies are currently ranked at No. 37 (3-5-1, 0-2 OT).
With eight consecutive games against top-15 ranked NPI opponents, SCSU has a chance to vault up the standings and get back in the NCAA mix to end the first half of the season.

SERIES HISTORY

St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth renew their rivalry and will meet for the 170th and 171st times, with the Bulldogs being the opponent SCSU has faced the most in its 92 seasons of hockey. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 85-73-11, but UMD has had the upper hand in the last 10 meetings, posting a 8-2-0 mark in the last 10 games.
Last season, UMD won five of six matchups, with the Huskies lone victory coming in a 6-0 win on Jan. 16 at the Brooks Center. Sophomore forward Noah Urness scored the game's first goal, which ended up being the game-winner, while sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak posted 42 saves in a shutout, which marked the most saves in a shutout by a Husky since 2017.
In the last meeting between the two programs, UMD came back from deficits twice, scoring extra attacker goals and then in overtime to win 4-3 and 2-1 in both games of the NCHC Quarterfinals, played March 6-7, 2026 at Amsoil Arena, pushing SCSU's losing streak to 10 consecutive games in Duluth. With the new NCHC schedule rotation in place for this season, this will be the only regular season series for the two programs. If the two teams do not meet in Duluth during postseason play, it will mark the first time since the 2011-12 season SCSU has not made a trip to Duluth to face the Bulldogs.

SERIES CONNECTIONS

In addition to being the most played opponent in SCSU's history, the two program's rosters have a few deep connections as well. First off, UMD senior forward Barrett Hall played his first three seasons in the Huskies' black and red, producing 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points in three seasons and serving as an alternate captain last season.
Additionally, it will be a family reunion for UMD junior forward Jayson Shaugabay and SCSU freshman forward Carson Pilgrim, as Shaugabay is Pilgrim's uncle. There is less than a year age difference between the two, who skated on the same line together and led Warroad High School to back-to-back Minnesota State Hockey Tournament Class A championship games in 2022 and 2023.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

SCSU managed to record one conference point in a road series against Omaha, skating to a 2-2 tie and shootout loss on Friday before a 5-3 defeat on Saturday. The Huskies power play clicked on nearly every chance over the weekend, with the Huskies scoring all five of their goals with a 5-for-6 performance on the man advantage against the Mavericks. The Huskies recorded 44 shots on goal, including 17 in the third period, on Friday, but was unable to find the game-winner. On Saturday, the Huskies dug itself out of a hole after allowing two goals in the first 2:48 of the game to tie the score at 3-3 in the third period, only to take a penalty of its own and allow Omaha to retake the lease with under four minutes to play.
2-2 tie at Omaha (11-6-26)
- The Huskies converted 2-of-3 power play chances to improve to 21.4 percent (6-of-28) on the season while lowering Omaha's top-five ranked penalty kill from 95.2 percent (20-of-21) to 87.5 percent (21-of-24).
- SCSU led in shots on goal, 44-33, while Omaha won the faceoff battle, 36-34.
- Sophomore defenseman Finn McLaughlin recorded his first career multi-point game with a goal and assist for two points. His second goal of the season in the third period was also his second power play goal.
- Freshman defenseman Will Sharpe scored his first career goal with a power play goal in the first period.
- Sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak made his fourth consecutive start between the pipes for the Huskies and made 31 saves to mark 30+ saves in four straight games and in six of seven starts this season. He's allowed two or fewer goals in two consecutive games, lowering his goals-against-average to 2.44 while raising his save percentage to .932.
- Senior forward Jake Southgate recorded his third assist of the season and 35th of his career with the primary assist on Sharpe's goal.
- Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis recorded his first career assist and third point of the season with the primary assist on McLaughlin's goal.
- The Husky freshman went 11-9 in the faceoff dot to record his third consecutive game with 10+ faceoff wins and posted a season-high shots on goal with seven.
- Sophomore forward Noah Urness tallied the secondary assist on McLaughlin's goal to pull even with linemates junior forward Gavyn Thoreson and sophomore forward Nolan Roed for the team lead with five assists this season.
- SCSU's top line of Urness-Roed-Thoreson have now recorded a goal or assist on 55.0 percent (11-of-20) Husky goals this season.
- Junior forward William Ahlrik went 11-5 in the faceoff circle for his sixth game this season with 10+ faceoff wins.
5-3 loss at Omaha (11-7-26)
- With the loss, SCSU is now 31-22-5 against Omaha and 12-13-3 against the Mavericks in Omaha.
- SCSU led in shots on goal, 26-24 and won the faceoff battle, 33-30.
- The Huskies converted all three of their power play chances to improve to 29.0 percent (9-of-31) on the season with all five of its goals from the series coming on the man advantage.
- SCSU's three power play tallies are the most it has scored in a game since netting three in a 5-1 win over Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 25, 2025.
- Freshman forward Carson Pilgrim scored his first career goal and added the primary assist on junior forward William Ahlrik's goal for his first career multi-point game.
- Sophomore forward Nolan Roed netted his second power play goal and Ahlrik scored his first on the man advantage, while they both netted their third overall goal to pull even with junior forward Gavyn Thoreson for the team lead.
- Roed went 13-9 in the faceoff dot, marking the eighth time this season and 17th time in his career he has won 10 or more faceoffs.
- Sophomore forward Noah Urness recorded his sixth assist to take the team lead for the season.
- Freshman defenseman Will Sharpe recorded his first career assist with the primary assist on Pilgrim's goal.
- Junior defenseman Thor Byfuglien and sophomore forward Jamison Sluys each recorded assists in the game.
- Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis went 10-3 in the faceoff circle, marking his fourth consecutive game with 10+ faceoff wins to improve to 53.3 percent (57-50) on the season.

TOP LINE CONTINUES TO SHINE

The trio of junior captain Gavyn Thoreson, sophomore forward Nolan Roed and sophomore forward Noah Urness began playing together and produced at a high level in the back half of last season, and has only continued its ascension in the first half of this season.
Through nine games this season, the trio rank as SCSU's top three scorers, with Roed and Thoreson at eight points each (3g/5a) while Urness has produced seven points with a team-high seven assists. The top line has combined for 23 of 63 points (36.5 percent) of SCSU's scoring throughout the season, and have scored the goal or recorded an assist on 12 of 23 goals (52.2 percent).
Urness' six assists rank 16th among NCHC skaters, while Roed and Thoreson's eight points both rank in the top 30.
Dating back to Jan. 30 of last season, which includes the final 10 games of the 2025-26 campaign, the three Huskies have scored a goal or recorded an assist of 25 of 52 SCSU goals (48.1 percent).
The trio played together for 14 of 36 games last season, provided 40.7 percent of their scoring in the final eight games of the campaign, and accounted for 73.9 percent (54-of-73) of SCSU's production from its seven returning skaters heading into this season.

POWER PLAY GETS GOING

After producing just four goals in its first 25 power play opportunities in the first seven games of the season, SCSU got his power play unit going in a big way against Omaha, converting of 5-of-6 chances to raise its season success rate to 29.0 percent (9-of-31).
The Huskies currently lead the NCHC in power play percentage and rank eighth nationally, while its nine power play tallies rank sixth nationally.
SCSU scored all five of its goals no the weekend on the man advantage, marking its first stretch of five consecutive goals coming on the power play since Oct. 17-18, 2025 against Vermont. SCSU's three power play tallies in the Saturday game were the most it has scored in a game since netting three in a 5-1 win over Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 25, 2025.
The success on the man advantage against the Mavericks was especially impressive given Omaha was 20-of-21 on the penalty kill and ranked in the top-10 nationally heading into the series.
Sophomore defenseman Finn McLaughlin has a team-leading five points (2g/3a) on the power play, while junior forward Noah Urness has a team-high four assists and sophomore forward Nolan Roed has two power play goals.