St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Closes Regular Season at No. 3 North Dakota

Friday, February 20

Ralph Engelstad Arena | Grand Forks, N.D.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

North Dakota

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Photo by: Bill Prout

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Closes Regular Season at No. 3 North Dakota

2/19/2026 3:29:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies look to position itself for home ice in road trip to Grand Forks

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will close the 2025-26 regular season with a road trip to rival No. 3 North Dakota at the Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend. The series begins on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT and will conclude on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT with Alex Heinert and Jim Scanlan on the broadcast call on MidCo Sports and NCHC.tv. On the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson and SCSU Hall of Famer Dave Reichel will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). Last weekend, the Huskies played to a split for the seventh time in 11 conference series played this season, winning a 6-5 overtime thriller over Colorado College on Friday before a 4-1 setback on Saturday. North Dakota is coming off a series sweep and five points against Colorado College, winning 1-0 and 4-3 (OT) last weekend at the Ralph.

NATIONAL POLLS / POST-SEASON OUTLOOK

With just two weeks and two games remaining in the regular season for SCSU, the Huskies are receiving votes in both polls. North Dakota is ranked No. 3 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey/AHCA polls. The Fighting Hawks have clinched home ice in the NCHC Quarterfinals and could win the Penrose Cup this weekend, while the Huskies are currently in a tie for fourth place in the NCHC standings with Minnesota Duluth, although the Bulldogs have two games in hand with SCSU wrapping up regular season play this weekend. With the end of the season quickly approaching, all eyes have shifted to the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI), which replaces the Pairwise and is the official system for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Tournament. In the current NPI, SCSU sits at No. 22 (16-16-0, 0-3 OT) and will need a strong end to its season in hopes of an at-large postseason bid, while UND is a near-lock at No. 3 with a 23-7-0 (2-3 OT) record.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be the 155^th and 156^th all-time meetings between the Huskies and Fighting Hawks, with all but one series happening since the 1989-90 season. The Fighting Hawks lead the overall series, 85-50-19 and have a decisive 43-19-9 advantage in games played in Grand Forks. The Huskies will look to snap a six-game winless streak against UND and a nine-game winless streak in Grand Forks. SCSU's last win over UND was a 3-2 overtime win at the 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals on March 17, 2023 at the Xcel Energy Center, while its last win at the Ralph came on Jan. 25, 2019, a 3-1 win in the first game of a series split in a 2018-19 season where SCSU won the Penrose Cup and set a league record for most points in a season.
The two teams met earlier this season at the Brooks Center (Dec. 5-6), with SCSU playing well enough to win but came up short twice (4-3 & 4-2) in a series sweep. In the series opener, the Huskies and Fighting Hawks traded goals for much of the night with SCSU never able to find the equalizing score in an evenly played game where shots were 23-23 and faceoffs were 35-34 in SCSU's favor. On Saturday, UND jumped out to a 2-0 lead before SCSU's crawled back to tie the score at 2-2 before surrendering a third period shorthanded goal and an empty net goal to fall 4-2 in a game it outshout the Fighting Hawks 37-25 and won the faceoff battle, 37-23.

ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST

Junior forward Tyson Gross is flying under the radar but is starting to gain national attention as a legitimate top-10 candidate for the Hobey Baker Award, annually awarded to the nation's top collegiate player. Gross has collected a team-best 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points, ranking in the NCAA's top-10 in goals and points while leading the entire nation with 439 faceoff wins. He's also making his case for NCHC Player of the Year consideration, as he currently leads the NCHC scoring title race with 26 points (16-10--26), while his 16 goals in NCHC leads all skaters and is three ahead of second place (Western Michigan's Liam Valente with 13). In College Hockey News' Hobey Tracker, Gross currently ranks No. 18 in the standings. SCSU has not had a Hobey Baker finalist since 2018-19 when Jimmy Schuldt was a top-three Hat Trick finalist.

LEAGUE PLAY LEADERS

SCSU's big three - junior forwards Tyson Gross and Barrett Hall and sophomore forward Austin Burnevik have only elevated their production in conference play, ranking among the league's leaders in several offensive categories.
Gross is making his bid for an All-NCHC First Team selection and currently leads the NCHC in goals (16), points (26) and faceoff wins (300) while ranking second in game-winning goals (three), second in power play goals (five) and fifth in faceoff percentage (.561).
Burnevik ranks second in assists (15) and third in points (21) while Hall ranks seventh in game-winning goals (two), eighth in points (19), eighth in assists (12) and 14th in goals (seven).
Additionally, senior defenseman Max Smolinski ranks 19th in assists (10), sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson ranks 12th in goals (eight) and senior defenseman Mason Reiners ranks 10th in plus/minus (+10).

MORE ON GROSS

Junior forward Tyson Gross has been dominate in the faceoff circle this season and is quickly shooting up the nation's leaders with his offensive production. He has won an NCAA-best 439 draws this season and ranks sixth with a 59.2 percent (439-302) success rate among those with 100+ wins. He also won an NCAA-high 20 draws in both games of the Alaska Anchorage series (Oct. 24-25).
The Husky junior has won 10+ faceoffs in 28 of 32 games this season and 15+ faceoff wins in 15 games.
Gross has scored a point in 24 of 32 games this season, collecting 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points, ranking sixth nationally in points, seventh in goals, 18^th in assists. He is one of two players in the nation this season to have multiple streaks of 8+ games with a point (Quinnipiac's Ethan Wyttenback), owning a nine-game streak to start the season and eight-game streak from Nov. 21 to Jan. 3. His streak to begin the season extended to 10 games dating back to March 15, 2025, as he became just the seventh Husky since 2002-03 to record a point streak of 10+ games.
The Husky junior captain is currently producing 1.22 points per game, the best mark in program history since Kale Kossilla scored 1.32 points per game (54p/41g) in 2015-16.
In the series sweep over Arizona State, Gross scored 2+ goals in back-to-back games for the second time in his career (Dec. 6-7, 2024 vs. Omaha). Since 2002-03, he is just the second in program history to have two instances of 2+ goals in back-to-back games, joining Garrett Roe (Jan. 11-12, 2008 & Feb. 25-26, 2011). and the only Husky to have scored shorthanded goals in back-to-back games.
When he scored his 20^th point with an assist against North Dakota on Dec. 6, Gross became the 23rd player in program history to begin their SCSU career with three consecutive 20-point seasons.
In the Feb. 13 win vs. CC, Gross recorded his 50th career assist, becoming the 60th Husky in D-I history to reach that mark and first Zach Okabe and Veeti Miettinen reached 50 career assists in the 2022-23 season (both finished career in 2023-24).

TERRIFIC TRIO

Junior forward Tyson Gross (37 points / 1.22 ppg), sophomore forward Austin Burnevik (35 points / 1.09 ppg) and junior forward Barrett Hall (28 points / 0.88 ppg) have led the way offensively for the Huskies through 32 games, all averaging more than or nearly a point per game.
SCSU's top line have teamed up for the goal, primary and secondary assist on eight goals this season, while two of the three have contributed to 24 goals, totaling 32 of SCSU's 100 goals this season. The Hobey Baker Award nominee trio has combined for 45 goals and 57 assists for 102 points and 37.4 percent of SCSU's 273 points.
SCSU has not had three players average 1.00+ ppg over a full season since 2018-19 when Patrick Newell (1.17 ppg), Blake Lizotte (1.08 ppg) and Robby Jackson (1.05 ppg) all reached the mark. Gross' current mark of 1.23 ppg is the best mark by a Husky since Kale Kossila posted 1.32 points per game in 2015-16 (54 points in 41 games).
In 38 seasons of Division-I hockey, SCSU has had three or more players average 1.00+ ppg in 14 seasons and just four times since 2003-04.

STATEMENT WINS

St. Cloud State is 4-9-0 against ranked teams this season, but its four wins have been statement wins that have come against top-10 ranked opponents and will look real good on its resume once postseason play comes around.
First, SCSU beat the defending National Champions and then-No. 3 Western Michigan, 5-1, on Nov. 1 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Broncos. The win was SCSU's first over a top-three ranked opponent since Jan. 7, 2023 when the Huskies beat No. 3/1 Minnesota, 3-0, in St. Cloud.
SCSU then erased a two-goal deficit to beat No. 6/5 Denver, 4-3, on Dec. 13. The Huskies win was the Pioneers first loss in regulation in conference play this season. The Huskies overcame a two-goal deficit and won for the first time since winning 3-2 in overtime over Minnesota Duluth on March 7, 2025. The last time SCSU overcame a two-goal deficit and won in regulation was Dec. 3, 2022, when the Huskies trailed North Dakota 3-0 before winning 6-3.
SCSU beat then-No. 6 Minnesota Duluth with a 6-0 shutout on Jan. 16. The 6-0 win is SCSU's first shutout win over UMD since a 2-0 win at Duluth on March 5, 2022, and its largest margin of victory against the Bulldogs since an 8-2 win in Duluth on Feb. 11, 2011.
Finally, SCSU beat then-No. 9 Denver, erasing its second two-goal deficit of the season in a 4-2 road win over the Pioneers on Jan. 23.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

SCSU played to a series split for the seventh time in 11 conference series last weekend against Colorado College, winning 6-5 in overtime on Friday before a 4-1 setback on Saturday. The Huskies overcame a two-goal deficit for the third time this season in Friday's win, with senior defenseman Cooper Wylie providing the game-winner just 16 seconds into the extra period. On Saturday, the Huskies outshot the Tigers 30-16 in the final two periods and 39-27 overall, but only found the back of the net once.

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 6-5 OT win vs. Colorado College (2-13-26)
- With the win, the Huskies move to 7-8-0 on Fridays, 8-9-0 at home, 1-3 in overtime games, 4-13-0 when its opponent scores first, 3-11-0 when trailing after the first period, 2-13-0 when trailing after the second period and 6-7-0 in one-goal games.
- The Huskies earned its third two-goal comeback victory of the season, with the other two coming on Dec. 13, 2025, against Denver (4-3) and Jan. 23, 2026 at Denver (4-2).
- SCSU's top line of junior forward Barrett Hall, junior forward Tyson Gross and sophomore forward Austin Burnevik teamed up for Burnevik's second period score, marking the third consecutive game and eighth time this season the trio has recorded the goal, primary assist and secondary assist on an SCSU goal. The Hobey Baker Award nominee trio has combined for 45 goals and 57 assists for 102 points and 37.8 percent of SCSU's 270 points.
- Sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson recorded his first career three-point game and first career two-assist game with a goal and two assists. His goal was his eighth of the season while his assists were his sixth and seventh, giving him 15 points on the season.
- Burnevik netted his 17th goal of the season and 18th assist for his 34th and 35th points of the season while extending his point streak to four games. The Husky sophomore has scored a point in 23 of 31 games this season and two or more points in 11 games.
- Gross recorded his 20th and 21st assists of the season to become the first Husky to record 20 assists in a season since Dylan Anhorn had 27 in 2023-24. It marks the 24th time in 31 games he has scored a point this season and 11th time he's had a two-point game.
- Freshman forward Nolan Roed scored for the first time since Oct. 24 against Alaska Anchorage and recorded his third career two-point game. The goal was his third of the season while his assist was his 12th for 15 points.
- Sophomore defenseman Thor Byfuglien set new career-highs with his first career two-assist and two-point game. His four assists and five points this season are new career-highs as well, surpassing the two assists and three points in his 2024-25 freshman campaign.
- Senior defenseman Cooper Wylie netted his first game-winning goal of the season and third of his career with overtime score.
- Redshirt senior forward Ryan Rosborough scored for the second time this season and set a new career-high for points in a season with his sixth point.
- Playing in just his ninth game of the season, freshman defenseman Tanner Henricks scored his second goal of the season and fifth point.
GAME 2 - 4-3 win at Arizona State (2-7-26)
- SCSU moves to 69-55-9 all-time against Colorado College and 26-26-6 against the Tigers in St. Cloud.
- With the loss, the Huskies move to 9-7-0 on Saturdays, 8-10-0 at home, 4-14-0 when its opponent scores first, 2-6-0 when tied after the first period and 2-14-0 when trailing after two periods.
- SCSU killed off the only penalty it took in the game to improve to 76.1 percent (67-of-88) on the season.
- Senior forward Adam Ingram scored his first goal of the season and 21st of his career in the first period.
- Junior forward Tyson Gross went 11-11 in the faceoff dot, marking the 28th time in 32 games he's won 10 or more faceoffs.
- Freshman forward Nolan Roed went 11-3 in the faceoff dot, marking the eight time this season he's won 10 or more faceoffs.