St. Cloud State split their weekend tilts, losing to Minnesota 5-1 Saturday and defeating St. Thomas 1-0 Sunday. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. CLOUD STATE ATHLETICSPuck drops on college hockey season
#16 St. Cloud State shuts out #20 Tommies
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – No. 16 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey (1-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) opened its 2024-25 season with a 1-0 shutout victory over No. 20 St. Thomas (0-1-0, 0-0-0 CCHA) on Sunday afternoon at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) was spectacular in net for the Huskies, stopping all 34 shots on goal and turning away four Tommie power plays.
The Huskies capitalized on an early four-on-four situation in the first period to record the game’s only score. At the 5:38 mark of the first frame, redshirt junior forward Ryan Rosborough (Mt. Brydges, Ontario) was able to tip-in freshman defenseman Colin Ralph’s (Maple Grove, Minn.) shot from the blue line to grab momentum early. SCSU dominated the first period overall, recording nearly double the amount of shots on goal at 15-8.
St. Thomas made many pushes in the second and third periods, outshooting the Huskies 14-5 and 12-8, respectively, but couldn’t find the equalizer to pull even. Posch and the Husky defense turned away three power play chances in the final two periods, halting a UST comeback.
TOP HUSKIES
- Posch made 34 saves in the shutout and was named the first star of the game.
- Rosborough scored his first goal of the season and second career game-winning goal.
- Ralph and sophomore forward Jack Reimann (Ham Lake, Minn.) each had assists in the game.
NOTES
- With the win, the Huskies improve to 22-25-0 all-time against St. Thomas and 6-1-0 as Division-I opponents (2021-22).
- Posch recorded 30+ saves for the seventh time in his career and had his second career shutout.
- Rosborough scored his fourth career goal and second career game-winning goal.
- Ralph recorded his first career collegiate point with an assist on Rosborough’s goal.
- Three of SCSU’s centers had 10+ faceoff wins and a faceoff percentage of 50 percent or better. Senior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) led the way with 12 wins (12-10, 54.5%), while sophomore forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) won 11 (11-7, 61.1%) and sophomore forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) had 10 (10-8, 55.6%) faceoff wins.
Jutting scores OT winner as Bemidji State beats UMD
Jackson Jutting2023 Mr. Hockey Jayson Shaugubay nets two for Bulldogs
Howard scores twice to lead Spartans
Former UMD forward and first round draft pick Isaac Howard (Hudson, WI/Shattuck-St. Mary’s) scored a pair of goals and assisted on another to lead Michigan State past Lake Superior St. 5-1. Minnesota Wild first round draft pick Charlie Stramel added an assist on one of Howard’s goals.
Jackson Hallum starred at St. Thomas Academy and was a 3rd round pick buy the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020. LPH FILE PHOTOHallum scores in Michigan win over Mavericks
Jackson Hallum, a 2020 3rd round pick by the Vegas Knights, scored a first-period goal as the Wolverines avenged a season-opening loss to the Mavericks with a 5-1 win in Michigan. Hallum, using his blazing speed, blew by the defender and lifted a backhander over the goalie for his first goal of the season.
Pierre nets game-winner for Merrimack
Nick PierreNick Pierre (Cottage Grove, MN), a former standout at Hill-Murray High School, scored his first collegiate goal which tuned out to be the game winner in Merrimack’s 3-2 win over Sacred Heart.
Augustana upsets No. 5 North Dakota
Brett Meerman (Alberta, CAN) scored twice for the Vikings who opened their season on a positive note. Will Svendaal (Blake HS) and Luke Mobley (St. Louis Park HS) each earned an assist in the win. Cameron Berg (West Fargo, ND) scored the lone goal for the Fighting Hawks in this exhibition battle.
Mavericks upend No. 7 Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan struck first but Minnesota State rallied back with four unanswered goals to defeat the No. 7 Wolverines 5-2 Friday night at Yost Arena in non-conference men’s hockey.
The Mavericks had five different goal scorers and were backstopped by Alex Tracy, who made 32 saves. MSU meets Michigan (0-1-0) again Saturday at 5:07 p.m. CT in Ann Arbor.
“I thought all night the bench was in a good place,” said head coach Luke Strand. “They were excited for one another and there was no panic. We just stuck together even when we weren’t necessarily playing our best hockey early.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Luigi Benincasa’s 2-on-1 wrister represented the first shot on goal in the game for the Mavericks nearly four minutes into the first period. Adam Eisele earned a chance on the short side during MSU’s first power play but Logan Stein slid cross-crease for the save. After leading the nation on the power play last season, Michigan finished the period 0-2 but outshot MSU 13-4 in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
Starting the second period with the extra attacker, William Whitelaw one-timed a shot from the left dot under the blocker of Tracy for the Wolverines. TJ Hughes and Michael Hage assisted 33 seconds into the middle frame.
At 4:25 Campbell Cichosz read the ice and head-manned a pass to Brian Carrabes, who deposited his first of the season on the blocker side. Luc Wilson started the play in the neutral zone as the Mavericks tied it 1-1.
Carrabes took advantage of a fallen defender, then fed a pass across to Brett Moravec who went forehand to backhand for a 2-1 score at 8:23 in the second.
Senior forward Rhett Pitlick rifled home his first goal in a Purple and Gold sweater just over one minute into the third period. Isolated after neutral zone interception, Pitlick head faked, then picked the lower corner on the stick side for a 3-1 edge.
“For Rhett’s sake, you can’t let him be one-on-one with the goalie. He’s pretty talented,” Strand quipped.
Freshman Luke Ashton sniped his first career goal from the top of the circle blocker side for a 4-1 advantage just over two minutes later.
“I thought Luke (Ashton) played a strong game, even beyond the scoresheet, so it was nice to see him get rewarded.”
Garrett Schifsky found a lane to the crease and tipped in a pass from Michael Hage at 14:57 but Alex Tracy was perfect in goal the rest of the way, helping Minnesota State secure its first win over Michigan in team history. Logan Stein made 18 saves for Michigan in defeat.
Eisele finished 11-15 in the faceoff circle. Both Carrabes (one goal, one assist) and Jordan Power (two assists) notched multi-point games.
Minnesota State (1-0-0) went 0-3 on the power play while Michigan finished 1-2 in front of a crowd of 5,274.
“I think just the ability for different lines to score on the offensive side was encouraging,” said Strand. “When you are against good teams, you have to take advantage of your opportunities and we did that tonight.”
CCHA Weekly Awards
CCHA Forward of the Week: Brett Pfoh, Jr., Bowling Green (Port Moody, B.C.)
Pfoh led Bowling Green to a 2-0 week, scoring a pair of goals, including the overtime-winner on Saturday, in a 5-4 Falcons victory at Mercyhurst. He got the scoring started midway through the first period, before capping the night with his 13th career tally. The outing was the second two-goal game of his BGSU career and he finished the weekend at +1 with three shots on goal.
CCHA Defenseman of the Week: Trevor Taulien, So., Ferris State (Cleveland, Wisc.)
Taulien turned the first two-goal game and second multi-point game of his collegiate career on Saturday, helping Ferris State to the second of two come-from-behind ties against Miami (OH). He led all CCHA defenseman in goals (2), plus-minus (+3) and blocked shots (8), while registering four shots on goal.
CCHA Goaltender of the Week: Raythan Robbins, So., Bemidji State (Anchorage, Alaska)
Robbins stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced in the third period and overtime on Saturday, to help Bemidji State to a 4-3 victory over then-No. 18 Minnesota Duluth. Entering the game midway through the third period as an injury replacement, he stopped six shots in regulation and all five in overtime to secure a 1-0 start for the Beavers. The victory was the first of his collegiate career.
CCHA Rookie of the Week: Luke Ashton, Fr., Minnesota State (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Ashton paced all CCHA rookies with two points last week, scoring his first collegiate goal and assisting on another in a 5-2 victory at then-No. 7 Michigan on Friday. Posting a league-best +3 on the weekend, he had seven shots on goal and blocked four at the defensive end of the ice.
