By Kyle Ginsbach/Assist. Sports Director/@GinsbachKyle

St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey opened their season with a 1-0 victory over the St. Thomas Tommies, despite being outshot 34-28.

The first period saw the Huskies control the pace early, with a youth movement leading the Huskies into the new season. The first two lines would see combinations of six underclassmen starting on the top two lines of forwards, while Huskies captain Josh Luedtke and Cooper Wylie shored up the Huskies as the starting D-pair. However, it would be a veteran to get things started, with junior forward Ryan Rosborough netting SCSU’s first goal of the season in 4-on-4 action. That single tally would hold for the Huskies, even as they saw their 15 to eight shot advantage after the first fade as the next period went on. Sophomore goalie Isak Posch would record his first shutout, recording 34 saves in the victory. His stalwart performance was key in SCSU recording their first win on the season.

On the defensive effort, Head Coach Brett Larson had this to say, “I was happy with the box out, I thought we did a good job around the net, Posch made the saves he needed to, and we didn’t give them a lot of second, third opportunities around the net. A really nice job from our forwards, a d-core.”

Another thing of note was the atmosphere and enviorment. For the first time in their young programs history, St. Thomas comes into the season with lofty expectations for the first time, and this matchup showed signs of a blossoming rivalry. St. Cloud State was the team that handed the Tommies their first D-1 loss, but also handed them their first win over a D-1 ranked win as well. This year, both squads to be on equal footing as they’ve ever been. And while St. Cloud State may hold the 6-1 all-time record over the Tommies for now, a rapidly improving Tommies squad will join the NCHC starting in the 2026-2027 season.

As for this contest, the St. Cloud faithful seemed to travel well, and despite the smaller rink, SCSU found a way to reward the fans traveling efforts. Huskies goalie Isak Posch, on playing at St. Thomas, had this to say, “You need to anticipate everything a little faster because everything happens faster, but at the same time, it’s easier to defend on the small sheet. Though, you can expect more shots on the small sheet too. You have to be sharp and ready for a shot, no matter what.”

Up Next: St. Cloud State will play a home & home series against Bemidji State next week. Puck drop for game one at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is slated for 7:30 p.m. CST, while game two at the Sanford Center in Bemidji is scheduled for 6:00. Pregame coverage on 88.1 FM KVSC will begin for both games 30 minutes prior to puck drop.