By Kyle Ginsbach/Assist. Sports Director/@GinsbachKyle

St. Cloud State Men’s hockey wrapped up their 2024 calendar year with a home Sunday matchup against future NCHC member, the St. Thomas Tommies.

As the first period got underway at the Brooks Center, the Huskies would already find themselves shorthanded. Already without star goaltender Isak Posch due to an injury, St. Cloud State would be without their leading scorer, Austin Burnevik, defenseman Colin Ralph, and their head coach, Brett Larson, as they found themselves as members of the United States roster at the World Junior Hockey championships. That didn’t seem to matter though, as a little over a minute into the first frame Adam Ingram would net his first goal of the season. St. Thomas would push back the rest of the period, tallying 13 shots on net, but goaltender Gavin Enright and the Huskies would carry a 1-0 lead into the break.

In the second period, the Tommies would continue to push. Two more powerplay tries, and 22 total shots later, the lead would still be one, with Gavin Enright coming up with a couple of big saves more than once in the twenty-minute stretch. So, for the second time on the season, St. Cloud State would once again carry a 1-0 lead into a third period against St. Thomas.

The question, of course, would be if SCSU could hold another 1-0 lead against UST. As the first 15 minutes of the period passed, it looked like that would be the case. However, Cooper Gay would tie the game for St. Thomas with under five to play off a deflection, knotting the game at one. Not thirty seconds later, the Huskies would storm back and take the lead off a goal from Barrett Hall, and that would hold. The 6-on-5 action would see the Tommies push for the equalizer, but Enright made his 28th save of the night as time expired, giving SCSU the series sweep over the Tommies.

Up Next: St. Cloud State has played their final non-conference game of the season, and their final game of the 2024 calendar year. Up next, The Huskies will travel to Duluth to take on the Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena on January 10th and 11th, where you find those games scheduled for 7:00 and 6:00 p.m. puck drops respectively. Those games will be broadcasted on the main airwaves 88.1 FM KVSC, or online at kvsc.org.