Max Steigauf / Sports Director / @MSteigauf

The St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey team has been on a roll the last couple of weeks, but that would be put to the test in last weekend’s series against the #8 Wisconsin Badgers.

Game one would be the biggest game for both programs. After a two-year hiatus Wisconsin’s infamous “Fill the Bowl Game” was back and once again against the Huskies. The Huskies faced the Badgers in a “Fill the Bowl Game” in 2017 which currently holds the record for the highest attended women’s NCAA game. in 2017 15,359 people watched the Badgers beat the Huskies 2-0. This year the Huskies had played the Badgers close in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center losing 2-3 in overtime in their final game before last weekend’s series. St. Cloud would enter this series looking to steal a few conference points from the badgers and add some distance between themselves and the Minnesota State Mavericks.

This “Fill the Bowl Game” would come close to that record with 14,430 packing into the Khols Center for this WCHA matchup. The first period started with Klara Hymlarova winning the opening faceoff, but the badgers dominated the first half of the opening period with St. cloud only getting their first shot on goal with 10:39 left in the first period. Five minutes later Britta Curl would score to give the Badgers their first lead of the weekend… or so they thought. Huskies Head Coach Brian Idalski would challenge they play arguing the Badgers were offsides, and after a lengthy review the referees would wave of the goal keeping the game 0-0. A minute later the Huskies would capitalize on the switch of momentum and Jenniina Nylund would release a devastating wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle over Badgers’ Goalie Cami Kronish’s glove to give St. Cloud a 1-0 lead with 4:24 left in the first period.

The second period would be crucial for St. Cloud as they tried to protect their 1-0 lead. This is where the Huskies’ Goaltender Jojo Chobak came in. Chobak stopped all 13 Wisconsin shots in the first period, and she would need the same effort to block the additional eleven shots in the second. the Huskies would also need to kill two back-to-back minor penalties late in the second period to keep the game in their favor, but the cardinal and black managed thanks to their stellar defense and headed into the third period up 1-0. In the Third the Huskies had to face another barrage of Badger shots. However, Jojo Chobak would stand tall again. Chobak would end the game stopping all 39 Badger shots giving Chobak her program leading fifth shutout this season passing Emma Polusny for most shutouts in a single season. The Huskies beat the Badgers 1-0 in the second most attended NCAA women’s hockey game in history.

Game two was back in LeBahn Arena as St. Cloud was in a postion to sweep the Badgers for the first time since 2001. Courtney Hall would give the Huskies the lead in the first period. St. Cloud and the Badgers would continue to trade blows until midway through the first period. The Badgers scored twice in under two minutes to flip St. Cloud’s lead on its head. In the second period the Badgers would put St. Cloud on their back foot scoring again three minutes into the middle frame to boost Wisconsin’s lead to 3-1. The Huskies defense would hold strong throughout the rest of the period.

Sticking true to their new Identity of grit and grind, St. Cloud kept pushing the Badgers back in the third period. The Huskies’ Captain Taylor Lind would score a shorthanded goal in her second game back with St. cloud since her lower body injury earlier this season. Lind’s goal came late in the third period after a misplay by Badgers’ Goalie Jane Gervais. St. Cloud couldn’t tie the game and would drop game two 3-2. Sanni Ahola had a fantastic game in goal stopping 36 of Wisconsin’s 39 shots.

Overall, the Huskies two goaltenders stopped 75 of the Badgers’ 78 shots over the weekend good enough for a .962 save percentage. The “Two Headed Monster” for St. Cloud is one of the best goalie tandems in the WCHA. The Huskies goalies face about 29 shots per game and currently are fourth in the conference with save percentage .917.

St. Cloud Is now #12 in the Pairwise rankings and the USCHO polls. The Huskies are now one spot away from the eleven team NCAA tournament. St. Cloud will face the Duluth Bulldogs next week and the Minnesota State Mavericks the week after that. If the Huskies find a way to win two of their next four games, they could have a very good shot at making the National Tournament.