Max Steigauf / Sports Director / @MSteigauf

Huskies fall to Gophers 2-1 but a strong message sent.

4-104 and 3. Thats St. Cloud State’s women’s hockey record against the Gophers. Last night the Huskies lost for the 104th time to the maroon and gold, but this time it wasn’t the usual script. This time the Gophers had to EARN the win. Since the Huskies beat the Gophers in last year’s Hall of Fame game in Andover the Gophers have been trying to send a message: “You got lucky”. Last night however the Huskies sent a message back: “We are here to stay.”

First Period

The first period of this top 15 matchup was a back-and-forth battle with a lot of odd skater rushes going for both sides. Both sides had chances to break the scoreless tie but by the end of the first 20 minutes the score remained 0-0. The Gophers seemed to be getting frustrated with the physical play of St. Cloud culminating in a Klara Hymlarova hip check of Gopher star Abbey Murphy and tensions flaring between the two benches.

Second Period

The second period the Gophers pushed back controlling the puck for most of the period. Enter in Jojo Chobak. The Huskies goalie looked like she would maybe steal another game for the cardinal and black like she did in last year’s fill the bowl game in Madison. Acrobatic save after acrobatic save Chobak kept the game scoreless until the middle of the second period. Emily Zumwinkle unloaded a howitzer from the blue line. Jojo would stop the first shot, but Ava Lindsay would put the rebound away to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead. The Huskies continued to push back for the rest of the period but were unable to score in the middle frame.

Third Period

The Third period started rough with the Huskies having to kill an early Gophers powerplay. As the final 20 minutes continued both teams would rack up a total of five powerplays. In the final minute Gopher forward Peyton Hemp would head to the sin bin for interference which also disallowed a Gopher goal. Momentum started to shift St. Cloud’s way and their offense started to work Minnesota’s defense more than any team this year thanks in large part to pulling Chobak for an extra skater. St. Cloud forced Minnesota to clear the puck and Taylor Stewart threw the puck down the ice hitting a divot in the ice and curved into the empty net 2-0 Gophers with :48 second left. The Huskies wouldn’t go down though, and they would come back swinging. St. Cloud kept the extra attacker on the ice and this time it worked! Avery Farrell would net a wobbly puck past Skylar Vetter. 2-1 with five seconds left in the game! the Huskies couldn’t find the equalizer but as mentioned earlier a message was sent.

Debrief

The Huskies pushed the #4 team to the brink without some of their top forwards in Taylor Lind and Emma Gentry. If that’s what the team looks like without some of their top talent imagine the possibilities with those two in the lineup! The Huskies have announced themselves as a top team in the WCHA. Jojo Chobak was incredible in last night’s game stopping 28 of 29 shots, while also making some plays that would make Marc-Andre Fleury blush. The transfers and young talent looked incredible in their first game against the Gophers. The Huskies will now head east this weekend for the 2023 Women’s Ice Breaker tournament. St. Clouds first game will be against the #10 ranked Northeastern on Friday at 3 p.m.