ST. CLOUD, Minn. – (RV) St. Cloud State Women's Hockey resumes WCHA play this weekend with a home-and-home against St. Thomas in the second-to-last series of the first half. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. CT on Friday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center before a 2:00 p.m. CT finalat the St. Thomas Ice Arena on Saturday.
Weekend Promotions
Friday's home tilt features a winter coat drive with $5 admission to fans who bring a winter coat to donate at the ticket office.
Broadcast Information
The series will be streamed on B1G+ and 97.5 FM RadioX with live stats provided by the host institutions. Links to each coverage option can be found on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.
Last Time Out
St. Cloud State played their patented grit-and-grind style in a hard-fought 4-2 win over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon, earning a holiday weekend sweep. With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 9-8-0 – matching their win total from a season ago. Jenniina Nylund had a hand in each of the Huskies' goals, going 1-3-4 for a career-best four-point night. Taylor Lind added a goal and two assists as she provided her third collegiate three-point game. Klára Hymlárová and Olivia Cvar rounded out the SCSU goal scorers. Incredibly, Hymlárová slid back to play defense shortly after puck drop and played remarkably well – skating to a plus-two while putting four shots on goal and providing her trademarked special team's brilliance quarterbacking both units. JoJo Chobak was a rock-in goal for SCSU, earning her fourth win by stopping 27 of 29 shots. The tender held Lindenwood scoreless in the pivotal third period, turning away 15 shots as the Huskies faced four Lion power plays in the frame.
Huskies Primer
SCSU enters the series 9-8-0 with a 4-8-0 mark in WCHA action, fresh off a road sweep of Lindenwood last weekend. Jenniina Nylund (10-11-21), Klára Hymlárová (9-5-14), Emma Gentry (8-3-11) and Taylor Lind (5-9-14) headline a dangerous Huskies top-six while Dayle Ross (0-7-7, +4, 32 BLK), Grace Wolfe (1-7-8, 33 BLK), Regan Bulger (0-2-2, 38 BLK) and Taytum Geier (1-3-4, +2, 30 BLK) have anchored the defensive corps. JoJo Chobak (4-3-0, .932 SV%, 2.08 GAA) and Sanni Ahola (5-5-0, .920 SV%, 2.50 GAA) have become one of the top goaltending duos in the league.
Series History
The Huskies are 4-2-1 all-time against St. Thomas, dumping the Tommies 9-0 in 1998 before splitting both series last season. SCSU swept away St. Thomas in their first meeting this season, earning a 4-1 road win before posting a 4-0 shutout in the home finale. Special team's work was critical in the early-season home-and-home, as the Huskies killed off all eight Tommie power plays.
Standings & Such
With the league returning to conference play this weekend, the Huskies find themselves sixth in a hotly-contested fight for fourth place. SCSU enters the weekend sixth in league with 13 points – just two behind No. 8 Minnesota Duluth and three off (RV) Minnesota State. The Mavericks play No. 5 Minnesota in a home-and-home while UMD draws No. 1 Ohio State at Amsoil, setting up a wild first weekend of December.
Getting Gritty
Remaining true to the team's newfound identity, the grind-and-grit Huskies have four players found among the WCHA's top five leaders in blocked shots. True freshman Regan Bulger leads the league with 38 blocks while Grace Wolfe is tied for second with 33, one ahead of Dayle Ross' 32. Taytum Geier ranks fifth with 30 blocks of her own. As a team, St. Cloud State has 248 blocks – good for 14.59 per game – which lands them second in both categories.
Special Teams Stonewallers
St. Cloud State's penalty kill has been stellar this season, ranking second in the league and 10th nationally at 88.2%. The Huskies lead the WCHA with 77 penalties taken and pace the league in penalties taken per-game, taking over four trips to the box per night.
Powering Up
The Huskies complement their strong PK with a dynamic power play that presently ranks fourth in the league and sixth in the country at 23.4%. Emma Gentry and Klára Hymlárová each have scored three times on the advantage, tying them for 11th in the NCAA.
Looking at the Leaderboards
Many Huskies can be found across the WCHA statistical leaders entering the month of December. Jenniina Nylund is second in the league with 10 goals while Klára Hymlárová is tied for fourth with 9 and Emma Gentry's eight place her in a tie for eighth. Nylund is also tied for seventh in assists while landing fifth in points across the league – she and Hymlárová are sixth and seventh in faceoff wins with 133 and 131 respectively.
Stellar Stoppers
Goaltenders JoJo Chobak and Sanni Ahola have combined to provide SCSU with a phenomenal pairing, currently leading the team to rank third in the WCHA with a .921 save percentage. Chobak is third across the league with a .932 save rate while Ahola ranks fifth at .920. Nationally, Chobak is 16th and Ahola is 26th.
Sanni Time
Junior goalie Sanni Ahola was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Goaltender of the Month after her dominant month of November. A native of Helsinki, Finland, Ahola led the WCHA in wins by going 3-1-0 while helping the Huskies to a 5-2-0 record on the month. She recorded a 1.80 goals against average while playing the third-most minutes of all league tenders, stopping shots at a .929 clip. The junior shut out Bemidji State in her first start of the month then followed with a 34-save effort in the Huskies' 4-1 win over No. 1 Minnesota. Ahola is the first Husky to earn a monthly honor from the WCHA since January 2020 and becomes just the fourth player to be recognized as a conference Player of the Month in program history. Olivia Cvar earned WCHA Rookie of the Month in January 2020, Klára Hymlárová was named December Rookie of the Month in 2019 and Katie Fitzgerald picked up Defensive Player of the Month honors in November of 2015.
Follow Nylund Forward
Fifth-year forward Jenniina Nylund was named WCHA Forward of the Week following her six-point weekend in Missouri. Nylund scored three goals and provided three assists for a six-point weekend in the Huskies' road sweep of Lindenwood, closing out her performance by going 1-3-4 with a hand in each of SCSU's four goals on Saturday. The Pietarsaari, Finland native skated to a plus-five and won 25 draws in the circle. St. Cloud State's assistant captain shared the WCHA goal lead last weekend with teammate Taylor Lind and tied for the best plus/minus while pacing the entire league in points. She ranked second across the conference in assists and tied for the third-most shots on goal and faceoff wins. Jenniina also earned WCHA Forward of the Week last season after a Huskies Thanksgiving weekend sweep of RPI.
Nylund's Climb
Jenniina Nylund's four-point finale moved her into tenth on the program's all-time scoring list, passing Megan McCarthy (09') and Julia Tylke (19') with career point No. 82. This season, Nylund has 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points – currently ranked second in goals, fifth in points and seventh in assists across the WCHA.
NO-vember
Sanni Ahola's Goaltender of the Month honor was backed up by a stellar performance from fellow netminder JoJo Chobak. In the month of November, Chobak posted a .940 save percentage and a 1.70 goals against average, earning a pair of wins in her three starts.
Heating Up
Senior forward Olivia Cvar provided a strong series in Lindenwood last weekend, putting nine shots on goal and skating to a plus-three with a 1-1-2 line. The Stonewall, Manitoba native is a longtime fixture among the Huskies' top-six – providing 24 goals and 17 assists for 41 career points in a SCSU sweater.
Sophomores Stepping Up
A key piece of the Huskies' success this season has been the steps forward taken by sophomore defenders Dayle Ross and Grace Wolfe, both of whom have been tasked with leading a thinned-out position group that has suffered a handful of injuries. Wolfe is on a career-best three-game point streak and leads all Huskies D in scoring with eight points while adding 18 blocks over her last eight games in the defensive zone. Ross is a plus-nine over her past nine games and hasn't taken a penalty in her last eight, providing a career-high seven assists over the course of the young season.
Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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