Article by Samantha Roering. Photo by Samantha Roering.
“You’re not getting any mercy from them.”
SCSU women’s hockey head coach, Brian Idalski, made it clear to his team that they would need to defend hard against the Ohio State Buckeyes over the weekend. Idalski warned his team that, reigning national champions for a reason the Buckeyes would not relent, no matter how many goals they had already scored.
That was clear on Friday night when Ohio pulled ahead to a 5-1 victory against the Huskies. Despite only skating three forward lines, the Buckeyes showed no signs of fatigue, outshooting the Huskies 47-10.
Fifth-year goaltender, Sanni Ahola, recorded a season-high of 42 saves but also let in a season-high of five goals. It was a tough night for the Finnish netminder, despite some standout saves in key moments.
“They’ve tried to run us out of the building numerous times, and sometimes they’re pretty successful at it,” Idalski remarked of Ohio’s efforts.
St. Cloud could have let the loss get to them. They could’ve hung their heads low and let the outcome of the second game follow the first, especially after finding themselves in a 2-0 deficit early on in Saturday’s matchup.
Then Brieja Parent found herself in a big moment, faced with a forward backdoor shot she had been hitting wide all year. This time, she didn’t miss and the Huskies were on the board.
“It’s coming towards me and I’m like don’t hit it wide. Whatever you do, don’t hit it wide. So I was excited once I saw it in the back of the net,” Parent said of her goal.
Just four minutes later, Abby Promersberger found herself on a breakaway, beating Ohio’s Hailey Macleod to tie the game.
The Huskies battled with the Buckeyes for the rest of the game, each team trading chances but unable to score until the final three minutes.Ohio State capitalized on a power-play opportunity, putting the Huskies in a tough spot with minimal time to respond.
St. Cloud pulled goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö for an extra attacker, pressuring Ohio’s defense and drawing a power play of their own. With just over a minute left, Dayle Ross took a shot that found the back of the net, securing at least one point against the defending champions.
“Sometimes when we get in those situations, in past years, we almost panicked or we were okay with getting close. But today, we weren’t okay with it. We wanted to push through and we wanted to win,” Huskies captain Dayle Ross said.
Neither team scored in overtime, and the game officially ended as a tie. Yet, a crucial WCHA point and pride were still on the line in a shootout.
Sophomore Sofianna Sundelin took the first shot for St. Cloud, successfully finding the net in what turned out to be the winning shot of the shootout.
Emilia Kyrkkö held her own in net for the Huskies, making all three saves in the shootout, adding onto her impressive 45 saves in regulation.
The Huskies picked up two points in the shootout win, which are especially important in the WCHA standings as they prepare to face another conference opponent, St. Thomas.
“That’s big points for us nationally. Hopefully, we can take another step and keep playing at a higher level,” Idalski said.
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