Alabama-Huntsville applied enough pressure on St. Cloud State early in the second period to make this one interesting, at least for a little while.
Then the Huskies shut the door.
“We couldn’t get anything built off of a goal,” said Chargers’ coach Kurt Kleinendorst. “Every time we scored, they came right back and scored. That’s what good teams do. They find ways.”
An 8-3 SCSU rout was the end result in the Huskies’ home opener and first win of the season Friday at the National Hockey Center.
The teams play again Saturday at 7:07 p.m. CST.
Ethan Prow had a pair of goals and an assist to lead SCSU for his first collegiate points.
“The young man has a lot of talent,” St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko said. “You can tell he’s going to be a great hockey player for us.”
But long before the rout was on, the Chargers made the deficit 2-1 when Alex Allan scored on a cross from Graeme Strukoff at the 6:34 mark. UAH had a goal disallowed because a Charger made contact with SCSU goalie Joe Phillipi in the crease.
But each time the Chargers scored, the Huskies scored two.
All it took was 29 seconds for Prow to answer and put the Huskies up two goals again and SCSU’s Cory Thorson followed with a goal just past the midway point of the second period.
Just 35 seconds after Kyle Lysaght scored for the Chargers to make it 4-2, Prow scored again and Joey Holka added another second-period goal for the Huskies.
Strukoff scored early in the third period, but Tim Daly and Jonny Brodzinski added goals for the Huskies after.
“We scored some goals and got some offense going early in the season,” Motzko said. “The key to the whole thing is to come back and be a better team tomorrow.”
Phillipi finished with 16 saves in his collegiate debut.
UAH’s John Griggs made 22 saves in the first two periods before CJ Groh relieved him in the third period and finished with eight saves.
Drew LeBlanc recorded two assists in the third period to give him 100 career points as a Husky.
“We see it in practice and you see it in the games,” Motzko said of LeBlanc. “Be ready because you can score some goals when you’re on the ice with him. His hockey IQ is scary.”
For Kleinendorst, a coach of a Division I independent team that plays a mixture of six current and future WCHA members this season, the short-term goal is just to get a win as soon as Saturday.
“It’s always important when you have a rough night to bounce back,” Kleinendorst said. “This one’s over, so it has to be about tomorrow and we’ll see where we are as a group.”
