MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota scored three times in the opening 5:26, including a pair of tallies by sophomore Alex Woken, and the scoreboard didn’t budge the rest of the way, as it defeated visiting St. Cloud State, 3-0.
“Everybody is getting on the board and doing it fairly frequently,” coach Brad Frost said. “It’s huge for us because we don’t have one kid that we can necessarily rely on [to score].”
The Gophers (10-4-1, 7-3-1-0 WCHA) took the lead at the 1:49 mark.
“Our line just forechecked really well,” Woken said. “Sophie [Skarzynski] got the puck on her stick and made a really nice play, and I was there in the slot. I took a shot and the rebound came right to my stick, and I was able to put it in.”
Skarzynski had the primary assists on both of Woken’s goals, which were sandwiched around the seventh of the season for Nicole Schammel.
Sidney Peters made 14 saves to earn her first shutout of her senior season, while Janine Alder made 33 stops in a losing effort.
“Defensively, I thought we played really sound, really kept things to the outside, and blocking shots to keep it at zero,” Frost said.
Woken had most of the game to attempt to complete her hat trick, but she couldn’t get another puck to go despite a few chances.
“Honestly, I think the team wanted it more than I did,” she said. “They were just like, ‘You have to score.’ If it comes, it comes.”
The Huskies (2-11-0, 1-8-0-0 WCHA) were doomed by one bad stretch.
“There was was about three and a half minutes that we could have got rid of,” coach Eric Rud said. “They showed up ready to compete. We showed up ready to work hard, but not ready to compete, and there’s a difference. Certainly, we played better and better as the game went on.”
While Minnesota got a few kind bounces early on, St. Cloud State’s best chance landed on top of the net instead of inside it.
“That changes everything,” Rud said. “Especially when we’re struggling to score goals right now, if you can get one to bounce over the goalie’s shoulder, all of a sudden everyone puffs up a little bit and you start playing a little harder.”
The series concludes Saturday at 4:07 pm CST.
“For the last 50 minutes, it was a 0-0 hockey game, so we’re expecting a real battle again here tomorrow,” Frost said.
