SCSU ranked in national women's polls for first time since 2009

gallery_image (1).jpg — St. Cloud State goalie Sanni Ahola turned aside a shot by Minnesota forward Taylor Heise during the Gophers 2-1 win over the Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

By Mick Hatten

December 05, 2022 at 3:04 PM

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. Cloud State women's hockey team has finally pushed itself back into the national polls. It has been awhile.

The Huskies (6-8 WCHA, 11-8 overall) are ranked No. 14 in the latest USCHO.com NCAA Division I poll . It is the first time SCSU has been ranked since Jan. 21, 2009, when the Huskies were ranked No. 10.

It is just the seventh time that St. Cloud State has been ranked in the history of the program, which debuted in 1998. The highest that SCSU has been ranked is ninth, which happened twice in the 2008-09 season and twice in the 2007-08 season.

The Huskies' 11-8 start under first-year head coach Brian Idalski is their best start to a season since going 15-5-4 to start the 2007-08 season. SCSU finished 11-13-4 in the WCHA and 18-15-5 that season under head coach Jeff Giesen.

The other season that the program has finished above .500 was in 2000-01 under head coach Kerry Brodt Wethington. That season, the Huskies were 12-10-2 in the WCHA and 17-16-2 overall. That is the lone season that SCSU has finished above .500 in WCHA games.

St. Cloud State is coming off a series sweep of St. Thomas and has won four straight games. The Huskies play a home-and-home series against sixth-ranked Minnesota (11-1-2, 12-3-2) this weekend. The teams play at 6 p.m. Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud (both on B1G+).

This laser sends the hats flying!@SCSUHuskies_WHK's Klara Hymlarova scores two power play goals and a shorthanded tally for her first career hat trick. #LeadersAndChampions pic.twitter.com/Ad39AgibWL
— WCHA Hockey (@WCHA_WHockey) December 3, 2022

The last time that the Huskies and Gophers met, St. Cloud State snapped a 61-game streak without a win against Minnesota with a 4-1 win in Andover, Minn . It was also the first time SCSU has beaten a No. 1-ranked opponent since a 2-1 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 19, 2007, against Wisconsin in St. Cloud.

The Huskies had not beaten the Gophers since a 6-3 victory on Feb. 13, 2010, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center

READ MORE ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES COVERAGE:

By Mick Hatten

Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for Forum News Service and helps manage TheRinkLive.com, a website dedicated to hockey. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mhatten@forumcomm.com

For more coverage of St. Cloud and the surrounding communities, check out St. Cloud Live.

SCSU ranked in national women's polls for first time since 2009

Huskies are at No. 14 and are off to their best start since the 2008-09 season