ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. Cloud State women's hockey team spent the majority of Saturday's game against No. 4/5-ranked Wisconsin in the lead.
But the Badgers scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:02 left in regulation from Casey O'Brien and then got a goal from Caroline Harvey with 1:51 left in 3-on-3 overtime to pick up two WCHA points at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Because the game was tied after regulation, the Huskies did pick up their first conference point under new head coach Brian Idalski.
That, however, was of little consolation to Idalski after the game.
"When you're that close to getting three (WCHA) points for the win, the one doesn't taste all that great," Idalski said.
Sanni Ahola, a junior from Helsinki, Finland, made 42 saves for the Huskies.
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"I thought her rebound control was much better and I thought she did a nice job of catching some things and not giving up second and third opportunities," Idalski said. "I thought she looked really good.
"The shock and skill of Wisconsin playing against them (Friday) — we made a couple adjustments today," said Idalski, whose team gave up 50 shots in a 5-0 loss in the series opener. "I thought (the Huskies) did a much better job of being in some lanes and taking away some things in the 'D' zone."
Double the fun with not one, but ✌️ Nylund goals!@SCSUHuskies_WHK // #WeAreWCHA pic.twitter.com/lX4TuQYgLU
— WCHA Hockey (@WCHA_WHockey) October 15, 2022
2 goals from Nylund
The Huskies led 2-0 going into the last minute of the second period.
Jenniina Nylund, a fifth-year center from Pietarsaari, Finland, scored at 4:36 of the first period to give SCSU a 1-0 lead. Then Nylund scored at 10:55 of the second period to give the Huskies (0-4-0 WCHA, 2-4-0 overall) a 2-0 lead.
"She was terrific, two nice zone entries," Idalski said of the goals for Nylund, who played for Finland in the 2022 Olympics. "The one she goes hard to the net, far side blocker. That was a terrific goal to get us going.
"The cutback was super good and then she went high glove," Idalski said of Nylund's second goal of the game and fifth of the season. "She was on fire today. I thought she played super strong at both ends."
Nylund had five of the team's 14 shots and leads the team in both goals and points (7) through six games.
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A beautiful zone entry takes advantage of the change as @JenniinaN fires home a 🚀 ‼️#HuskiesHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/hK918A6vZM
— St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_WHK) October 15, 2022
Late goals were the difference
While there were a number of positives for the Huskies in the loss, there was a glaring tough portion of the game.
The Badgers (4-0-0, 7-1-0) got a power-play goal from Britta Curl with 43 seconds left in the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Then with 1:02 left in regulation, Wisconsin got a goal in the high slot from O'Brien with goalie Jane Gervais pulled for an extra attacker.
With 1:50 left in overtime, Harvey scored from the high slot for the game-winner. Those three goals with less than two minutes left in periods is tough.
"You have to be in those kind of games to understand what it takes to win a hockey game, adjust your details and quiet your mind just to execute your job," Idalski said. "This is the first time we've faced a 6-on-5 with an empty net. Those details, you can try to walk through them in practice, but you can't recreate the speed and skill of what was happening in that moment. Teaching moments and we'll work to tighten them up."
Avery Myers, a junior from Fargo, and a transfer from New Hampshire, had her first points with SCSU. Myers had assists on both of Nylund's goals.
The road does not get easier for the Huskies next weekend. Second-ranked Minnesota plays a home-and-home series against St. Cloud State. The teams play at 3 p.m. Friday at the Brooks Center and 2 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
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No. 4/5 WISCONSIN 3, SCSU 2, OT
Wisconsin 0-1-1-1—3
SCSU 1-1-0-0—2
First period scoring: 1. SCSU, Jenniina Nylund 4 (Avery Myers 1, Grace Wolfe 3 4:36. Penalties:
SCSU, Taylor Lind (body checking) 1:26; UW, Sophie Shirley (body checking) 6:12.
Second period scoring: 2. SCSU, Nylund 5 (Dayle Ross 3, Myers 2) 10:55; 3. UW, Britta Curl 4 (Caroline Harvey 10, Jesse Compher 5) 19:17 (pp). Penalties: SCSU, Regan Bulger (holding) 11:32; UW, Maddi Wheeler (elbowing) 16:06; SCSU, Mackenzie Bourgerie (slashing) 18:54.
Third period scoring: 4. UW, Casey O'Brien 5 (Harvey 11, Compher 6) 18:59 (ea). Penalties: None.
Overtime scoring: 5. UW, Harvey 3 (Lacey Eden 7, Compher 7) 3:10.
Goalie saves — UW: Jane Gervais 3-7-1-1—12 (2 GA); SCSU: Sanni Ahola 14-14-10-4—42 (3 GA).
Penalties-minutes — UW 2-4, SCSU 3-6.
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Power plays (shots) — UW 1-3 (4 shots); SCSU 0-2 (3 shots).
Faceoffs — UW 29-24.
Attendance — 359.
Referees — Duncan Ryhorchuk, Craig Hedlund.
Linesmen — Haley Ludwig, Doug Durgin.
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