Once again, Minnesota held off a Huskies third period comeback at Ridder Arena.
Cara Piazza’s shorthanded breakaway goal with 16.9 seconds remaining in the second period ended up being enough for the Gophers in a 2-1 victory over its in-state neighbor. Junior Julia Tylke scored for St. Cloud State (5-15-2, 3-11-2-0 WCHA), which fell one goal short against Minnesota (16-5-2, 10-4-2-0 WCHA) for the second straight game between the two teams.
“That was a huge momentum thing for us to get up by two. We were pushing hard in the second period. Nothing was going in,” said Gophers head coach Brad Frost about Piazza’s goal. “Then all of the sudden to catch a break and a real nice shot on a breakaway.”
While both teams are WCHA members, Tuesday’s contest was officially a nonconference affair.
Each had holes in the schedule following North Dakota dropping women’s hockey in March. The Gophers and Huskies already played a two-game series earlier in the season in Minneapolis with the two teams set for another next month in St. Cloud. Despite losing all three, St. Cloud State was more competitive as the games went along.
“Every year I’ve been playing we’ve been getting a lot better. I’ve gone from being on a team that lost 12-0 and now it’s a one-goal game. It’s a huge growth for the program,” said Tylke. “We’re for sure just right there to finish it off.”
Playing a competitive game for the first time in a month, Minnesota dominated the first period, out-shooting St. Cloud State 12-1 — and the one Huskies shot on goal came from outside the blue line.
Huskies goaltender Emma Polusny stood tall. The freshman helped keep the visiting team around by stopping 11 of the 12 and 27 shots total.
“That was a big goal to start the game”
Katie Robinson came through for Minnesota late in the period with her second goal of the season. The sophomore defender pinched in and was in the right place at the right time to put home a Grace Zumwinkle rebound.
“She came out of nowhere and was able to bang it home. That was a big goal to start the game,” Frost said.
Redshirt senior Sidney Peters made 13 saves for Minnesota.
The only one she didn’t stop came off the stick of Tylke, whose shot went over the shoulder of Peters and into the back of the net with 6:39 remaining in regulation.
“She’s been snakebitten for a little while now and a little frustrated with that. That was really nice, it was a great goal,” said St. Cloud State head coach Eric Rud.
While Tylke’s sixth goal of the season cut the lead in half, the Huskies, playing their third game in five days, could not complete the “most dangerous lead in hockey” comeback. Minnesota went 3 for 3 on the penalty kill, including a pair of third-period stops.
The Gophers continue nonconference play this weekend by hosting Vermont for games Friday and Saturday.
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