ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud State hockey is back in action this week after the No. 10 women’s team suffered a weekend sweep against No. 9 Colgate and the men’s team received its first vote in the polls of the season after splitting the weekend with No. 14 Michigan Tech.
The men’s team heads east to take on No. 16 Boston College at 6 p.m., Oct. 15 and at 5 p.m., Oct. 17. The women’s squad heads down I-94 to take on St. Thomas (RV) at 6 p.m., Oct 16 and 2 p.m., Oct. 17.
Both teams will be available to watch on streaming with the men’s team on ESPN+ and the women’s on BIG+; KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM) / The Varsity Network will have broadcasting the game as well.
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Women’s Preview
Scouting St. Thomas (RV)
The Tommies are 3-3 heading into a weekend bout against the Huskies. They split last weekend’s series with No. 12 Minnesota Duluth, picking up a 2-1 win before suffering a hard fought 3-0 loss the following day.
St. Thomas is led by sophomore Whitney Horton with seven points, junior Chloe Boreen with four goals and senior JuliAnna Gazdik with five assists.
In goal junior Dani Strom returns as the full-time starter after playing in just six games last season. The Maple Grove alumna has posted a .900 save percentage this season and is coming off a strong weekend against Duluth where she gloved 36 saves and allowed just two goals combined.
Offensively, the Tommies have a few hot sticks going to start the season with Boreen converting on 4-of-9 (.444) to start the year and Horton going 3-of-14 (.214). Their top shooters have not converted much in the early stages, though. Senior Ella Boerger and sophomore Teagan Kulenkamp are a combined 0-of-30, with Kulenkamp failing to log a single point through six outings.
Keys to victory over St. Thomas
Limit the transition
Easier said than done, of course. However, limiting the Tommies breakaway chances will be the easiest way to maintain control throughout the weekend. On paper, this may be the easiest team the Huskies have faced all year, but St. Thomas competed well with No. 1 Ohio State early and nearly swept No. 12 Duluth last weekend. Two results that should have them confident going into this weekend.
Lean on special teams
While SCSU has shown to be a great five-on-five hockey team, the Huskies do have six power play goals this year to St. Thomas’ two. In a tight WCHA contest, staying out of the penalty box and moving the puck around during the power play can swing the entire weekend. Especially against a good goalie like Strom, goals may just have to come off rebounds and ricochets instead of clean looks from distance.
Men’s Preview
Scouting No. 16 Boston College
The Eagles are just 0-1 to start the year after a standalone 3-2 defeat against Alaska. However, they did play two exhibitions: a 5-2 loss to No. 3 Michigan State and a 10-1 win over the Team USA Development Program.
Nonetheless, a 0-1 start to the year against an otherwise winless Nanooks squad is the reality of the season.
Boston College got both goals against Alaska on the power play with juniors Dean Letourneau and Teddy Stiga finding the net in their season opening loss. In goal, sophomore Louka Cloutier returns after posting a 20-13-1 record with a .910 save percentage last year.
Elsewhere on the ice, sophomore Luka Radivojevic, senior Will Vote and freshmen Carson Woodhall and Matias Vanhanen each handed an assist out in the opener. The Eagles are a relatively young team in the grand scheme of things with 12 freshmen and seven sophomores — six of whom returning from last year.
“Boston College is a highly skilled team,” coach Nick Oliver said. “It felt like we gave [Michigan Tech] less grade-A chances, [and] we’re going to need to be tight defensively against them as well and play a good game Thursday.”
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Keys to victory over No. 16 Boston College
Be physical
Physicality is something that grew as the weekend went along against Michigan Tech and ultimately helped secure the upset victory on Saturday. The Huskies excelled in the faceoff circle all series long and drew a crucial power play in the first period to even the score. The Eagles are sure to be a bit frustrated on the ice searching for their first win, and the Huskies can use that to their advantage.
Play with confidence
There are a lot of factors when it comes to winning a hockey game, but sometimes stepping into the rink with full confidence is all a team needs to do to walk away off with the win. Add in the context of being the underdog on the road, and the Huskies should be using all the confidence that was built following the upset of Tech to their advantage against BC. Frankly, with two overtime losses to precede the victory, the Huskies have all the right in the world to believe they should be 3-0 and probably ranked heading into this weekend as opposed to 1-2.
You can reach St. Cloud Times sports reporter David Jacobs and send story ideas and tips to djacobs@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @davidrjacobs10, and on Instagram @ByDavidJacobs.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud State hockey teams prep for weekend on the road