Huskies ready after week off

After a much need week off, the Huskies are ready to take the ice against conference rivals, the Minnesota Gophers. This will mark the 43rd and 44th games between the two teams. Minnesota currently leads the series 39-2-1, dating back to January 1999.

The Gophers, who are 6-0-0, currently lead the WCHA. They are coming off a weekend sweep of University of Minnesota Duluth, who was originally placed first in the conference. The Gophers sweep marked the first time Duluth had dropped a series at home since 2002.

The Huskies dropped both games of their series against the Bulldogs two weeks ago, losing 5-3 Saturday, and 2-0 the following Sunday.

However, St. Cloud State head coach, Jeff Giesen is not going to base how his team will play this weekend off of how other series in the league are concluding.

“As a team, we do not look too much into how other games finish. They do not play into the outcome of how our games will finish. Anything can happen,” Giesen said.

The girls have taken advantage of having a week off of games, however.

“Of course the break benefits us. We gave the girls three full days off to have time to rest, and let nagging injuries start to heal. This is our only break until finals; we will be playing in 16 straight games from here on out," Giesen said.

The Huskies will look toward the senior class to step up and lead the team to their first win after a three-game losing streak.

“Our team is as good as our senior players right now. We need them to step up and play the way needed to get that win,” Geisen said.

Senior player, Caitlin Hogan is currently leading the Huskies with 6 points (5 goals, 1 assist). She is averaging 1.5 points/game. Hogan, who serves as one of three Alternate Captains, tallied three goals in the Huskies 5-3 loss to Duluth, marking St. Cloud’s first hat trick since then sophomore, Holly Roberts, scored three on November 4th, 2006 against Vermont.

Following behind Hogan in the standings is fellow Alternate Captain, senior Holly Roberts, with 3 points (0 g, 3 a)  in four games.
SCSU fans will be treated to a home-and-away series, as Friday’s game will be played on home ice at the National Hockey Center and Saturday's will be in Minneapolis.

Game times are 2:07 p.m., Friday at the National Hockey Center  and 4:07 p.m. on Saturday at Ridder Arena.