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St. Cloud State University
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Road woes haunt SCSU sports
By Derek Sullivan
Published:
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Few SCSU sports fans witnessed the big games of 2003-2004. It is not because home attendance is down, but that the Huskies' big games were all played on the road.
I have no idea what the Huskies did to anger the North Central Conference schedule makers, but whatever it was, it worked.
When I arrived on campus last fall, I saw an SCSU football schedule poster. As a huge football fan, I hoped to attend some games. To my shock, the Huskies would play only four of 11 games in St. Cloud. How is that even possible? I recounted and recounted, sure of a mistake. Nope. The preseason pick to win the NCC would spend the majority of the year on a bus. Heck, they didn't even play a home game until Sept. 20th.
The team won three of the first four road contests and stood a solid 4-1 after a blowout victory over rival Minnesota-Mankato, 41-6. The Huskies would not win another road game. They blew a 22-point lead to the University of North Dakota. Three weeks later, the Huskies allowed Nebraska-Omaha's All-American Justin Kammrad to rush for 205 yards in a tough three-point loss, 39-36.
With postseason hopes on the line, the Huskies got back on the bus and headed to South Dakota State. SCSU All-American Keith Heckendorf hit Ryan Koch on a 39-yard touchdown pass giving the Huskies a 24-20 lead with 13:15 left in the critical contest.
With 8,684 fans on their side, SDSU responded with a touchdown drive. Anthony Robinson scored on a 19-yard touchdown run giving the Jackrabbits a 27-24 lead. The score held up and the Huskies suffered another disappointing three-point road loss.
With football over, I checked out the schedule posters for the men's and women's basketball teams. As I scanned down, everything looked all right. Then I got to February. Both teams would have to play five of the final seven games on the road, including their last four.
So as the conference season comes to an exciting finish, hoop fans would either be forced to travel or listen to the radio.
The men's squad got off to a 3-1 start thanks to a January four-game homestand. The first road trip of the season delivered two losses. Six games in, the Huskies were 3-3 and two games out of first place.
Behind their all-conference backcourt of Nate Miller and Alex Carlson, SCSU won three road games and were a victory away from a home court postseason game.
Just like their football counterparts, the biggest game of the season would be played away from St. Cloud. The Huskies traveled to North Dakota State and lost a hard fought 88-84 contest.
Unlike the men, the women's basketball team jumped out of the gate. After a six-game winning streak, SCSU owned an impressive 6-2 record. A victory on senior night over Nebraska-Omaha moved the Huskies a game out of first place.
Likely needing only one win to qualify for an NCAA tournament bid, the Huskies lost four consecutive road games.
Time to recap. SCSU's football team and two basketball teams spent two of their final three weekends away from the Granite City. Counting the postseason, the football team lost their last three road games, the men's basketball team lost the final two road games, and the women's team lost their final five road games. Ouch.
No team teased the population of St. Cloud like the local hockey team. I know it was four months ago, but do you remember the 8-0-1 Huskies? How about the 13-7-3 Huskies?
SCSU's only men's Division I program also angered the schedule gods. The WCHA decided not to send the rival Golden Gopher to the National Hockey Center, and forced the Huskies to play six of their final eight conference games on the road.
Here we go again. SCSU got on the bus and traveled to rival powers in hopes of hosting a home playoff game. What do the Huskies have to do to play a late home game? Well, in a word, win.
The hockey team had a chance to strengthen their postseason position with a strong showing in Madison Feb. 20-21. SCSU secured a point with a 1-1 tie Friday. The following night, the Huskies lost to the University of Wisconsin, 3-0.
SCSU backed themselves in a huge hole losing two home games to Colorado College. Needing a win or two ties to finally bring postseason play to St. Cloud, the Huskies got on a bus and traveled to Minneapolis. After 34 games, SCSU finally played their archrival. Just like the football and basketball teams, the Hockey team lost a season-defining game on the road. Minnesota defeated SCSU 7-4 and 4-2.
Here we are, seven months into the school year, and what do I remember about SCSU athletics? Reading the newspaper after another road defeat.
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