St. Cloud jumped out early, then held on for a 2-1 WCHA victory over MSU-Mankato on Friday night at the National Hockey Center.
The victory, which ends a school-record 10-game losing streak, improves SCSU’s record to 5-19-1 overall and 4-10-1 in the WCHA. MSU-Mankato drops to 3-19-1 overall and 0-15-0 in the WCHA.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead at the 15:41 mark of the first period when sophomore forward Roxy Stang found the back of the net for her 15th goal of the year. The goal, which was assisted by junior Abby Cooper and senior Andrea Keller, tied Stang for second place on the SCSU career scoring list with 62 points.
SCSU then made it 2-0 at the 9:41 mark of the second period, when Stang moved into second place all by herself with her second goal of the game, with assists by Cooper and Keller again. In seven career games against the Mavericks, Stang has scored 11 points (7 g, 4 a).
MSU-Mankato avoided the shutout when Ryann Geldner scored at the 17:44 mark of the third period on a breakaway that slipped past Huskies’ goaltender Ellen Brinkman. But the Mavericks couldn’t push across the tying goal and the Huskies held on for a 2-1 victory.
The Huskies’ first forward line scored six points in the win, and sophomore goalie Ellen Brinkman stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn her second win against the Mavericks this year. SCSU was 1-of-5 on the power play, and outshot the Mavericks 34-21.
The two teams will play again Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at the National Hockey Center.
