Before this weekend, St. Cloud State Assistant Captain Ryan Lasch had gone five games without scoring a point.
However, after charting two assists on Friday, Lasch landed two more assists Saturday, including his first of the night on the eventual game winner, helping the Huskies secure a 7-1 victory over Robert Morris.
“(The slump) was hard,” Lasch said. “I was getting rattled, frustrated. I had a good talk with my Dad Thursday night that kind of set my mind straight; this one was an extra special talk, it was motivating and really helped me out.”
With the two points Saturday, Lasch became the 21st player in SCSU history to score 100 points during his career. Lasch is now the fourth quickest player in St. Cloud State history to reach the accomplishment, doing so in 90 games.
“To be considered in that elite group in the top 100 point club is something very special; I’m very grateful that I was able to do that and accomplish it so quickly,” Lasch acknowledged with a smile. “It’s a contribution to my team and also to my work ethic.”
Saturday’s contest started much like Friday’s, in that both teams were held scoreless through the first period of play.
SCSU opened the flood gates with five second period goals, all of which occurred within the first 12:03 of the second period, to lock up a weekend sweep over the Colonials.
The Huskies scored just 1:05 into the second when freshmen defender Chris Hepp fired a blast from the blue line, beating Colonials’ netminder Wes Russell. The play was setup after a beautiful screen by Garrett Roe.
SCSU netted the eventual game-winning goal just over three minutes later when defenseman Craig Gaudet, who saw action for the first time this year Saturday night, found Lasch who fed Garrett Roe for Roe’s fourth goal of the season.
The Huskies continued the scoring barrage under four minutes later when the fourth line landed their first of three goals on the night. Brett Borgen and Michael Olsen assisted Aaron Marvin on his third goal of the year.
“The one thing I like about our team is our depth,” SCSU Coach Bob Motzko noted after joking about the Huskies four different lines on paper. “It was nice to see Michael Olsen and Aaron Marvin out there being rewarded for hard work.”
The Huskies added their lone power-play goal of the night under a minute later when Roe and Lasch found Tony Mosey on the historic scoring play for Lasch.
St. Cloud State added their fifth and final goal of the period at the 12:03 mark of the second when Borgen and Marvin found Olsen for his first goal of the year.
Robert Morris netted the final goal of the period at the 16:23 mark of the second when Brock Meadows beat SCSU goaltender Dan Dunn for the lone Colonials’ goal of the evening.
The Huskies notched two more goals in the third period, the first on Olsen’s second goal of the contest.
“We worked really well tonight,” Olsen said of the fourth line. “I credit (the Colonials) because once again after one period of play we were tied; maybe we got a little bit complacent in the third but it was great to help the team with the win.”
St. Cloud State hosts the No. 6 Denver Pioneers for a two-game set next weekend, while the Colonials will play host to The Ohio State University Buckeyes next Friday in a one game affair.
