Article by Felicity Harding. Photo by Felicity Harding.
The Huskies were back in action Saturday night to wrap up their series against the Colorado College Tigers. Neither team made changes in net as the Huskies stuck with sophomore goaltender Isak Posch and Colorado College stuck with junior and reigning NCHC Goaltender of the Year, Kaidan Mbereko.
St. Cloud got off to a hot start with a great forecheck from sophomore forward Verner Miettinen and freshman forward Austin Burnevik that forced a turnover. Burnevik was able to get the puck to the front of the net and sophomore forward Barrett Hall put it home 3:23 into the period.
The Huskies were able to extend their lead after sophomore forward Daimon Gardner received a pass from freshman defenseman Colin Ralph and got off a shot off from the left faceoff circle. Barrett Hall was able to pick up and convert on Gardner’s rebound 9:33 into the first.
16:49 into the period, Barrett Hall was able to break into the Huskies offensive zone and passed the puck to Verner Miettinen. Miettinen gave a drop pass to Austin Burnevik who shot the puck over a screened Kaidan Mbereko and into the net.
Hall had an incredible game, helping with three of the Huskies four goals.
“I was glad to see Hallsy get rewarded for [getting in the crease]. He’s been snakebit a little bit. He’s a guy we need to count on to be a difference maker for us offensively and hopefully that’s a sign of good things to come,” said Huskies head coach Brett Larson on Hall’s performance.
The Huskies were up 3-0 at the end of the first after both teams had 12 shots.
After a failed attempt to get the puck out of the zone, the Huskies turned it over and the Tigers were able to get it up to the blue line to freshman defenseman Fisher Scott. Scott was able to shoot the puck and beat a screened Isak Posch on his blocker side. His goal came 3:30 into the period and was assisted by junior forward Gleb Veremyev and sophomore forward Klavs Veinbergs.
The Huskies were able to get their three-goal lead back 8:14 into the third after the Huskies had a partial two-on-one with Daimon Gardner and freshman forward Gavyn Thoreson. Thoreson received a pass from Gardner and was able to beat Kaidan Mbereko five hole.
The Tigers did not go out quiet though as they were able to get one after a blue line shot from junior defenseman Ethan Straky was deflected into the net by sophomore forward Zaccharya Wisdom 12:26 into the period. Straky and freshman forward Owen Beckner assisted the goal.
While the Huskies led 4-2 at the end of the second, they were outshot 16-6 by the Tigers in the period.
Going through the third the Tigers dominated in puck possession and kept the Huskies trapped in their own zone, but Isak Posch was a brick wall and did not allow any pucks to cross the line. The Huskies were outshot 16-2 in the third period.
“We’ve been complaining for two months that we’ve been playing really well and losing. I’ll take two defensive periods and winning any day,” Larson said of the win.
The Huskies were able to get their first win of 2025, winning 4-2 after being outshot by the Tigers 44-20. Both teams went 0/2 on the powerplay and 2/2 on the penalty kill.
Huskies goaltender Isak Posch had 42 saves on 44 shots for a save percentage of .955 and Tigers goaltender Kaidan Mbereko had 16 saves on 20 shots for a save percentage of .800. An incredible performance from Isak Posch and Barrett Hall helped the Huskies find their way back in the win column.
“It’s a big monkey off the back for sure. I don’t think many of us have experienced anything like we just went through. The locker room never split, we stayed together through it all,” said Hall.
While the Huskies went through a rough patch, the feeling of getting back in the win column is next to none.
“I feel like we just won a gold medal,” Larson said, “credit goes to the leadership in that room. They’ve never let this thing fall apart, they would never let it go negative, they work their butts off every single day in practice, they brought a great energy every single day. A lot of teams would have self-destructed and fallen apart by now.”
The Huskies will now travel to Magness Arena where they will take on the Denver Pioneers on Feb. 28 and March 1.
“I think the guys believe we can win in there. I think they believe even though Denver’s a great team and a tough place to play, I know they believe we can go out there and get points,” said Larson.
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