St. Thomas first-year goaltender Daniela Nováková stopped 27 shots in her first collegiate start, but a decisive third-period goal lifted St. Cloud State to a 1-0 win over the Tommies Saturday at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
The Tommies (3-5, 1-5 conference) held the Huskies (6-2, 4-0) scoreless for more than 51 minutes before St. Cloud State junior defender Siiri Yrjölä scored a little over halfway through the final period.
It was St. Thomas’ second close loss of the weekend during the two-game series after losing the previous game to the Huskies 3-2 in overtime.
“The biggest thing we were talking about is playing the whole 60 minutes,” coach Bethany Brausen said. “We had stretches that we were really good. But if you prove that you can do that for a stretch, it has to be more consistent for the whole game.”
St. Thomas was called for three penalties but killed every Husky power play. Junior forward Nora Sauer was called for cross-checking midway through the first period. Early in the second period, junior defender Cailin Mumm took two minor penalties: one for interference and another for tripping.
Brausen said the Tommies spent extra practice time on the penalty kill because of St. Cloud State’s dominance during the power play.
“We practiced PK a lot,” Brausen said. “PK is a very high-level discipline. A lot of it’s detail. We have to play well defensively; the WCHA is just too strong of a conference with good players that you gotta keep those goals against limited.”
St. Thomas blocked eight shots during the Huskies’ power plays and 18 shots in total. The Tommies lead the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in blocked shots, with senior defender JuliAnna Gazdik leading the conference individually with 20.
That wall held up until midway through the third period, when Yrjölä scored with a slap shot from near the Tommies’ blue line while Nováková was screened.
Just a few minutes later, St. Thomas senior forward Madison Brown missed a one-on-one chance with junior goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö on a fast break with six minutes left in the game.
St. Thomas called a timeout with 3:11 remaining. Brausen said the biggest thing she emphasized with the team during this break was the mental game.
“It’s kind of a mental switch when you’re on the ice,” Brausen said. “We talk a lot about making sure that you can toggle that real quick, that transitional thinking where we don’t have full possession, when we have to defend, to a quick transition of: ‘How do we attack?’ and ‘How do we get the puck to the net?’ When you can have both, that’s where you get a team that’s successful.”
A St. Cloud State penalty with 2:39 left in the game gave the Tommies their first power play of the night. St. Thomas pulled Nováková with 2:25 left in regulation for a six-on-four advantage but couldn’t find the equalizer.
St. Thomas will face Minnesota State University, Mankato at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Tommie Ice Plex, the auxiliary rink located inside the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
Reagan Boschulte can be reached at bosc3829@stthomas.edu.
