Story courtesy of St. Cloud State Sports Information
ST. CLOUD, Minn.--The St. Cloud State University women's hockey team tallied the school's 100th all-time win with a 6-1 convincing victory over the University of North Dakota on Friday, Feb. 16, in the National Hockey Center. Junior assistant captain Laura Fast (Calgary, Alberta) and senior co-captain Hailey Clarkson (Winnipegosis, Manitoba) combined for seven points in the Huskies 10th win of the season.
The Huskies stormed out of the gates in the first period, firing off 14 shots and connecting on two scores. The first tally on the score board came at 04:27 when Clarkson rebounded the puck past UND's first year goaltender, Brittany Kirkham. SCSU's Holly Roberts (St. Cloud) passed the puck across the slot to Laura Fast, who got a shot on net. Clarkson was there to clean up the rebound and tally her ninth goal of the season and 31st of her SCSU career.
Just over five minutes later, the Huskies increased their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal from L. Fast. St. Cloud State's senior co-captain Denelle Maguet (St. Rose, Manitoba) sent a slap shot on UND's net and L. Fast pushed the puck past Kirkham's glove for her 12th score of the season. Clarkson also assisted on the L. Fast goal.
After one period of play, SCSU was out-shooting UND, 14-5.
The Huskies junior goaltender Carmen Lizee (High Prairie, Alberta) stayed busy in net in the second period as North Dakota rebounded to total 15 shots on goal compared to SCSU's nine.
Scoring her second goal of the game, L. Fast took advantage of a UND turnover in front of their own net. After stick handling in front of North Dakota's goalie, L. Fast sent a wrister to the back of the net at 04:02 to boost SCSU to a 3-0 advantage. The unassisted goal marked L. Fast's 25th of her career.
The Husky scoring continued as SCSU's Blaine native Sammy Nixon stormed into the UND zone after blocking a North Dakota shot from inside the Husky blue line. Nixon went the distance, slamming the puck past UND's Kirkham at 05:38 to post her fifth goal of the season.
North Dakota bounced back before the end of the period, scoring their lone goal at 17:42 on the power play. Jenny Porter sent a slap shot toward the Husky net and teammate Samantha Turner was waiting in front for the tip in goal. Turner's goal was her second of her collegiate career as she cut the Husky lead to 4-1. Melissa Jaques also assisted on UND's lone goal of the game.
After 40 minutes of play, SCSU was out-shooting UND with a slight 23-20 advantage.
Coach Jeff Giesen's Husky squad went on to post two more goals in the third period and solidify the 6-1 victory in front of 221 hockey fans in the National Hockey Center.
At 1:06, Eden Prairie natives Megan McCarthy and Meaghan Pezon connected for the fifth score of the game for the Huskies. McCarthy got a shot on net, and Pezon came up with the rebound goal to mark her 11th of the season, as McCarthy tallied her 13th assist in 2006-07.
Clarkson was the sixth score for the Huskies tonight after reaching for a rolling puck in front of the UND net and tallying her second goal of the game at 17:14 to mark her 32nd goal her career in the Cardinal and Black, making her fifth on the all-time scoring list at SCSU with 82 points (32g, 50a). L. Fast and Roberts assisted on the final goal of the game.
At the final buzzer, SCSU had out-shot UND 33-28, as SCSU was 1-of-2 on the power play and UND went 1-of-5.
In net, Lizee earned the third star of the game after charting 27 saves in 60:00. Her record improved to 4-5-2 overall. North Dakota's Kirkham fell to 3-27-2 overall after backstopping UND with 27 saves.
"It was great to get on top early with a lead and keep it," said SCSU's head coach Jeff Giesen. "A win is a win right now. We played hard, and finally got some bounces to go our way tonight."
St. Cloud State was led by L. Fast (2g, 2a), Clarkson (2g, 1a) and Roberts (2a). Pezon and Nixon each tallied a goal while McCarthy and Maguet posted helpers in the victory.
"Our top line of Hailey (Clarkson), Laura (Fast) and Holly (Roberts) really clicked tonight," said Giesen. "Clarkson did a great job of feeding our players, and with Laura's speed and Holly, who has really come into her own as a freshman, we were able to post some key scores in the game."
SCSU's all-time record, dating back to the inception of the program in 1998, is 100-177-21.
The Huskies (10-16-7, 6-15-5 WCHA) will complete the weekend series with North Dakota (3-28-2, 0-26-1 WCHA) tomorrow afternoon in the National Hockey Center. Tomorrow's game, which marks the last regular season game for the Huskies in the NHC, is Senior Day, as SCSU will honor its six seniors (Bobbie Anderson, Hailey Clarkson, Tricia Fast, Jackie Jensen, Denelle Maguet and Lauri St. Jacques) before the drop of the puck at 2:07 p.m.
