Thanks to rookie forward Roxanne Stang’s four goals, the St. Cloud State Huskies pulled off a nail-biting victory in overtime Saturday, handing No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth its fifth loss of the season by a score of 6-5.
SCSU has now beaten two of the nation’s top teams in a week’s time. SCSU defeated then second-ranked Minnesota last Saturday, 7-6.
Stang came out strong again for SCSU, scoring the four goals and adding one assist, including the game-winner in overtime at 1:59. Stang has recorded three hat tricks this season.
Meanwhile, sophomore goalie Laura Gieselman had another strong performance, stopping 61 of Duluth’s 66 shots on goal and improving her record to 12-10-2.
St. Cloud had to rally twice to claim the win, first after Duluth’s Hanne Sikio scored her 27th goal of the season at 7:58 of the first period to give the Bulldogs the early lead.
Stang tied the game at 1-1 on an unassisted goal with nine seconds remaining in the first, but the Bulldogs scored back-to-back goals by Shannon Mikel and Maria Rooth in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.
The Huskies then scored three consecutive goals to claim the lead. Sophomore forward Abby Cooper brought the Huskies within one on her power-play goal at 13:16, and Stang knocked in back-to-back power-play goals in the second period to give the Huskies their first lead at 4-3.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 1:34 in the third period on Sanna Peura’s even-strength marker, but Jennifer Swanson broke loose to score a shorthanded goal and give the Huskies their second lead of the game.
Minnesota-Duluth’s Erika Holst scored with five and a half minutes to put the game into overtime.
SCSU improves to 15-13-2 overall, 10-8-2 in the WCHA, while Minnesota-Duluth, second in the WCHA, is 22-5-3, 14-5-3 in conference play.
