{"id":140096,"date":"2023-03-19T00:17:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T05:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=140096"},"modified":"2023-03-19T00:17:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T05:17:32","slug":"st-cloud-state-blanks-colorado-college-wins-second-nchc-playoff-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2023\/03\/19\/st-cloud-state-blanks-colorado-college-wins-second-nchc-playoff-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Cloud State blanks Colorado College, wins second NCHC playoff championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
St. Cloud State raises the Frozen Faceoff Championship trophy after defeating Colorado College (Photo: Jim Rosvold\/NCHC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ST. PAUL, Minn.<\/strong> \u2013 After righting the wrongs that hurt the team near the end of the season, the St. Cloud State Huskies are heading into the NCAA tournament playing their best hockey at the right time.<\/p>\n

No. 7 St. Cloud State claimed its second NCHC playoff title with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado College Tigers Saturday at Xcel Energy Center, and the Huskies head into the NCAA tournament on a roll. After a mid-January sweep over Denver was followed by an 0-3-3 stretch, the Huskies have won four of their last five games and six of their last nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say we\u2019re playing pretty darn good right now,\u201d said SCSU coach Brett Larson, who won his first playoff title in five years on the job. \u201cThey fought through a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant Cruikshank, who spent three years at Colorado College including as a captain during the final two, had a goal and an assist against his former team Saturday, while linemate Kyler Kupka also had a goal. Jami Krannila, who won the Frozen Faceoff\u2019s Most Outstanding Player award, had the game\u2019s first goal to give him two for the weekend. Despite winning the award, the senior has much more in mind as the postseason begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we know what our next goal is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kaidan Mbereko had another good game for the Tigers with 23 saves, but Colorado College, which sought its first NCAA tournament berth since 2011 and first conference tournament title ever, couldn\u2019t find the offense necessary to match St. Cloud\u2019s, and the Tigers’ season ended just short of their goal this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously disappointed for our guys,\u201d said a visibly emotional Tigers coach Kris Mayotte, who struggled to find words about his team\u2019s tough end to the season. \u201cWe set out in June to play for a championship, and we did that. It didn\u2019t go our way, but we don\u2019t do that if we don\u2019t have special people.\u201d<\/p>\n

But according to Mayotte, better days are to come for Colorado College. \u201cWe\u2019ll be back,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s our program\u2019s standard; this is our expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

And quite simply, a team is on the rise when it makes a run through the conference tournament to the title game like the Tigers did over the last week. They beat two very good teams in Western Michigan and Denver to make it here. They hadn\u2019t been to a conference title game in ten years until Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great run. So proud of those guys in that room,\u201d said Colorado College defenseman Bryan Yoon, who had a great weekend defensively to earn all-tournament honors. \u201cWe had a tough second half and a lot of people counted us out. We got a special group in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies struck first with just over five minutes left in the first period as their top line accounted for their fourth goal of the weekend. Krannila deflected a Zach Okabe shot past Mbereko, who gave up his first goal since the second game of Colorado College\u2019s quarterfinal series against Western Michigan.<\/p>\n

The Tigers kept up a good defensive effort but just couldn’t sustain any pressure in the offensive zone. The Huskies eventually increased their pressure down low and put the game away with two more goals in the third period as Cruikshank doubled the lead burying a goal-mouth pass from Micah Miller, and Kupka later made a nice deke on Mbereko before backhanding a top-shelf shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to get to the paint,\u201d Krannila said. \u201cHe\u2019s a heck of a goalie. We just wanted to be around him in his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaxon Castor capped a great weekend for SCSU with 17 saves to earn the shutout and all-tournament honors.<\/p>\n

Larson has been impressed with how far his senior goaltender has come after he had a tough game in last year\u2019s 5-4 loss to Quinnipiac in the NCAA tournament\u2019s first round.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way last year ended, man, it was tough,\u201d Larson said in a shaky voice. \u201cI\u2019ve just been so proud of him \u2013 how much he\u2019s grown as a player, as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a rough stretch in February, St. Cloud State was able to bounce back, and now the Huskies reign as NCHC Frozen Faceoff champions for the second time, previously having won it in 2016. It\u2019s the third conference tournament title in program history. St. Cloud beat North Dakota 6-5 in overtime in the 2001 WCHA Final Five championship.<\/p>\n

The Huskies will be a No. 2 seed when the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed on Sunday.<\/p>\n

NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forward: Jami Krannila (SCSU)
\nForward: Zach Okabe (SCSU)
\nForward: Hunter McKown (CC)
\nDefense: Bryan Yoon (CC)
\nDefense: Jack Peart (SCSU)
\nGoaltender: Jaxon Castor (SCSU)<\/p>\n

MOP: Jami Krannila (SCSU)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2013 After righting the wrongs that hurt the team near the end of the season, the St. Cloud State Huskies are heading into the NCAA tournament playing their best hockey at the right time. No. 7 St. Cloud State claimed its second NCHC playoff title with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":140120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[949],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[1711],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSt. Cloud State blanks Colorado College, wins second NCHC playoff championship - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ST. 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