Box Score - Text Box - Game Sheet

Sophomore forward Erik Haula scored a goal for the Gophers

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - In another closely contest battle against rival Minnesota, the St. Cloud State University men's hockey (10-14-4, 7-10-3 WCHA) lost a tough 3-2 decision against the #3 ranked Gophers on Jan. 28 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

Before a packed house at the NHC, the Huskies gained a first period lead when junior forward Ben Hanowski (Little Falls) scorted an even-strength goal at 13:54 with assists from junior defender Taylor Johnson (White Bear Lake) and senior forward Jared Festler (Little Falls).

SCSU held a 1-0 lead heading into the second period before Minnesota tied the contest at 8:29 with a goal by Ben Marshall on the power play. Nate Condon and Mark Alt added the assists on the play for Minnesota.

Minnesota pushed its lead to 2-1 at 15:48 of the second period with a power play marker by Erik Haula, as Kyle Rau and Nate Schmidt provided the assists on the goal.

To close out the second period, Hanowski notched his second goal of the evening with a shot that got past UM goalie Kent Patterson at 18:58. Junior forward David Eddy (Woodbury) and goalie Ryan Faragher (Fort Frances, Ont.) provided the assists on the goal.

This was Hanowski's team leading 15th goal of the season and it was Eddy's 12th assist of the year. Hanowski also leads the team in scoring this winter with 30 points. Of note, the assist was Faragher's second of the season for the rookie goalie.

Minnesota gained the victory with a late third period goal by Sam Warning at 18:41. Justin Holl and Jake Hansen had assists on the game winner for the Gophers.

In his 21st appearance of the season, Faragher helped the Huskies stay in the battle to the end with 43 saves to his credit. This total included 17 saves in the third period. The 43 saves was Faragher's second best effort of the year for saves in a game.

On the night, Minnesota outshot the Huskies 46-12. On the power play, SCSU was 0-of-3 and Minnesota was 2-of-4.

The Huskies will continue their 2011-12 season with a road trip to Madison, Wis. for a pair of WCHA games against Wisconsin on Feb. 3-4. Fans can listen to both games live on KNSI AM 1450/FM 103.3 (www.1450knsi.com).

The Huskies will return home on Feb. 17-18 for a pair of games at the NHC against Alaska Anchorage. For complete ticket information, please call 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137.