ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey shut out RPI 5-0 on Opening Night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday evening. The Huskies outshot the Engineers 31-17.
 
Taylor Lind delivered the Huskies' first four-point night since November 19, scoring two goals and adding a pair of helpers, while linemate Jenniina Nylund added a goal and an assist for two points. Lind was a plus-four on the night, becoming the first SCSU player to do so since 2018. Taytum Geier scored her first collegiate goal and Emma Gentry lit the lamp once to round out the scoring.
 
Goaltender JoJo Chobak earned a shutout win in her Huskies debut, stopping all 17 shots she faced including 11 in the second period. The Huskies killed off three penalties and dominated draws, winning 69.4% of faceoffs taken. Nylund went 16-5 while Klára Hymlárová was 11-2 in the dot.
 
Turning Point
The Huskies relied on puck possession and strong special teams, killing off each of their three penalties taken while going 1-for-2 on the power play. Momentum swung fully in St. Cloud State's favor in the third as the Huskies took the puck away right at the end of a kill and broke it out ahead to McKenna Wesloh right out of the box. Taytum Geier positioned herself well on the odd-man rush and chipped home the rebound for a 2-0 lead.
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
 
"I thought it was a good start for us. We're starting to get a little better at our execution, our energy was good. I thought our effort was good. What we had talked about – style of play, trying to play fast, manage pucks – it was starting to fall into place today."
 
"The talk afterwards was that we have many areas where we can show up and do things in the short term. There's still room for improvements. To be more of a professional organization, you need to be able to repeat game-in, game-out. A good start, but certainly room for improvement in our execution. It's a long season, you have to ride the highs and lows. We have to turn around and be ready to do it again tomorrow."
 
On Taylor Lind's impressive night… "She's a heart-and-soul kid. She works hard, it's easy to see that she has a high energy level and is a fantastic skater. I thought she did a great job of leading by example today and playing with the kind of effort and energy that we need."

Notables

• Taylor Lind scored two goals and added two assists while skating to a plus-four, moving just one point away from the 50-point club
• Her four-point night was the Huskies' first since Klára Hymlárová had one at Lindenwood on November 16, 2019
• Lind is also the first Huskies player to finish plus-four or better since Alyssa Erickson was a plus-four at Bemidji State on February 10, 2018
• Jenniina Nylund had a goal and an assist for a two-point Opening Night
• Taytum Geier scored her first collegiate goal and led SCSU with three blocked shots
• Emma Gentry scored on the power play while putting a team-high four shots on
• Klára Hymlárová, Addi Scribner, Courtney Hall, McKenna Wesloh and Allison Green each provided an assist
• Nylund (16-5) and Hymlárová (11-2) were dominant on draws as SCSU won nearly 70% of their faceoffs taken
• JoJo Chobak stopped 17 shots to earn the shutout win in her Huskies debut
• SCSU has won five straight games against RPI dating back to November 7, 2014 

Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.