ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Emma Gentry scored twice as JoJo Chobak and St. Cloud State Women's Hockey shut out St. Thomas 4-0 on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
 
SCSU earned a weekend sweep and six conference points, outscoring St. Thomas 8-1 in the series to leap back into fifth place. Chobak made 20 saves to post her second shutout of the season as the Huskies outshot St. Thomas 26-20. Jenniina Nylund scored the game's first goal three minutes into the opening period, knocking the puck loose on the forecheck then burying a feed from Olivia Cvar.
 
Klára Hymlárová scored just 49 seconds into the second period, skating ahead on a 2-on-1 rush with Bailey Burton and sending home a perfect pass across the slot. Gentry banged in her first goal of the game midway through the frame to make it 3-0, ripping a heavy wrister past the tender.
 
Gentry tacked on one more in with 30 seconds to play in the game, launching a shot through from the point for her fifth collegiate two-goal game.
 
The Huskies penalty kill made it a perfect weekend, blanking St. Thomas on their three power plays including a critical five-minute major kill in the first. SCSU killed off eight penalties during the series and haven't allowed a goal on their last 17 kills.
 
Turning Point
After killing off the major in the first period, St. Cloud State scored twice in the second period to gain distance on the Tommies.  A gritty defensive effort in the third held St. Thomas to just a pair of shots before Gentry's late goal sealed the 4-0 shutout win.
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
 
"Those were points we felt like we really needed to keep ourselves in the conversation for some things. To take care of business like that and win two games is a big step for our program."
 
On the team's growing chemistry… "It takes some time. Even though they've played together, a big chunk of them haven't played together in this structure and system. That was a big piece at the beginning of the year – everything is different for everybody. There's not one thing we're maintaining that was how they were doing it before. Some things were similar, but the expectations, accountability and attention to detail is much stricter than what it's been in the past. What I would say now is that there's less thinking about where to be, instead it's more instinctually getting to our spots. That means we're faster, we move the puck faster when that happens and I think that's a byproduct of that situation. They look more comfortable as a group."
 
"The second period is a huge period. Against great teams when you get penned in and can't get a change, you get overextended and it's going to hurt you. It's been a focal point. I think we've been managing pucks better in that period as a whole and we got rewarded for that the last couple of games."
 
On the strong defense play… "I think a lot of that's Mira and her intensity. We want to play aggressively, and we want to compete. It's translated into the D corps about getting up, gapping up, not being so passive and sagging back. We figured we would take our lumps with some of that early on, but I think they've caught on and have done a good job. We're taking up time and space, getting out to contain and not getting beat back to the middle. That's the youngest position group we have and some of those players have taken some big steps for us, which is great. And then Geier has just been super consistent and eating lots of minutes. Not super flashy, but my goodness she's super effective. She's done a great job leading that group maturity-wise."
 
On the message entering next week… "It's about managing our emotions – not too high, not too low. We didn't get sad and feel bad for ourselves when we got swept, and we can't be too giddy and think everything's perfect when we win a few games. We go back to work on Monday, get ready for the next one – as cliché as it is, it's the process. We have to take care of our bodies, get a good rest day in and go back to work for another tough game and opponent next weekend."
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State forward Emma Gentry
 
On her aggressive mindset… "I grew up playing with boys, so I think I always had the mindset of not getting pushed around. Brian talks a lot about having a bull mentality and being relentless, getting after it. That's my style of play."
 
On her line's strong play… "Addi and I have a similar style of play – both being bigger physical forwards. It's fun to battle with her. Courtney is smart with the puck – we blend well."
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State goaltender JoJo Chobak
 
On her debut season with SCSU… "It's been really exciting. It can be difficult coming into a new team at first, but I spent some time with them over the summer so that was good to get to know everyone. I think we're developing a lot as a team with Brian, and he's noticing a lot of little things and habits we need to work on. It's been an exciting process to be a part of."
 
On working with the D corps… "We've all been working on getting our language down. I try to be their eyes when their going to retrieve pucks, letting them know if there's forwards on them and what they have open going up the ice. We're working on it every day, and it's definitely getting better."
 
Notables

• JoJo Chobak recorded her second shutout of the season and fifth of her career with 20 saves
• Emma Gentry provided her fifth collegiate two-goal game and led all players with seven shots on
• Jenniina Nylund scored her second goal of the series, going 2-2-4 on the weekend
• Klára Hymlárová scored her third goal of the series and added three shots on goal
• Addi Scribner matched her career-high with two assists and put three shots on
• Dayle Ross had one assist and skated to a plus-three
• Allison Green, Courtney Hall, Bailey Burton and Olivia Cvar each had an assist
• Burton, Scribner, Gentry, Taytum Geier and McKenna Wesloh all skated to a plus-two
• SCSU outshot St. Thomas 26-20
• The sweep is the Huskies' first WCHA sweep since Nov. 5-6 of 2021 at home over Minnesota State
• The Huskies have killed their last 17 penalties

 
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.