ST. CHARLES, Mo. – (RV) St. Cloud State Women's Hockey played their patented grit-and-grind style in a hard-fought 4-2 win over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon, earning a holiday weekend sweep.
 
With the win, St. Cloud State improves to 9-8-0 – matching their win total from a season ago.
 
Jenniina Nylund had a hand in each of the Huskies' goals, going 1-3-4 for a career-best four point night. Taylor Lind added a goal and two assists as she provided her third collegiate three-point game. Klára Hymlárová and Olivia Cvar rounded out the SCSU goal scorers. Incredibly, Hymlárová slid back to play defense shortly after puck drop and played remarkably well – skating to a plus-two while putting four shots on goal and providing her trademarked special teams brilliance quarterbacking both units.
 
JoJo Chobak was a rock in goal for SCSU, earning her fourth win by stopping 27 of 29 shots. The tender held Lindenwood scoreless in the pivotal third period, turning away 15 shots as the Huskies faced four Lion power plays in the frame.
 
Lindenwood found the back of the net first late in the opening period, taking a 1-0 lead with just under four minutes to play. St. Cloud State went on a power play a touch later and used great cycling in the O-zone to free up Nylund. The Huskies' assistant captain skated strong to the slot and ripped the puck home to tie things at one.
 
Five minutes into the second, Lindenwood scored on the power play to regain a one-goal lead. The Huskies battled hard to generate chances – throwing 15 shots on goal in the second – and finally broke through with under three minutes to go. Hymlárová kept chasing down the puck as SCSU hunted rebounds, finding her space and blasting a wrister through just left of the slot to draw the game back even at 2-2.
 
St. Cloud State's identity reestablished itself in the third period. Lind put the Huskies up 3-2 just under three minutes into the final frame, skating across the slot and throwing an incredible diving forehand wrister past the tender's right shoulder. Leading for the first time on the afternoon, the Huskies watched momentum start to swing back the other way as the penalty kill was tasked with eliminating four Lindenwood power plays. A SCSU timeout midway through the period tilted the pendulum back as the Huskies withstood 15 shots on goal to keep the Lions scoreless. Cvar added an empty-netter with under a minute to play, sealing the 4-2 Huskies win.
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
 
"It's nice to get a sweep on the road. It wasn't pretty at times, but we faced a fair amount of adversity and handled it. I was pleased with the outcome."
 
"I was pleased. We had some kids step up with some of the adversity and the penalties, and do a job for us. That's a big character win. Being able to grind out a win when you're not necessarily playing your best and you have some people out of position, some injuries, dealing with all that changes the lineup. I thought we did a nice job of finding a way. You can't underestimate how much a win like that is going to help you down the road."

"The PK has been good all year. Mira has done a great job with that group – they were prepared, they watched film and did their thing. You hate to have to keep trotting out there to kill penalties in crucial spots, but we handled that and managed that well."
 
"In the third period – there was definitely a moment where some of the individual stuff, the careless plays – it just can't happen. You have to do what you need to do to manage the game, it's all about finding a way to get a win. I thought down the stretch we did a nice job of that."
 
"First of all, playing on the road, a road trip like this, getting the feel for our players and how we manage that. Talking about taking care of our bodies and what that looks like. I thought we did a nice job of that, and we need to continue doing a good job as we finish the trip, take a day off then get back into league action."
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State fifth-year forward Jenniina Nylund
 
"Trailing twice, we worked hard and didn't give up at any point. I knew that we were going to come back and win this game – I believed in us, we worked super hard this weekend."
 
"I felt good. I had some confidence this weekend. We've been working hard at practice and have been playing really well as a line with Liv and Avery. We have really good chemistry – we were able to create offense and score goals."
 
On her line's chemistry… "We like to talk about the game. Through that, we've been able to create some chemistry. At practices we talk about the game after every single rep – what we're seeing and what we want each other to do differently. That has helped us a lot."
 
"After a 7-2 game – I don't know if we were expecting that to happen again today – we definitely learned that it's a new game every day. We can't expect anything in this league."
 
On the Huskies' great start to 2022-23… "It's been so much fun. The girls are working super hard every single day we show up at the rink. I know everyone's going to give 100 percent, and that has helped us a lot this year. I'm excited for what the future has for this program."
 
Notables

• Jenniina Nylund had a goal and three assists for a career-best four point night, skating to a plus-three with eight shots on goal
• Taylor Lind scored a goal while providing two assists for her third collegiate three-point night, skating to a plus-two
• Klára Hymlárová scored a goal, put four shots on and was a plus-two while serving as one of the Huskies' defensemen
• Olivia Cvar scored a goal and put five shots on while skating to a plus-two
• Grace Wolfe blocked a career-best seven shots and provided an assist
• Avery Myers skated to a plus-two and had one assist
• JoJo Chobak made 27 saves to earn her fourth win of the season
• Emma Gentry won a career-high 17 draws at a 68.0% clip
• Nylund added 14 wins in the circle as SCSU was 44-29 on draws (60.3%)
• The Huskies outshot Lindenwood 32-29

Up Next
 
The Huskies return to WCHA play with a home-and-home series next weekend, hosting St. Thomas at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday then traveling to Mendota Heights for the finale on Saturday. Friday's puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. CT with a Winter Coat Drive while Saturday's contest at the St. Thomas Ice Arena will begin at 2:00 p.m.
 
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.