ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Junior forward Emma Gentry scored twice while linemate and senior Courtney Hall ripped home the game-winner as (RV) St. Cloud State Women's Hockey defeated St. Thomas 3-2 on Friday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
 
Improving to 10-8 on the year, this marks the earliest date the Huskies have earned their 10^th win of a season since the 2008-09 campaign. SCSU has also now surpassed their win total from last season.
 
The third line of Gentry, Hall and Addi Scribner combined for six points and sent seven shots on while providing all Huskies three goals. Reigning WCHA Goaltender of the Month Sanni Ahola turned away 33 of 35 shots to earn her sixth win of the season.
 
St. Cloud State struck first with just over two minutes to go in the opening period as Gentry took a pass from Grace Wolfe out of neutral ice. Gentry knifed her way into the slot, ripping home a wrister to put SCSU up 1-0. She would add her second of the game just a minute into the second period after the Huskies killed off the tail end of a 5-on-3. Scribner tossed a beautiful one-touch pass right back to Gentry in the slot that the latter fired home for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Tommies cut their deficit to one with four to play in the second, then knotted things up at two midway through the third. Hall made sure the Huskies earned their three conference points three minutes later, receiving a beautiful stretch pass from Scribner into a breakaway then going top shelf over the aggressive tender.
 
SCSU's penalty kill withstood a 6-on-4 power play over the last two minutes of the third as the Tommies pulled their goalie, sealing the 3-2 win and securing the three conference points.
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski
 
"St. Thomas is greatly improved – I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff. They competed extremely hard today and defended well. I'm happy that we were able to find a way to win a game, and I look forward to getting after it tomorrow."
 
"With our big sheet, you can't just roll three lines. We're playing a little short on the back end with some kids who are banged up back there, so we're trying to run through some forward lines to help with back pressure and backchecking to help the D out. That was in our best interest looking at the weekend coming off the travel from Lindenwood, there's a lot of factors with that. They earned more ice time because they're playing super well. Gentry had a great game, was super dominant not only offensively but the full 200 feet. That was great. I thought Bourgerie, Cornelius and Green were moving their feet, possessed pucks well and deserved more ice time tonight."
 
"Super happy for Courtney Hall. She has really good hockey sense and good instincts. For her to get that one – and be it a clutch one – was awesome. You could see it coming in practice, she's been practicing hard and practicing well, scoring goals in practice and shootouts. It's nice for that to translate for her."
 
"It's what we've come to expect from Sanni – we ask our goalies to stop the ones that they're supposed to and we'll try to funnel the offense to bad areas, then steal a couple here or there. I felt like she stole a lot of them today. We need to be better in front of our tenders, hopefully that starts tomorrow."
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State junior forward Emma Gentry
 
"It's just a mentality of knowing that we're a good team. Going out there, winning the small battles and being confident in ourselves, our teammates and our coaching staff."
 
"I was in a little slump there over the past two weekends, so I was glad to put two in the back of the net. We just need to keep moving forward and putting pucks on net."
 
On the importance of collecting points each weekend… "Absolutely – that's a big thing Brian preaches. We have a chance to go on to the National Tournament and host a conference tournament game, so these games are huge. Hopefully we can get there."
 
Quotables – St. Cloud State senior forward Courtney Hall
 
On her go-ahead goal… "It's something we've been working on in practice a lot, that stretch play. Addi Scribner made a great pass through a couple D, I saw the shot and luckily enough it went in."
 
"The three of us on our line are pretty physical girls, we're third line so we need to be gritty to get our chances. It worked out for us tonight. We're just trying to get that F1 in hard with the second one coming in to help and the third person high. The cycle's working, the D are starting to be a little more active and it's working out for us."
 
Notables

• Emma Gentry scored a pair of goals while putting four shots on goal and skating to a plus-three
• Gentry's multi-goal game marks the sixth of her career
• Courtney Hall scored the game-winner and added an assist for a two-point night, skating to a plus-two
• Addi Scribner had a pair of assists, put on two shots and was a plus-two
• Grace Wolfe and Regan Bulger each provided an assist
• The third line collectively provided a 3-3-6 night while putting seven shots on goal
• Sanni Ahola made 33 saves to earn her sixth win of the season, setting a new career best for wins in a campaign
• SCSU killed off all five St. Thomas power plays
• The Huskies trailed 35-27 on shots

 
Up Next
The Huskies travel to Mendota Heights on Saturday for the series finale with puck drop set for 2:00 p.m. CT at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. Coverage is available on B1G+ and 97.5 FM RadioX with links available on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page.
 
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