(Photo Prout)
St. Cloud, MN – If the Huskies are to have success this season, it’s imperative they get some goal-scoring out of sophomore forward Adam Ingram. The third-round draft choice of the Nashville Predators had a reasonably productive freshman season netting 8 goals and adding 15 assists for 23 points. In the series finale with UST, Ingram’s second-period unassisted goal turned out to be the game-winner and is just what the coaching staff is expecting out of this talented player with a big shot.
After a heartbreaker of a loss in overtime to the Tommies on Saturday in St. Cloud, the pressure was on for the Huskies to rebound and gain a split at the chilly St. Thomas Ice Arena in front of an announced crowd of 556. However, it was not expected to be an easy task against a physical and much improved Tommies squad on a tight rink in Mendota Heights.
For the second straight game, the barrage of penalties continued with five whistled in the first period alone with two on the Huskies and three consecutive on St. Thomas in the second half of the period. Unlike Saturday’s game with six power-play goals, neither side yielded any goals with the Huskies carrying a 9-6 shot advantage heading into period two.
A boarding call and game misconduct to the Huskies top faceoff player Mason Salquist 2:41 into the period had him shelved for the balance of the night and much like Saturday had the Huskies fending off a major penalty. As it seems to do, a successful penalty kill tends to change the momentum of the game, and three minutes later a strong individual effort by Adam Ingram gave the Huskies the first goal of the contest. Ingram beat former Gopher recruit Jake Ratzlaff in a foot race to the puck that was turned over along the wall outside the UST blue line and he charged in on Tommie goaltender Aaron Totter. Ingram beat him with a forehand backhand move sliding the puck under him for the lone goal of the game. The period produced six penalties as the Tommies outshot SCSU11-8.
Period three required a strong effort by senior goaltender Dominic Basse as he was called on to make 17 saves as the Tommies desperately tried to score the equalizer. He particularly had to be on his toes the last two minutes of the period as UST pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker and controlled an extensive amount of the play on the Huskies end of the ice and were sending rubber from all different angles.
Of note is that both teams had goals waved off in the third period after the video review yielded an offsides by both teams. The Huskies had a goal waved off about five minutes into period three and the Tommies had a crucial goal waved off with about three minutes left in the contest.
Dominic Basse (Photo Prout)
Dominic Basse had an exemplary game stopping all 33 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season.
The win improved the SCSU record to 1-1-0 as they prepare to face Minnesota State University, Mankato on the road next weekend.
Game Statistics:
Shots on Goal: 33-19 (UST)
Goaltender Saves: Basse, SCSU 33/33 (1.00 SV%), Trotter, UST 18/19 (.947 SV%)
Power Play: SCSU 0/5; UST 0/3
Penalties: SCSU 5/21; UST 6/12
Faceoffs: 28/55 (50.9%)
VIEW FROM CENTER ICE 