ST. CLOUD — The final record was not near what St. Cloud State women’s hockey coach Mira Jalosuo and her staff hoped for in the 2025-26 season.
But there were some bright spots during Jalosuo’s first season as Huskies head coach that leave her optimistic about the road ahead, she said.
The biggest came on Friday, Feb. 27,
when the Huskies defeated Minnesota, 1-0, in overtime
to end a 30-game WCHA playoff losing streak. It was
first postseason win since beating Bemidji State, 3-0, on Feb. 26, 2010.
Unfortunately, the Gophers came back to win the next two games, 4-1 and 6-1, to eliminate SCSU. The Huskies finished sixth in the WCHA and with a 12-23-2 overall mark. That’s the fewest wins in a season for the program since going 9-23-3 in 2021-22.
“I feel like Saturday, we didn’t compete,” Jalosuo said of the 4-1 loss. “Sunday, we had three expected goals for and we only scored one. It’s not like we played bad when our back was against the wall. It was just one of those games where we didn’t score what was expected.”
Another highlight came Jan. 17, when the Huskies beat Minnesota Duluth 5-2. It snapped a seven-game losing streak at Amsoil Arena dating back to Dec. 9, 2023.
SCSU also won Sept. 26 at Connecticut, 2-1. UConn won the Hockey East tournament title on Saturday with a 2-1 double overtime win over Northeastern. UConn (27-8-2) is ranked No. 6 in the two national polls.
St. Cloud State goalie Emilia Kyrkkö (42) watches the action with Huskies defenseman Grace Wolfe (8) and University of Minnesota forward Ava Lindsay (9) looking on during a WCHA playoff game on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
Jacob Saunders / SCSU ATHLETICS
“We have to remember that our strength of schedule was No. 1 in the nation,” Jalosuo said. “We took big steps forward and that’s the bottom line for us. I’m not happy with our record. We ended up giving too many gifts away, especially at the end of games. The St. Thomas games, we gave away three of those. Bemidji, we gave two points away on a Saturday.”
St. Cloud State forward Alice Sauriol (4) skates with the puck against Minnesota Duluth during the first round of the WCHA playoff on Friday, March 1, 2024 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group
The good news for the Huskies is that 13 of their top 15 scorers are expected to return.
Alice Sauriol, a junior wing from Sherbrooke, Quebec,
led the Huskies in assists (21) and points (29).
Sofianna Sundelin, a junior center from Ulvila, Finland,
led the Huskies in goals (16) and power-play goals (5) and was second on the team in points (26). All of those numbers were career-bests for both players.
St. Cloud State forward Sofianna Sundelin skates during a game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
SCSU Athletics
Maria Mikaelyan, a freshman wing from Moscow,
was second on the team in goals (13), had 19 points and four power-play goals. Julianne Labbé, a freshman left wing from Wendake, Quebec, had seven goals and 13 points.
“I’m expecting Maria Mikaelyan to have a heck of a year and the same from Julianne Labbé,” Jalosuo said. “I’m excited about the future because I think this team is going to be even more skilled than it was this year.”
Junior center Laura Zimmermann, who played on Switzerland’s bronze medal team in the Olympics,
also returns after scoring eight goals and 15 points.
St. Cloud State University forwards Avery Farrell (16) and Maria Mikaelyan (44) skate to a faceoff during a WCHA game against the University of Minnesota on Oct. 11, 2025, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Kayden Kircher Photography
The lone defenseman that the Huskies lose to graduation is Grace Wolfe, who played in all situations. But
Siiri Yrjölä, a sophomore defenseman from Vantaa, Finland,
had nine points and was second on the team in plus/minus (plus-1).
“I think she can easily take Wolfey’s spot,” Jalosuo said of Yrjölä, who played in the Olympics.
Sidney Lamb, a freshman from Lombard, Illinois, also returns on defense. Lamb had 15 points, was a team-leading plus-5 and made the WCHA All-Rookie Team.
Speaking of the Finnish Olympic team,
Emilia Kyrkkö had career-bests of a .933 save percentage and four shutouts in 18 games,
splitting time with
“We are in a very good spot with our goaltending for years to come,” Jalosuo said.
Chobak and
who did not play, both graduate.
Roseau’s Jasmine Hovda (5) celebrates after scoring a goal.
Submitted
There are several players with some impressive credentials that will be a part of next season’s freshman class.
Jasmine Hovda, a senior from Roseau,
was fourth in the state in goals (45), fifth in points (66) and
was a top five finalist for Ms. Hockey.
Madelyn Lee, a senior at White Bear Lake, was a semifinalist for Ms. Hockey. She had 16 goals and 27 points in 26 games.
Sophie Olson, a senior forward, helped Hill-Murray win the Class AA state title, totaling 12 goals and 27 points in 30 games.
Tayla Lamabe, an 18-year-old forward from Peace River, Alberta, is playing for the St. Albert Slash 18-and-under AAA team and has 28 points in 25 games.
Alexis Ehrman, a 17-year-old goalie from Calgary, has been playing for the Calgary Edge School Under-18 Prep Team and is 9-6 with a 2.29 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Jalosuo said she has a similar playing style to Krykko.
“She’s very athletic,” Jalosuo said. “She challenges the shot. We’re going to have two similar type of goalies. We had two different types of goalies this year.”
Emily Mitchell, a 19-year-old defenseman from South Lyon, Michigan, is playing for the Little Caesars 19-and-under AAA team.
“We lose much less than most of the programs,” Jalosuo said. “If you look at the Gophers and Wisconsin, they’re going to graduating between eight and 10 players. Ohio State will be very good next year. That’s going to be a hurdle for us. Most of the teams are losing more than we are and that’s a good sign for our program.”
Tough schedule during Olympics
During the season, four players (Kyrkkö,
Yrjölä, Zimmermann) played in the Olympics, missing a total of six games (a series at St. Thomas and home series against Minnesota State University-Mankato and Bemidji State).
The Huskies went 3-3 in those six games, leaving Jalosuo wondering, “what if?”
“Everybody is in the same boat, but I felt like we took the short end of the stick because we ended up playing against St. Thomas, Bemidji and Mankato,” she said. “Those programs didn’t lose any players to the Olympics and we lost three. It’s something that I was not happy with the scheduling, but we still ended up winning three of those games and we took St. Thomas to OT.
St. Cloud State women’s hockey teammates Siiri Yrjölä (left) and Svenja Voigt pose for a photo as they wait for the Opening Ceremonies to start at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Courtesy of Svenja Voigt
“Do I think we’d have been able to win five out of six or six out of six? Possibly. That would have put us No. 5 in the WCHA. I’m happy with the girls, but not happy with the schedule we had during the Olympic break.”
With no Olympics next season, look for the record to improve, Jalosuo said, though she knows that there are other areas for growth.
SCSU tied for 22nd (out of 45 teams) in the nation in goals-per-game (2.5) and tied for 35th in goals against (3.2).
“I go back to analytics because I’m a numbers person,” Jalosuo said. “We expected to score more goals than we did. There is room to improve. We have to capitalize on our chances because the chances were there. We just couldn’t bury the puck.
“Something that we have to be better (at) next year is we can’t be giving up more than three goals a game. We have to fix that over the summer.”
SCSU tied for 25th in the nation on the power play (17.7%) and was 41st on the penalty kill (75.2%).
St. Cloud State’s Laura Zimmermann (11) carries the puck against the University of Manitoba with Kylie Lesuk (17) and Glory Plett (10) defending in an exhibition game on Sept. 27, 2024, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
SCSU Athletics
“Special teams got much better the second half,” Jalosuo said. “I didn’t mind our special teams in the second half at all. We won most of the special teams battles.”
While this was officially her first season as a head coach, Jalosuo said that she felt like she shared the position with
and Minnesota Frost head coach Ken Klee the last two seasons.
“I’m used to the pressure and leading a program,” she said. “I don’t think there was anything that necessarily surprised me. I guess if there is one thing it is how much the regular season means to the NPI.”
The NPI is the NCAA Percentage Index, which determines the 11 teams that make the national tournament. The Huskies finished the season at No. 18.