Saint John's freshman goaltender Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) posted a 1.00 GAA and a .958 save percentage (46 saves) in the Johnnies' sweep of St. Olaf to earn MIAC Men's Hockey Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this season. He is now 11-4-1 overall (7-3-1 MIAC) in net and leads the MIAC (conference games only) in both GAA (1.30) and save percentage (.947).
Soley made 16 saves in SJU's 4-2 win Feb. 7 in St. Cloud before stopping all 30 shots to tally his second collegiate shutout (in his last four games), 4-0, Feb. 8 in Northfield. The shutout of St. Olaf was the first for a Johnnie goaltender since Adam Hanna in March 2004 and the first in Northfield since Mark Rice in February 1999.
The sweep of MIAC-leading St. Olaf last week moved SJU into a second-place tie with St. Thomas, one point behind the Oles entering the regular season's final weekend. The Johnnies (12-7-4, 7-4-3 MIAC) travel to take on Bethel in the final regular-season series of the season at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at the National Sports Center (Schwan Super Rink) in Blaine. The return game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at the National Hockey and Events Center in St. Cloud.
