The Saint John's University hockey team plays host to Wisconsin-Superior for its home opener Thursday, Nov. 4. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. SJU then hosts No. 11 St. Scholastica for a 2 p.m. contest Saturday, Nov. 6. Both games will be played at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. – Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (3:32)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: In the Johnnies most recent game on Sunday, Oct. 30, St. Olaf handed Saint John's a frustrating 3-2 non-conference loss as part of the MIAC Showcase. Ross Trousdale gave the Oles an early 1-0 lead 5:18 into the contest. Freshman Robin Bylin (Goteborg, Sweden) scored the Johnnies' first goal of the 2010-11 season on a one-timer from sophomore Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.), tying the game with under seven minutes left in the opening period. St. Olaf regained the lead with a power-play goal from Jeff Warren at the nine-minute mark of the second period, but senior Mike Wallgren (Oakdale, Minn.) tied it again at 2-2 with a thrilling goal with only one second showing on the clock. Junior Conor Rooney (Stillwater, Minn.) and sophomore Axel Wikstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) assisted on the scoring play for SJU (0-2, 0-0 MIAC). Peter Rohn scored the game-winner 5:39 into the third period. Junior Tony Civello (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) made 21 saves for SJU, which dressed eight freshmen and five sophomores in the game
A LOOK AT THE YELLOWJACKETS: Wisconsin-Superior (1-1, 1-1 NCHA) was picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in the NCHA Preseason poll released Oct. 22. Last year, the Yellowjackets finished last. Superior split with nationally-ranked Wis.-River Falls last weekend. Seniors Talon Berlando and Logan Isley lead the team with three (2g/1a) and two points (0g/2a), respectively. Sophomore Garrett Tinkham made 26 saves in his first appearance since last December in the 3-2 win Saturday.
THE LAST MEETING: The Johnnies' suffered their first loss of the season last year to the then-No.4 Yellowjackets by a score of 6-3. Wis.-Superior jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead before SJU cut the deficit in half with two second-period goals. Palmiscno scored his first career goal at the13:20 mark of the second period to put the Johnnies on the board. Less than the three minutes later, the Johnnies scored again, this time the goal came from fellow sophomore Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) to make the score 4-2. This goal was the third goal in two games for Pettit. Superior answered back with a goal 9:29 into the third period. Senior Brent Brodersen (Shakopee, Minn.) cut the deficit back to two with a power-play goal at the 15:03 mark. The Yellowjackets netted an empty-net goal with just 1:25 remaining in the contest. Civello recorded 13 saves in the final 40 minutes for Saint John's.
A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: Last season the Saints finished with a 17-5-6 (11-3-4 NCHA) record and just missed an NCAA Division III tournament appearance. St. Scholastica lost a solid corps of players due to graduation, including All-American Jordan Chong, first-team All-NCHA goaltender Zach Kleiman, and defenseman Dustin DeGagne. However, the Saints return All-NCHA honorable mention forward Jeremy Dawes and defenseman Austin Brown. Dawes scored 11 goals in NCHA play last season. St. Scholastica opened up its season last weekend against Wis.-Stevens Point and came away with two losses.
THE LAST MEETING: Last season, Saint John's upset then-No. 13 St. Scholastica, 3-1. Pettit recorded his first two career goals and Civello tallied 52 saves in his first career start between the pipes. The Saints jumped out to an early lead 2:41 into the game. Pettit tied the game with his first career goal less than three minutes later. He then scored the game-winning goal during a power-play with 1:19 left in regulation. Wallgren put the game away, when he netted an empty-net goal at the 19:40 mark of the third period. Civello's 52 saves were the most since Vince Wheeler tallied 44 against Wis.-River Falls during the 2008-09 season, and was four shy of the school record of 56 (Craig Hidde vs. St. Thomas, 1990).
