The SJU hockey team (6-11-4, 2-8-2 MIAC) travels to Winona for two games against Saint Mary's (1-19-1, 1-11-0 MIAC) this Friday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. Both games will be played at the SMU Ice Arena. – Listen Live (Friday) | Live Stats (Both Games)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies were unable to defeat No. 10 Hamline in last weekend's series. The Johnnies dropped the first game 5-4 on Feb. 4. The Pipers scored three unanswered goals, including the game-winner with 1:06 left in regulation. Hamline took an early 2-0 lead halfway thru the first period with goals 2:03 apart. The Johnnies stormed back, however, with four consecutive goals to take a 4-2 lead. Freshman Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) scored back-to-back goals 2:18 apart to tie the game at 2-2 in the first period. Fellow freshman Kevin Blackley (Plymouth, Minn.) tallied his first career assist on the second goal. Senior Gabriel Harren (Warroad, Minn.) lit the lamp on the power play at the 16:13 mark of the first period to give SJU a 3-2 lead. Freshman Joe Harren (Warroad, Minn.) and senior Chris Murray (Chanhassen, Minn.) assisted on the scoring play for SJU. Joe Harren gave the Johnnies a two-goal cushion with a power-play goal of his own 8:27 into the second period, with assists going to his cousin Gabriel and Murray. Brian Arrigoni, the preceding MIAC Co-Player of the Week with SJU's Stu Van Ess (Kewaskum, Wis.), tallied the game-winning, power-play goal with just over a minute left. Van Ess made 24 saves in the loss
On Feb. 6, the Johnnies fell to the Pipers 5-2, after Hamline scored game's final two goals, including an empty-netter with 30 seconds left. Senior Jake Koehler (Ramsey, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded tally 2:56 into the game. Arrigoni tied the game at 1-1 with a shorthanded goal of his own six minutes later. The Pipers extended their lead to 3-1 in the second period before freshman Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.) cut the deficit to 3-2 with his sixth goal of the season 8:32 into the third frame. Gabriel Harren and junior Jared Smith (Grand Rapids, Minn.) assisted on the scoring play. Hamline answered, however, with a quick strike just 17 seconds later. Arrigoni then added an empty-net goal in the game's final minute to end the scoring. Sophomore Tony Civello (Shoreview, Minn.) made 22 saves in the loss.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: SMU went 0-2 last weekend against the Auggies, despite having one of its best overall performances of the season on Feb. 5. The two teams traded first-period goals, with Augsburg's Joel Sauer opening the scoring three minutes into the period, while SMU's Tommy Healy pulled the Cardinals even at 14:51. The Cardinals then earned a short-lived 3-1 advantage with back-to-back goals seven minutes apart early in the second period, only to have the answer with two straight goals to make it a 3-3 game heading into the final 20 minutes. The Cardinals scored on a power play at 1:33 in the third to put them back in front, but Augsburg again had an answer, tying the game on at 7:34, then getting the game-winner off the stick of Tedd Falk three minutes later, for a final score of 5-4. Jason Horstman finished with 32 saves for the Cardinals.
In the second game of the series, Augsburg scored twice in the first period, erasing an early 1-0 SMU lead en route to a 4-2 conference win. The Cardinals were in the lead early, netting a goal in less than two minutes into the first period. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Augsburg scored two minutes later, and then Nick Guran gave the Auggies the lead for good at 14:13, netting the team's second power-play goal of the period. Augsburg would push its lead to 3-1 in the second period, but the Cardinals would not go quietly, as SMU came within one at 3:36 of the third period. That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as Augsburg's Johnson sealed the win with his second of the game, an empty netter, with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Johnnies are 34-21-3 (5-0-0 in MIAC Playoffs) against Saint Mary's since the 1984-85 season and have won 12 of the last 15 meetings.
THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's defeated the Cardinals 4-0 in a non-conference game on Oct. 31. Senior forward Karl Gilbert (Hermantown, Minn.) scored a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) and Van Ess made 22 saves to record his first career win and shutout. The game, a non-conference matchup, was the season opener for SJU and the first of three games at the MIAC Showcase in Bloomington. Gilbert scored his first two goals on the power play; the first from juniors Brent Brodersen (Shakopee, Minn.) and Mike Wallgren (Oakdale, Minn.) 12:43 into the first period, and the second from Wallgren and sophomore Grant Ellena (Coon Rapids, Minn.) 47 seconds into the second period. Gilbert added his third goal, against from Ellena and Wallgren, at the 6:18 mark of the second frame. Gabriel Harren added a power-play goal of his own 4:01 later to end the scoring at 4-0 in favor of the Johnnies. Joe Harren and Palmiscno posted their first career points with assists on the scoring play. Gilbert's hat trick was the first for a Johnnie since Harren netted three in SJU's 5-1 win against Gustavus Adolphus on Dec. 12, 2007. Coincidentally, Harren's hat trick was a pure hat trick and Gilbert ended the scoring with a power-play goal. Van Ess' shutout was the first for SJU since Vince Wheeler's 16-save performance in the 6-0 win against Augsburg on Jan. 26, 2008.
