Saint John's returns to non-conference action this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10, against a pair of poll-recognized teams. The Johnnies play host to No. 11 Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) for “PAC the MAC” Night, a 7 p.m. puck-drop Friday at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) in St. Cloud. Free busing will be available for students, beginning with a 6:15 pickup at the Abbey Bell Banner, followed by a 6:30 p.m. pickup at the HCC. SJU then travels to Waconia Saturday for a neutral-site, non-conference game against St. Thomas. – Live Stats (Friday) | Listen Live (Saturday)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (1:27)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-4-2, 1-3-0 MIAC) returns to action after posting a 1-0-1 record against Concordia (Wis.) two weeks ago in St. Cloud. SJU broke a 1-1 tie with three second-period goals to earn a 5-2 Friday and amassed a 55-22 advantage in shots but settled for a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Junior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead 9:48 into Friday's game with his fourth goal of the season. CUW tied the contest at 1-1 with a power-play goal 1:23 later. Freshman Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) gave the lead back to SJU with his third goal of the season from Pettit, who added his second goal of the night 3:10 later to give the Johnnies a 3-1 lead. Jason Johnson extended the lead to 4-1 at the 18:14 mark of the second period with assists going to the other two Johnsons, Phil and Trent. Senior Conor Rooney (Stillwater, Minn.) ended the scoring with a goal with under 12 minutes remaining, his fourth of the season. Senior Tony Civello (Shoreview, Minn.) made 10 saves between the pipes to improve to 3-4-1 on the year.
The Falcons found the scoreboard first on Saturday with a power-play goal late in the first period. Senior Nick Roscoe (Eau Claire, Wis.) tied the game 21 seconds into the second period with his first goal of the season and second of his career. Russell Johnson gave the lead back to CUW with a power-play goal 8:58 into the third. Rooney tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal of his own, his fifth tally of the season, with 1:45 left. The goal capped a furious surge in which SJU outshot the Falcons 23-5 in the final period. SJU produced nine shots-on goal and a number of scoring chances in overtime but could not find the back of the net. Junior J.D. Wells (Anoka, Minn.) made 13 saves in the first two periods before he was relieved by Civello, who made seven stops to earn credit for the tie.
MIAC LEADERS: The Johnnies currently lead the MIAC (all games) in scoring offense (3.56 gpg.) and on the power play (28.2 percent, 11-for-39). SJU, however, has the worst penalty kill in the league (second-worst out of 71 NCAA Division III teams). Freshman John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) leads the conference with 10 assists, while Haeg (11 points), Wally Cossette (8 points; Maple Grove, Minn.) and Phil Johnson (8 points; Duluth, Minn.) sit atop the MIAC in freshman scoring.
A LOOK AT THE RAIDERS: The Raiders (8-2-0, 7-1-0 MCHA) begin their Minnesota trip riding a three-game winning streak after falling 2-1 in overtime at Saint Mary's Nov. 22. The lone shared opponent between the two schools up to this point is Concordia (Wis.), which MSOE swept with scores of 7-3 and 6-1 Oct. 28-29. The Raiders outshot the Falcons to a combined total of 94-37, while the Johnnies tallied a 93-34 margin two weeks ago. Freshman defenseman Logan Bauman was named the MCHA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance during the team's weekend sweep of Lake Forest (Ill.), 9-3 and 4-3. Bauman recorded five assists in the two games. Senior goalie Connor Toomey made 25 saves in Saturday's game to record his 50th career win. Nationally, Bauman is in the lead for points among defenseman with 13 on the year. Freshman forward Cole Gibson is third in points per game (1.5) among all rookies in Division III. Junior forward Jordan Keizer leads the country with three short-handed goals. Toomey has a .914 save percentage and a 1.89 GAA in each of the Raiders' 602:09 this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Friday's matchup is the second meeting between SJU and MSOE. The Johnnies defeated the Raiders 5-4 in the only other meeting between the two schools on Nov. 28, 2004, in Menomonie, Wis. SJU answered an early MSOE goal with four straight to take a 4-1 lead. The Raiders answered with three third-period goals to tie it before Andy Johnson tallied the decisive goal with 4:15 left. Each school lit the lamp with a shorthanded goal in the contest. The victory was the Johnnies' fifth in an 18-0-2 start to the season. SJU went on to win the MIAC regular-season title, its most recent to date, and finished with a 23-3-2 overall record.
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: The Tommies received seven votes and dropped out of the Top 15 in this week's USCHO.com national poll after going 0-1-1 at Concordia last weekend. Senior Robby Philipp and junior Travis Baker lead the team with 12 (6g/6a) and 10 points (6g/4a), respectively. The two combined to have a hand in seven of the Tommies' 10 goals against SJU on the weekend (3g/4a). UST travels to face Hamline for a non-conference game Friday before jumping over to Buffalo for Saturday's showdown with SJU.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: The Johnnies dropped a pair of close games, 5-3 and 5-4, to the Tommies Nov. 11-12. The two teams went back and forth Friday night to a 5-3 result. The Tommies took the lead with a power-play goal 1:56 into the game, but the Johnnies fought back to tie it with a goal from sophomore defenseman Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.). Rooney had two goals for the Johnnies. SJU fought back to tie Saturday's game on three separate occasions but could not take the lead in a 5-4 loss.
