The Johnnie hockey team (6-15-2, 5-7-2 MIAC) travels to face St. Olaf (9-10-4, 3-7-4 MIAC) for a 7:30 p.m. game tonight in Northfield. SJU then returns home to host the Oles for a 2 p.m. game Saturday at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. – Listen Live (Friday)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (1:40)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's kept its MIAC Playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 win over Saint Mary's last Sunday, the day after suffering a 4-3 defeat. The Johnnies reciprocated its first-period deficit from Saturday night with a 3-1 lead Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 3:30 into the contest. Less than three minutes later, senior Alex Lindeberg (Forest Lake, Minn.) scored his second goal in as many games. Saint Mary's cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal from Brad Denney 1:10 later. Senior Grant Ellena (Coon Rapids, Minn.) tallied his sixth goal of the season with 1:16 left in the opening period. Following a scoreless second period, freshman Axel Ramsgard (Gothenburg, Sweden) scored his first collegiate point and goal 5:35 into the third to make it 4-1 in favor of SJU. SMU ended the scoring with a goal from Danny Wood with seven seconds left in the game. Junior Tony Civello (Shoreview, Minn.) made 20 saves to improve to 5-9-2 on the year. SJU outshot the Cardinals 38-22 in the game, including a 27-8 advantage late in the second period.
A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf enters this weekend's series riding a three-game losing streak. Augsburg swept the Oles by scores of 4-2 and 5-3 last weekend. Senior Isak Tranvik currently leads the team with 20 points (5g/15a), while junior Peter Rohn is close behind with 19 (10g/9a). Junior Charlie Raskob is tied for the conference lead among defensemen with 14 points (5g/9a) in MIAC play. Senior Nick Krauss is 8-6-4 overall (3-6-4 MIAC) in net, with a 2.45 GAA and a .906 save percentage. SJU and STO enter this weekend's series tied for the conference low average of 2.57 goals per game (36 in 14 MIAC games).
THE LAST MEETING: St. Olaf defeated SJU 3-2 as part of the MIAC Showcase on Oct. 30. Ross Trousdale gave the Oles an early 1-0 lead 5:18 into the contest. Freshman Robin Bylin (Goteborg, Sweden) scored for the Johnnies on a one-timer from Palmiscno, tying the game with less than seven minutes left in the first period. St. Olaf regained the lead with a power-play goal from Jeff Warren at the nine-minute mark of the second period, but Wallgren tied it again at 2-2 with only one second showing on the clock. Rohn scored the game-winner 5:39 into the third period. Civello made 21 saves for SJU.
RACE TO THE PLAYOFFS: In order to make the MIAC Playoffs, SJU needs to win both games against St. Olaf and hope for Bethel to take three points from Augsburg, Saint Mary's to sweep Gustavus, or Hamline to sweep Concordia. An Auggie win on either Friday or Saturday would clinch a spot for the Auggies. The first tie-breaker is head-to-head record, followed by number of MIAC wins and results against the top teams of the standings in rank order. SJU would win the tie-breaker against Gustavus (#3 tie-breaker), but would miss the playoffs if tied with Concordia (#1 tie-breaker). Aside from the Augsburg/Bethel series, a win or tie by either the Gusties or Cobbers would eliminate the Johnnies, regardless of their results vs. St. Olaf.
