Saint John's plays host to nationally-ranked St. Thomas for the conference opener at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 8, at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The Johnnies then travel to take on UST for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday, Nov. 9, at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights. Free busing will be available once again for CSB/SJU students for Thursday's home game. – Live Stats (Thursday) | Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, Both Games) | Live Video (Friday, Channel 8)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (4:16)
BUSING INFORMATION: The student buses will again depart from the Bell Banner (SJU) at 6:15 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. pick-up at the HCC (CSB).
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (1-1-1 overall) battled to a 2-2 tie with Wisconsin-Stout Nov. 2 in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC). Kevin O'Donnell gave Stout a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season, on the power play, with nine minutes left in the first period. Garrett Grimstad made it 2-0 with an even-strength goal 45 seconds into the second period. Sophomore John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) cut the Blue Devils' lead in half with his fourth goal of the season, on the power play, with 15:26 left in the second period. Sophomore Josh Gross (Maple Grove, Minn.) and freshman Joe Freemark (Lakeville, Minn.) assisted on the scoring play for SJU. Freshman Neal Smith (Rogers, Minn.) tied the game at 2-2 with 3:19 remaining. Smith carried the puck up the right side, gained the corner and ripped a strong backhander off a Stout defender and into the goal. Freemark and junior Justin Hochsprung (Alexandria, Minn.) added the assists. Junior Mitch Thompson (Onalaska, Wis.) made 27 saves in his SJU debut. SJU held a 35-29 edge in shots and a 58-28 advantage on face-offs in the contest. The home team amassed 10 shots on five power-play opportunities but capitalized on only one (Haeg).
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: Concordia-Moorhead's Jordie Bancroft scored a tie-breaking goal with 2:59 left in regulation and the Cobbers added a late empty-net goal in the final seconds to close out a 3-1 non-conference win over St. Thomas (1-1-1 overall) Nov. 2 in Moorhead. The Tommies opened the 2012-13 season with a 3-0 win over Augsburg at the MIAC Showcase, followed by a 2-2 tie with St. Olaf. UST's six goals this season have been scored by six different players. Sophomore Drew Fielding has a .942 save percentage and a 1.31 GAA in goal so far this year. UST is 1-for-7 on the power play (14.3 percent) and has allowed two goals on nine power-play chances.
FIVE GOALS: The Johnnies allowed five goals in each of its three losses (5-3, 5-4, 5-3) to St. Thomas last season. In the most recent of the three meetings, Saint John's scored three unanswered goals in the first nine minutes of the third period but its 5-0 deficit was too much to overcome in a 5-3 non-conference loss to St. Thomas Dec. 10. UST jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, including a power-play goal 2:11 in. The Tommies added two more in the second period before SJU made things interesting. Senior Joe Harren (Warroad, Minn.) put the Johnnies on the scoreboard 50 seconds into the third frame. Conor Rooney '12 cut the deficit to 5-2 less than three minutes later. Gross tallied SJU's third goal of the period with 11:06 left. Senior Tony Civello '12 made 10 saves in the loss, while senior J.D. Wells (Anoka, Minn.) made nine stops in a scoreless third period of relief.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UST was ranked No. 15 in the latest USCHO.com national poll released Nov. 5. Oswego (N.Y.) received 15 first-place votes to earn the top spot, followed by Norwich (Vt.), St. Norbert (Wis.) and Plattsburg (N.Y.). Gustavus Adolphus was ranked fifth. Three future non-conference opponents were also ranked: No. 9 Wisconsin-River Falls (Jan. 5), No. 11 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Jan. 4) and No. 12 Milwaukee School of Engineering (Dec. 15).
SERIES HISTORY: St. Thomas leads the all-time series with a 41-23-6 record dating back to the 1984-85 season. SJU is 5-7 against the Tommies in the last 12 meetings in St. Cloud.
