The Johnnies travel to face St. Olaf (10-6-5, 6-4-2 MIAC) for a 7:30 p.m. puck-drop this Friday, Feb. 10, at the Northfield Ice Arena. SJU returns home to host the Oles in a battle of second-place teams at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, Saturday only)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (1:48)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-10-2, 7-5-0 MIAC) returns to the ice following a pair of 3-2 wins at Saint Mary's last weekend. Following a scoreless first period Friday night, SJU gained a 1-0 lead with a breakaway goal from junior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) 1:54 into the second. The goal, Pettit's team-leading ninth of the season, was assisted by sophomore Josh Gross (Maple Grove, Minn.) and freshman John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.). SMU tied the game at the 10:14 mark of the second period with a goal from Ryan Griffiths. Gross gave the lead back to the Johnnies with his sixth goal of the season 2:57 later. Haeg tallied his second assist of the game on the scoring play. Griffiths gave SJU a five-minute power play late in the second period, due to a major boarding penalty. Freshman Wally Cossette (Maple Grove, Minn.) increased the Johnnies' lead to 3-1 just before the penalty expired, with assists going to sophomore Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) and junior Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.). The lead was cut back to one, 3-2, with a goal from the Cardinals' Brad Fusaro 1:05 later.
Saint John's jumped into second place in the conference standings with Saturday's 3-2. The Johnnies put together a 3-0 lead until SMU made things with a 14-4 shot advantage and a pair of goals in the third period. Sophomore Zach Knight (Minneapolis, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with his first collegiate goal 5:45 into the contest. Cossette and freshman John Carroll (Eagan, Minn.) and were credited with the assists. Palmiscno increased the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at the 10:53 mark of the opening frame. The goal, which assisted by Trent Johnson, was Palmiscno's team-leading ninth point (3g/6a) on the power play. Freshman Josh Gaughan (Buffalo, Minn.) added a power-play goal of his own 10:30 into the second period, with assists going to Gross and Haeg. The Cardinals cut it to 3-1 6:54 into the third and tallied a power-play goal less than six minutes later. Junior J.D. Wells (Anoka, Minn.) improved to 5-0 on the season with the pair of victories. SJU has now won 17 of the last 21 meetings with SMU, as well as a 14-4-2 record in in the last 20 games in Winona (wins in nine of the last 10 games at SMU Ice Arena).
MIAC LEADERS: Haeg leads all MIAC freshmen with 2 points (4g/18a), including 17 points (4g/13a) in only 10 conference games. Palmiscno is second in the conference (MIAC games only) with nine power-play points (3g/6a), while Wells is second in GAA (1.88) and fifth in save percentage (.919). The Johnnies lead the league with 20 third-period goals in 12 MIAC games and are second at 29.4 percent on the power play (15-for-51). Five Johnnies have three power-play goals each this season.
A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf defeated Augsburg 4-3 to complete a two-game sweep last Saturday night in Northfield. Senior Peter Rohn and junior Ross Trousdale each collected a goal and two assists for the Oles, who kept pace in the race for a MIAC playoffs berth with the sweep. With the game tied 2-2, the Oles' Derek Grogan found the net on feeds from Trousdale and Rohn to give St. Olaf a 3-2 advantage with 3:11 left in the second period. Sophomore Dylan Porter then opened the third with an even-strength score that gave the Oles a two-goal cushion. Augsburg came within one on J.P. Perpich's second goal of the year at the 7:13 mark. But the Oles held on, with the help of senior Ben Leis' 16 saves in the final frame. Leis finished with 26 for the night and improved to 7-5-4 on the season (6-4-2 MIAC). Grogan and Charlie Raskob, a pair of senior defensemen, are high on the MIAC list in points from the blue line. Raskob leads the conference (all games) with 19 points (5g/14a), while Grogan is third with 15 (7g/8a). Leis is second in save percentage (.932) and third in GAA (2.08) when all games are considered. The Oles have allowed a league-low 25 goals in 12 conference games so far this season. St. Olaf boasts the conference's third-best penalty kill (82.6 percent, 71-for-86), but slips behind the Johnnies (78.4 percent, 40-for-51) in fourth (78.0 percent, 39-for-50) in MIAC play. Rohn was named the MIAC Player of the Week after tallying six points (3g/3a) in the sweep of the Auggies. He currently leads the team with 22 points (9g/13a) on the year.
LAST YEAR'S SERIES: SJU built third-period leads in both games but lost by one goal in last season's series with St. Olaf. The Oles erased a 3-1 deficit with three unanswered goals in the final 11:55 of the game to defeat the Johnnies and eliminate them from MIAC Playoff contention in the first of two games. Britton Smith gave the Oles a quick 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 4:34 into the contest. Junior Joe Harren (Warroad, Minn.) tied the game at 1-1 with the first of three straight SJU goals 6:04 into the second period. Sophomore Justin Hochsprung (Alexandria, Minn.) extended the lead to 3-1 with a goal 7:16 into the third period. Goals in the third by Austin Wetmore and Jeff Harris cut the St. Olaf deficit to one. Rohn tallied the game-winning goal 53 seconds later.
SJU ended its 2010-11 season with a 2-1 loss to the Oles the following night. Following a scoreless first period, sophomore Tobias Linbro (Nykvarn, Sweden) gave the Johnnies a 1-0 lead 1:21 into the second. Wetmore tied the game at the 11:21 mark of the third period and Jeff Warren tallied the game-winner on the power play with 4:32 left to play. SJU outshot the Oles 32-29 in the game but was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 38-21-2 record against St. Olaf since the 1984-85 season, though the Oles have won each of the last four meetings overall and six of the last seven. Seven of the Johnnies' last nine losses to the Oles were decided by one goal.
