The Johnnie hockey team returns to action with a pair of non-conference games in Wisconsin this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 4-5. SJU takes on No. 3 Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by a 7:05 p.m. puck-drop Saturday at Wisconsin-River Falls. – Listen Live (Both Games, WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats (Friday) | Live Video (Friday) | Live Stats (Saturday)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (0:58)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-4-1, 1-3-0 MIAC) extended its win streak to five games with a 3-2 win over No. 13 Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) Dec. 15 in St. Cloud. Jordan Keizer gave MSOE a 1-0 lead on the power play, his ninth goal of the season, 12:18 into the opening period. Senior Joe Harren (Warroad, Minn.) tied the game with his second tally of the year 11:02 into the second period, with an assist going to junior Jason Johnson (Duluth, Minn.). Johnson gave SJU a 2-1 lead with a wrister from the top of the left circle 1:56 into the third. Sophomores Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) and Jobe Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.) were credited with the assists. The Raiders tied it at 2-2 with another power-play goal, this time from Bradley Tierney, at the 6:27 mark. Senior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal with 4:04 remaining. Junior Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) took advantage of traffic in front of the net with a shot from the blue line that Pettit deflected to the bottom left corner of the net. Sophomore John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) tallied the second assist on the scoring play. Freshman Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 24 saves in the win, which snapped the Raiders' seven-game unbeaten streak, to improve to 5-2 on the season.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Johnnies received two votes in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll released Dec. 31. Wisconsin-Eau Claire stayed at No. 3, while Wisconsin-River Falls tallied six votes. The votes were the only for a MIAC school in the rankings and are the first for SJU since the start of the 2007-08 season.
A LOOK AT THE BLUGOLDS: Wisconsin-Eau Claire (11-2-1, 7-2-1 NCHA) has outscored its opponents 68-37 so far this season. Both of the team's losses were decided by one goal, 4-3 in overtime to Wisconsin-Stevens Point Dec. 1 and 2-1 at Wisconsin-River Falls in its last competition Dec. 8. Senior Jordan Singer leads or is tied for the team-lead in points (19), assists (12) and penalties (8). Senior Brandon Stephenson has a 7-2-1 record with a .913 save percentage and a 2.55 GAA. The Blugolds boast the eighth-best power play in Division III at 29.6 percent (16-for-54).
LAST YEAR: Wisconsin-Eau Claire exploded for three goals in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over Saint John's last Jan. 7 in Buffalo. The teams tallied 11 shots each in a scoreless first period before the Blugolds erupted for a 21-8 shot advantage. Tyler Jundt put UWEC on the board with a power-play goal 7:25 into the second period. Sophomore Josh Gaughan (Buffalo, Minn.) tied the game in front of the hometown crowd 1:30 later. The momentum shift was short-lived, however, as Devin Mantha gave the lead back to the Blugolds with a breakaway goal 17 seconds later. David Donnellan increased the lead to 3-1 at the 12:10 mark of the second before Ross Andersen ended the scoring with his seventh goal of the season 11:04 into the third.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are only 2-6 in their last eight meetings with UWEC. The Blugolds have won each of the last four.
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS: Wisconsin-River Falls (6-5-2, 1-5-2 NCHA) snapped a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2 record) with a pair of home victories in its last two contests: a 2-1 win vs. Eau Claire (Dec. 8) and a 7-4 win vs. Augsburg (Dec. 13), despite being outshot by the Auggies 32-16 in the game. Senior Adam Cardwell leads the team with 13 points (4g/9a), while freshman Zach Schrotenboer is close behind with 10 points and a team-leading six goals scored. Junior Scott Lewan is 6-5-2 in net with a .897 save percentage and a 2.91 GAA. The Falcons' power play struggled during the first half of the season, posting an NCHA-worst 12.2-percent conversion rate (6-for-49). UWRF hosts Concordia-Moorhead Friday night.
LAST YEAR: Saint John's posted a 39-26 advantage in shots but could not get the puck past Wisconsin-River Falls' goaltender Scott Lewan as the then-No. 5 Falcons defeated the Johnnies 3-0 on last Jan. 6 in Alexandria. The Johnnies controlled the game five-on-five, boasting a 34-15 advantage in shots on goal, and out-shot the nationally-ranked Falcons 28-13 in the final two periods overall. Following a scoreless first period, an intercepted pass in the SJU offensive zone turned into a 2-on-1 goal for UWRF with 6:53 left in the second period. The Falcons' John Bullis extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 13:59 into the second period and Justin Brossman added an empty-net tally with 12 seconds left. Haeg led the Johnnies with six shots on goal.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 1-6-1 in its last eight games against the Falcons. UWRF holds a 5-0-1 record in the last six meetings.
2002: The last time the Johnnies registered road wins at either UWEC or UWRF was in the same season, 2002-03: Nov. 15 at Eau Claire (W, 8-1) and Dec. 14 at River Falls (W, 2-1).
