Saint John's plays host to Concordia-Moorhead in the MIAC playoff semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at the National Hockey and Events Center in St. Cloud. – Listen Live (Real Audio Player) | Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (1:06)
ADMISSION: Admission for all MIAC playoffs games is $7 for adults and $3 for any student (five years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC Passes will be honored, but no other passes are accepted.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-7-4, 9-4-3 MIAC) earned a share of its first MIAC regular-season championship since 2004-05 and eighth overall with a sweep of Bethel (6-2 and 4-1) last weekend. SJU broke a 2-2 tie with four third-period goals to earn a 6-2 win at Bethel on Friday, Feb. 15, in Blaine. Mitch Hughes gave BU a quick 1-0 lead with a rebound goal 49 seconds into the game. Junior Jason Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) tied the game at 1-1 for SJU with 11:18 left in the second period, his sixth of the season. Junior Justin Hochsprung (Alexandria, Minn.) gave SJU a short-lived 2-1 lead with a power-play goal, his seventh tally of the season and 10th of his career, with 9:14 left in the second. Hughes, however, tied it at 2-2 with his second goal of the game 12 seconds later. The four-goal third period started early when senior Tobias Linbro (Nykvarn, Sweden) gave the lead back to SJU with his sixth goal of the season, on a pass from Hochsprung, 54 seconds into the final frame. Sophomore John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) extended the lead to 4-2 with his 11th goal of the year 35 seconds later. Freshman Shane Wolden (Maple Grove, Minn.) intercepted a BU pass and fed senior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) to give the Johnnies a 5-2 lead with 9:18 remaining. Hochsprung ended the scoring with an empty-netter, shorthanded, with 48 seconds left.
Senior Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.), playing in the 101st game of his career, gave SJU a 1-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season 12:14 into the first period Saturday night's game in St. Cloud. Brock Raffaele tied the game for BU with a deflection at the 11:38 mark of the second period. The Johnnies responded by out-shooting the visitors 8-1 and took advantage of the man advantage with a pair of power-play goals in the final 8:22 of the period. Hochsprung gave the lead back to SJU with 2:47 left, his ninth goal of the year. Sophomore Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) padded the Johnnies' lead with a power-play goal of his own 2:12 later. Jason Johnson ended the scoring with his seventh goal of the season 5:03 into the third period.
HOME PLAYOFF GAME: Saturday's MIAC playoff game is the first for SJU at home since March 2, 2006 (3-2 loss to St. Olaf), a span of 178 games. Current Concordia head coach Chris Howe '99 was an assistant at SJU that night, which was the last of six consecutive home postseason games for the Johnnies (including an NCAA Division III game in 2004-05).
FRESHMAN SETS RECORD, LEADS MIAC: Freshman goaltender Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) touts a 1.08 GAA, along with an 8-1-1 record, two shutouts and a .953 save percentage (224 saves) in his last 10 starts between the pipes. He is fifth in NCAA Division III in both GAA (1.73) and save percentage (.931) overall. Soley's 13 wins overall (13-4-1 record) is a school record for a freshman, surpassing Mark Ketzner's total of 12 (12-8-1 record) in 1993-94.
SECOND-HALF SURGE: SJU resumed conference play Jan. 11 tied for seventh in the MIAC with two points (1-3-0 record) in the conference standings, eight points from Bethel and St. Thomas at the top (5-1-0 record). The Johnnies proceeded to post an 8-1-3 record.
STREAK CATALYST: Phil Johnson leads the team with 12 goals and is second with 21 points in 23 games this season. He accounted for 15 points (7g/8a) in the last 12 games. Johnson is currently tied for third in the MIAC (all games) in goals, tied for third with five power-play goals and tied for fifth with nine power-play points (5g/4a).
"HOCH" HEATING UP: Hochsprung tallied four points (3g/1a) in the Johnnies' sweep of Bethel over the weekend. He posted a pair of goals, one on the power play and the other as a shorthanded empty-netter, and was the lone assist on what proved to be the game-winner in Friday's 6-2 win at Bethel. The win was just the second in nine games for SJU against the Royals at Schwan Super Rink (2-6-1 record). Hochsprung added the game-winner, on the power play, in the title-clinching 4-1 victory Saturday night. He currently leads the team with a plus/minus rating of +15 and is third with 20 points (9g/11a). The 6-foot-2 junior entered the season with 11 career points (3g/8a) in 44 games. Hochsprung has 11 points (8g/3a) in his last 11 games, including a team-leading eight goals and a plus/minus rating of +10. His nine goals in conference play tied for fourth and his three shorthanded tallies led the league.
SCORING TRENDS: SJU has scored four goals or more in five of its last six games, and has held its opponent to two goals or less in each of its last 11 contests.
PENALTY KILLERS: SJU set a school record on the penalty kill in conference play at 96.2 percent (50-for-52) and is currently seventh in all of NCAA Division III at 87.8 percent (79-for-90) overall.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Johnnies received votes once again in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com national top 15 polls, and stayed at No. 8 in the second NCAA West Region rankings released Feb. 19.
A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (13-11-1, 10-6-0 MIAC) enters the MIAC playoffs riding a five-game win streak, including a pair of 4-3 wins in a sweep at Saint Mary's last weekend to secure the No. 3 seed. The Cobbers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held off the Cardinals to earn a playoff berth Friday night, and dissolved a 3-0 deficit with a third-period hat trick from Tucker Coborn to tie the game before earning an overtime victory. Another freshman, Jordie Bancroft, leads the team in goals (12) and points (22), while senior Ben Payne boasts a team-leading 13 assists and is second with 20 points. Junior Chris Neamonitis is 13-8 with a 2.22 GAA and a .931 save percentage in net (10-6 with a 2.27 GAA and a .931 save percentage in MIAC play).
FAMILIAR NAMES & FACES: A 1999 graduate of SJU, head coach Chris Howe is in his fifth season as head coach of the Cobbers. Prior to Moorhead, Howe served as head coach John Harrington's top assistant coach for five seasons at SJU. Howe is not the only Johnnie on the Concordia bench, however. First-year assistant coach Scott Bjorklund is a 2006 graduate of SJU. A native of Moorhead, Bjorklund was a three-time All-American and ended his career seventh on the Johnnies' all-time scoring list with 132 points (52g/80a). He is only one of two Johnnies to earn first-team All-MIAC honors all four seasons (Darryl Smoleroff).
THIS SEASON'S SERIES: Saint John's posted a pair of wins over Concordia (2-1 and 3-1) in Moorhead Jan. 18-19. Two second-period goals for SJU proved to be the difference Friday's 2-1 win. CC gained a 1-0 lead with 1:38 left in the opening period before junior Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) tied the game for SJU on the power play at 5:25 of the second. The goal, which was Johnson's second of the season, snapped the Johnnies' 0-for-20 streak in conference play. Freshman Alex Ach (Champlin, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a 2-1 lead with his first collegiate goal and point, unassisted, with 5:42 left in the second. SJU out-shot Concordia 28-21 in the game, 19-10 after the first period, and killed all three Cobber power plays.
SJU completed the sweep with a 3-1 win Saturday. Like Friday night's contest, Concordia took an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the opening period. Linbro tied the game at 1-1 for SJU with his fourth goal of the season 8:45 into the second period. Sophomore Nick Senta (Savage, Minn.) tallied what proved to be the game-winner, on the power play, at the 10:27 mark of the third period. Phil Johnson sealed the victory for SJU with an empty-net goal, his sixth tally of the season. SJU out-shot the Cobbers 31-23 and converted one of its five power-play opportunities.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have either defeated or tied the Cobbers in 26 of the last 30 meetings (24-4-2 record), including a 20-3-2 record in the last 25 games since the 2002-03 season and a 7-2-2 record under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller. SJU is 13-1-1 in its last 15 games against Concordia at the National Hockey and Events Center. The lone loss was a 3-2 decision on Feb. 28, 2002, in the MIAC playoffs.
