Box Score
Box Score
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's tallied three third-period goals in a 5-3 win over Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Sophomore forward Alex Ach's (Champlin, Minn.) fourth goal of the year, with 5:35 remaining, proved to be the difference. Junior defenseman Nick Vatnsdal (Independence, Minn.), turned forward, added an empty-net goal with three seconds left to seal the win for SJU (9-6, 4-3 MIAC), which has now won four straight and 15 of the last 17 meetings with Concordia in St. Cloud.
The Cobbers (9-5-2, 3-3-1 MIAC) gained a 2-0 lead with goals from Tucker Coborn and Jordan Christianson halfway through the first period.
SJU answered, however, with goals from senior defenseman Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) and freshman forward Kevin Becker (Roseville, Minn.) to tie the game entering the second period. The goal was the first of the season for Johnson, the Johnnies' team captain, in what was his first appearance since Dec. 12 due to injury.
Garrett Hendrickson gave the lead back to Concordia with 1:35 left in the second period before freshman defenseman Brady Riesgraf (Chaska, Minn.) tied the game at 3-3 with his first collegiate goal 6:27 into the third frame.
Sophomore Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 22 saves to improve to 8-4 on the year. SJU out-shot the visitors 29-25, including an 11-5 advantage in the third period.
The Johnnies went 1-for-5 on the power play and have now tallied a power-play goal in eight of their last 10 games, while tabulating at a 27.5-percent (11-for-40) rate since starting the season 1-for-22 on the man advantage. SJU also denied both of the Cobbers' power-play opportunities on the afternoon to extend the team's penalty-kill streak to 24 since Carl Krieger's power-play goal in the first period of SJU's 3-1 loss at Augsburg Dec. 6.
SJU and the Cobbers wrap up the weekend series with another 2 p.m. game on Sunday, Jan. 19, at the National Hockey Center. The contest is designated as SJU's Faith & Family Day. Any individual with a non-perishable food item will gain free admittance to Sunday's game. All of the collected items will go to the local food shelf and other activities will be held throughout the game to benefit Catholic Charities. Fans may also skate with the Johnnies following the game until 4:30 p.m.
