Box ScoreST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's and Saint Mary's played to a 2-2 tie on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) in St. Cloud.
Although the result goes down as a tie, Saint Mary's (2-3-2, 0-1-2 MIAC) won the shootout 2-1 in five rounds to earn the extra point in the conference standings.
The Johnnies (4-0-3, 2-0-1 MIAC) erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, including the game-tying goal with an extra attacker from freshman
Tyler Dunagan (Maple Grove, Minn.) with a minute left in regulation.
SMU gained a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first 1:20 of the third period. Kelvin Walz took advantage of some SJU miscommunication behind the net and stuffed a wrap-around goal in the net 12 seconds into the frame. Mike Mezzano added a wrister to the top corner 1:08 later.
Freshman
Huba Sekesi (Germering, Germany) cut the Johnnies' deficit in half with a pretty, coast-to-coast goal 3:14 into the third. Sophomore
Kevin Becker (Roseville, Minn.) and senior
Nick Vatnsdal (Independence, Minn.) added the assists on the goal, which was Sekesi's fourth in his last two games.
SJU continued to pour on the offense and finally broke through with Dunagan's third goal of the season.
The Johnnies out-shot the Cardinals 53-32 in the game. SMU's Phil Heinle, the reigning MIAC Men's Hockey Athlete of the Week, tallied a career-high 51 saves.
Becker gave SJU a 1-0 lead in the fourth round of the shootout, but the Cardinals' Nick Albergo answered on the ensuing attempt. Heinle denied senior
Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) before SMU's Martin Gruse put one past junior
Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) for the shootout win.
Soley made 30 saves in the tie and denied three breakaways, two of which produced a shot on goal, including one shorthanded opportunity in the second period.
The Johnnies wrap up the weekend series with a 4 p.m. puck drop against the Cardinals on Saturday, Nov. 22, at the MAC. The game was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. but was pushed back two hours in order to accommodate the Johnnies' NCAA playoff football game at noon in Collegeville.
