Box Score

SUPERIOR, Wis. – Saint John's hockey ended its non-conference schedule with a 3-2 win at Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday, Jan. 9.

Sophomore forward Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.) gave SJU (5-8-2, 3-3-0 MIAC) an early 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season 1:40 into the game. Sophomore forward Dan Voce (Princeton, Minn.) and freshman forward Mitch Fritz (St. Cloud, Minn.) were credited with the assists.

Voce made it 2-0 with his second goal in as many games 3:46 later, a one-timer on an odd-man rush, with the assists going to senior captain Andrew Commers (Edina, Minn.) and sophomore forward Tyler Dunagan (Maple Grove, Minn.). 

Superior (4-10-2, 0-2-0 WIAC) cut its deficit in half with a goal from Daniel Litchke 2:13 later.

Dunagan extended the Johnnies' lead to 3-1 with a 4-on-4, rebound goal off his own shot 27 seconds into the second period. The goal, his fifth of the season, ties him for the team lead with senior forward Neal Smith (Rogers, Minn.) and sophomore forward Huba Sekesi (Germering, Germany). Neither played in Saturday's game. Senior defenseman Joe Freemark (Lakeville, Minn.) tallied the lone assist.

Viktor Sallhag cut SJU's lead to one with 3:31 remaining, but the Johnnies held strong during a flurry of shots with an extra attacker in the final 45 seconds.

Junior goaltender Tyler Nelson (Champlin, Minn.) made a career-high 33 saves to improve to 2-0 in his second varsity start.

The Yellowjackets out-shot SJU, which went 0-for-5 on the power play (0-for-9 on the weekend), by a narrow 35-33 margin.

Ten of SJU's 18 skaters were underclassmen, including seven first-year players. The team was also shortchanged on the bench after losing two skaters for the game due to injury.

The Johnnies return home, and to conference play, with a 7 p.m. game against St. Olaf on Friday, Jan. 15, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.