Box Score

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – Senior forward Andrew Commers' (Edina, Minn.) goal 1:26 into overtime gave Saint John's hockey a dramatic 2-1 win over St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Cadet Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.

The Johnnies (13-9-4, 10-4-2 MIAC) will take their 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2 record) to Augsburg for the MIAC Playoff championship next Saturday, March 5, in Minneapolis. Tentative puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. SJU swept Augsburg, the MIAC regular-season champions, 5-3 and 4-2 last weekend (Feb. 19-20).

The team's captain and a graduate of St. Thomas Academy, Commers intercepted an errant UST pass in the Johnnies' offensive zone and ripped a shot over the shoulder of St. Thomas goaltender Joe Morris for the game-winning goal. He tallied a shorthanded goal and the deciding shootout goal the last time these two teams met on Jan. 30 in his old high-school rink.

With the goaltender pulled, senior defenseman Joe Freemark (Lakeville, Minn.) tied the game at 1-1 with a pretty goal on the back door with 1:40 remaining in the game. Sophomore forward Huba Sekesi (Germering, Germany) and freshman forward Mitch Fritz (St. Cloud, Minn.) assisted on the goal, which was Freemark's first of the season and 25th career point.

Johnny Roisum gave UST (13-8-5, 10-3-3 MIAC) a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season, during a delayed SJU penalty, 6:37 into the game.

Senior goaltender Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 23 saves to improve to 11-9-4 on the season and 49-29-10 in his career. He has a 2.16 GAA and a .923 save percentage during the Johnnies' current 10-game unbeaten streak.

SJU out-shot the Tommies 26-24, including a 14-5 margin after the second period. The Johnnies have now out-scored their opponents 27-5 in the third period over the last 10 games.