Box Score

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – Saint John's hockey scored four power-play goals (4-for-9) in a 6-2 non-conference win at Wisconsin-River Falls on Friday, Nov. 3, in River Falls, Wis.

Two of the four power-play goals for SJU (3-0 overall) came in the third period during the Falcons' second 5-minute major penalty of the game. UWRF (0-3 overall) was whistled for 10 penalties in the contest and 14 different Johnnies recorded a point.

The win snapped an 11-game winless streak for SJU against River Falls, including losses in each of the previous nine games, going back the Johnnies' last win on Dec. 14, 2002 (2-1 on the Falcons' home ice).

Senior forward Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.) started the scoring for SJU when his shot from the right faceoff circle trickled past the goaltender 1:39 into the game. 

Freshman forward Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a two-goal lead with his first collegiate goal, on the power play, with 2:41 left in the opening frame. 

Cayden Cahill cut the Johnnies' lead in half with a power-play goal, just 11 seconds into the man advantage, for the Falcons 4:28 into the second period.

A 5-minute major for checking from behind was whistled on River Falls with 7:22 left in the second, but SJU was called for hooking 51 seconds later. The Johnnies took advantage of another power play, thanks to a goal from junior forward Garrett Riebling (Chanhassen, Minn.), late (19:38) in the second period. Valerius and sophomore defenseman Cole Souto (Yorba Linda, Calif.) assisted on the tally, which was the fifth of Riebling's career. 

Souto made it 4-1 with his second goal of the season, a wrister from the top of the right faceoff circle, 2:25 into the third period. The assists were the fifth points of the season for both junior forward Joe Chitwood (Carmel, Ind.) and sophomore forward Brady Heppner (Crookston, Minn.).

UWRF was issued another 5-minute major with 8:08 left in the third period and SJU capitalized with two goals. Freshman defenseman Travis Brown (Otsego, Minn.) registered his first collegiate goal at the 14:03 mark and sophomore defenseman Adam Orn (Ramsey, Minn.) banked a shot off a River Falls defender for another tally 1:05 later.

Max Doner ended the game's scoring for UWRF with 2:46 remaining.

The Johnnies scored five of the six goals against Zach Quinn, the top goaltender in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) last season. He posted a 1.90 GAA and a .924 save percentage (497 saves) as a freshman in 2016-17. 

Sophomore goaltender Andrew Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn.) made 24 saves to improve to 2-0 on the year (6-4-2 in his career).

The Johnnies travel to face Wisconsin-Stout for a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Saturday, Nov. 4, in Menomonie, Wis.