Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's hockey started 2019 with a commanding 5-1 win over Bethel on Friday, Jan. 4, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

SJU (6-5-3, 4-2-1 MIAC) out-shot the Royals (1-12-1, 1-5-1 MIAC) 55-11 on goal (98-17 attempted) on the night. Ten Johnnies recorded a point, half of which tallied a pair, in the victory.

Senior forward Matt Colford (Champlin, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a put-back of his initial shot on goal 14:52 into the game. Senior forwards Robb Stautz (Roseville, Minn.) and Evan Okeley (Carmel, Ind.) assisted on the goal, which was the 20th of Colford's career.

SJU broke the game open with three goals in the second period, starting with senior forward Garrett Riebling's (Chanhassen, Minn.) first of the season 3:03 into the frame. Stautz tallied his fifth goal of the season 1:08 later and sophomore forward Tanner Dufault (Kasson, Minn.) made it 4-0 on the power play with 27 seconds remaining of a five-minute major.

Junior forward Brady Heppner (Crookston, Minn.) gave SJU a 5-0 lead with his team-leading eighth goal of the season, and 50th career point, 8:18 into the third period. He also served as the second assist on Dufault's goal and now has 15 points (7g/8a) in seven career games against Bethel.

Jay Paul erased the shutout for BU with his first goal of the season at the 15:47 mark of the third period.

Junior goaltender Andrew Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn.) made 10 saves to improve to 4-2-2 on the year.

The Johnnies travel to Blaine to take on the Royals at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, at the Schwan Super Rink.