Saint John's hockey opens the 2024-25 season with a 7:05 p.m. puck-drop at Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday, Nov. 2. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Saint John's University hockey team has its sights set on improving this season.

A year ago, the Johnnies finished 6-9-1 in MIAC play, 9-12-3 overall and tied for fifth in the MIAC regular-season standings – seeing their streak of five-straight conference playoff appearances come to an end.

But two of those losses last season came during 3-on-3 overtime, and the team returns 83.8 percent (52 of 62 goals scored) of its scoring from a year ago.

Here is a more detailed look at the 2024-25 Johnnies:

Goaltender Duo
The Johnnies return both goaltenders who split time in 2023-24. Junior Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) led the way last season with a 6-4-2 record, 2.32 GAA and a .922 save percentage (343 saves) in 13 games (12 starts). Senior Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.), meanwhile, looks to bounce back from a losing record – 3-8-2 – a year ago. He posted a 2.78 GAA and .911 save percentage in 13 games, though the Johnnies' offense supplied him with only 2.1 goals per game in support. Huber led the conference with a 2.15 GAA and was third in save percentage (.918) while posting an 11-5-3 record with two shutouts in 2022-23.

The Captain from Georgia
Senior forward Matt DeRosa (Alpharetta, Ga.) was elected by the Johnnies as their team captain in 2024-25 after being named All-MIAC honorable mention last season. He played 13 of the 16 league games and led SJU in goals (6), tied for the team lead in points (9) and tied for second in plus/minus rating (+5) in conference play. Overall, DeRosa suited up for 22 games and led the team in goals (8), tied for first in plus/minus (+6) and was second in points (13). He begins his senior season with 29 points (15g/14a) and a +18 in 67 career games.

Assistant Trio
DeRosa will be joined by three assistant captains this season: senior forwards Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) and Garrett Smith (Eden Prairie, Minn.), and junior defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.). Sabo begins his senior season with 22 points (9g/13a), including four game-winning goals, in 48 career games. Smith, meanwhile, totaled a career-high seven points (4g/3a) last season and has 16 points (5g/11a) and a +14 in 52 career games. A member of the All-USCHO Rookie first team as a freshman in 2022-23, Campbell has 23 points (10g/13a) in 50 career games from the blue line.

Seasoned Contributors
The Johnnies return seven upperclassmen – three forwards and four defensemen – who have contributed to the program's past success. Senior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) played all 25 games and finished second on the team in assists (8) and tied for third in points (12) last season. He has 42 points (10g/32a) in 66 career games. Senior forward Cody Carlson (Buffalo, Minn.) totaled six assists in 16 games a year ago and has 18 points (4g/14a) in 46 career contests.

On the blue line, senior Cooper Anderson (White Bear Lake, Minn.) posted five assists in 20 games and tied for the team lead with a plus/minus rating of +6 last season. He has nine points (1g/8a) and a +13 in 37 career games. Senior Danny Eckerline (Orono, Minn.), SJU's most-experienced defenseman with five points (2g/3a) in 74 career games, is back alongside a pair of juniors in Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) and Michael Spinner (Prior Lake, Minn.). Enebak touts five assists in 17 career games, while Spinner has nine points (3g/6a) and a +9 in 32 career games.

Instant Impact
A pair of transfers saw significant ice time for the Johnnies last season. Junior defenseman Conner Couet (St. Michael, Minn.) collected six points (1g/5a) and a +5 in 22 games, while senior forward Justin Thompson (Woodbury, Minn.) registered six points (3g/3a) in 10 games after joining the team during the holiday break.

Ready for Year 2
Seven sophomore forwards made immediate contributions as freshmen for the Johnnie hockey team in 2023-24. Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) played all 25 games and led the team in points with 14 (7g/7a) and two game-winning goals. Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) was the sixth Johnnie in double digits last season with 10 points (3g/7a) in 24 games, while Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) added nine points (2g/7a) in 24 contests. Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.) totaled eight points (3g/5a) in 22 games and the tandem of Jackson Borst (Edina, Minn.) and Jacob McPartland (Victoria, Minn.) posted six points apiece. Borst tied for the team lead with a +6 and collected his six points (3g/3a) in 16 games, while McPartland registered his six points (4g/2a) in 22 games. Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.) added five points (1g/4a) in 15 contests.

New Assistant Coaches
Former Bethel assistant coach Travis Tollette joined the Johnnies' coaching staff in July. He served as an assistant coach for the Royals for five seasons from 2018-23. The Andover native coached at the youth, high school – as an assistant coach at Providence Academy for two seasons (2016-18) – and elite league levels for five years. In 2021-22, Tollette helped lead Bethel to its first MIAC playoff appearance in 14 years and the Royals became just the second team defeat U.S. National Under-18 Team in the last 20 years on Oct. 15, 2022 (4-2).

Tollette replaces Cory Thorson, who left SJU to become the St. Cloud Youth Hockey Association's director in June and serve as an advisor for InsideEdge Hockey. The Johnnies totaled a 94-71-28 (.560) record, including a 63-36-16 (.617) mark in MIAC play, with five MIAC Playoff appearances and the 2019-20 MIAC regular-season championship during his eight seasons (2015-17, 2018-24) on staff. Thorson, however, will still assist SJU in a limited, volunteer capacity in 2024-25.

Noora Räty has also joined SJU as its goaltender coach. Raty is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Division I St. Cloud State women's team and will also work with the Johnnies' goalies. Räty represented Finland in four Olympic Games and nine IIHF World Championships, winning two Olympic bronze medals and five IIHF medals (one silver and four bronze). Collegiately, Räty was a two-time All-American and won two national championships at Division I Minnesota. She owns the NCAA record for winning percentage in a season (1.000/38-0 in 2013), is second in career goalie shutouts (43), tied for second in career goalie wins (114) and is fifth in career save percentage (.946). 

Another new face within SJU's coaching staff this season is Dave Laliberte. A 2000 graduate of SJU, Laliberte served as head hockey coach at Saint Benedict from 2003-05 and will serve the Johnnies in a volunteer role.

The 2024-25 Schedule
The Johnnies' 2024-25 schedule includes 12 home games at St. Cloud State's Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (HBNHC), with six on Thursday night, as well as two neutral-site games at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) in St. Cloud.

The Johnnies open the 2024-25 season Nov. 2 at Wisconsin-River Falls and start the conference schedule Nov. 7 vs. St. Scholastica at the HBNHC. SJU begins a three-game homestand at the HBNHC by hosting River Falls Nov. 14 for the return game, Wisconsin-Stout for Senior Night on Nov. 16 and the series opener vs. St. Olaf on Nov. 22. The team wraps the 2024 portion of its schedule against Bethel (home on Dec. 5). 

SJU kicks off the New Year with six-straight non-conference games, starting with home games against Skidmore (N.Y.) and Lake Forest (Ill.) Jan. 3-4. Skidmore finished 19-7-2 and fell to Hobart (N.Y.), the two-time defending Division III champions, in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) title game. The Johnnies travel into northern Wisconsin to face Northland (Jan. 10) and Wisconsin-Superior (Jan. 11), and completes the non-conference ledger against Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Jan. 17) and Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Jan. 18) at the MAC. UWEC posted a 17-9-2 record and fell to the Pointers, who won both the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (WIAC) regular-season and playoff titles for a trip to the NCAA Tournament, in the league's championship game. UWSP registered a 21-6-2 record in 2023-24.

The Johnnies complete the regular-season schedule by hosting the opener in each of the final five series: Saint Mary's (home on Jan. 23), Hamline (home on Jan. 30), Gustavus Adolphus (home on Feb. 7), Augsburg (home on Feb. 14) and Concordia (home on Feb. 20).

The MIAC Playoffs start with the quarterfinal game (No. 4 vs. No. 5) on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the high seed. The MIAC semifinals follow on Saturday, March 1 and the MIAC championship game, which determines the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs, is Saturday, March 8.

A LOOK AT THE FALCONS: Wisconsin-River Falls finished fourth in the WIAC with a 6-7-2 record (16-10-3 overall last season and returns two student-athletes who were named All-WIAC honorable mention: sophomore forward Jonny Meiers and junior forward Dylan  Smith. Meiers led the Falcons in points (21) and assists (14) a year ago, while Smith tallied a team-best 13 goals with five assists.  

LAST SEASON: SJU suffered a 2-0 loss to River Falls in the 2023-24 season opener last Oct. 28 at the HBNHC. Meiers broke the scoreless stalemate for UWRF with a power-play goal with 1:56 left in the second period and Noah Roofe made it a two-goal game 3:52 into the third period. Arsenii Smekhnov took down Campbell in front of the SJU net, possessed the puck and passed across the goal mouth to Roofe for the easy goal. 

Huber made 29 saves in the loss as the home team out-shot the Falcons, 33-31. SJU, however, went 0-for-4 on the power play to UWRF's 1-for-2 showing.  

Forward Max Borst '24 led SJU with five shots, while Sabo and Boche added four shots apiece. Sabo's four shots came in the game's first 5:40 before he left the game due to injury. 

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 7-15-2 against UWRF since the 1995-96 season, including a 5-8 record on the Falcons' home ice. The Johnnies, however, have won each of the last two meetings at Hunt Arena: 3-1 on Oct. 29, 2022 and 6-2 on Nov. 3, 2017.