Saint John's hockey closes the 2024 portion of its schedule with a home-and-home series against Bethel. SJU hosts BU for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud and closes the series with a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Friday, Dec. 6, at the Super Rink in Blaine.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday, Dec. 5 in St. Cloud: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Friday, Dec. 6 in Blaine: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-2, 3-1 MIAC) split a pair of 5-1 decisions with St. Olaf two weeks ago.

at Saint John's 5, St. Olaf 1 (Nov. 22)
Senior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored a hat trick and junior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) made 33 saves as the Johnnies earned a 5-1 win over St. Olaf in the series opener in St. Cloud.
 
Sophomore forward Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a wicked wrister from the right faceoff circle for his first goal of the season, and second of his career, with 2:38 left in the first period.

Rudrud padded the Johnnies' lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal 1:22 into the second period, 13 seconds after he hit the pipe. 

Jonathan Panisa cut the Oles' deficit in half with a coast-to-coast goal, unassisted at the 7:08 mark, 38 seconds after sophomore forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) hit the pipe for SJU.

Rudrud extended the lead to 3-1 with his second goal of the night of his career with 6:39 remaining in the frame. A long pass from junior defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) up the right boards deflected off an STO player into the offensive zone where it found Rudrud, who skated in on net for a backhanded goal.

Junior forward Rob Christy (St. Paul, Minn.) tallied his second goal of the season at the 11:56 mark of the third period and Rudrud completed the hat trick with an empty-netter, his 14th career goal, with 1:50 remaining. Ten Johnnies recorded a point in the win.

Howe improved to 3-0 on the season and boasts a 1.00 GAA and .972 save percentage (105 saves).

STO recorded a 34-33 edge in shots but went 0-for-4 on the power play to the Johnnies' 1-for-3 showing.

at St. Olaf 5, Saint John's (Nov. 23)
SJU saw its five-game win streak end with a 5-1 loss at St. Olaf the following night in Northfield. The Johnnies entered the game 18-for-19 (94.7 percent) on the penalty kill but the Oles finished 2-for-3 on the power play in the defeat.

Tyler Green gave the home team an early 1-0 lead 7:38 into the game and Joey Kennelly extended the margin with a power-play goal 1:12 into the second period.

Senior forward Garrett Smith (Eden Prairie, Minn.), however, deflected a shot from classmate Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) to the back of the net for his first goal of the season, cutting the Johnnies' deficit to 2-1 54 seconds after Kennelly's tally.

The Oles then proceeded to score the game's final three goals. Jonathan Young netted STO's second power-play goal of the night at the 8:05 mark of the second period, Nicholas Sewecke made it 4-1 6:59 into the third and Gunnar Johnson ended the scoring on an empty-net goal with 2:53 to play.

Senior goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) made 18 saves in the loss as shots were even at 23-23. SJU finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

HAT TRICK: The multi-goal game was the first of Rudrud's collegiate career and the hat trick was the Johnnies' first in nearly two years - Auggie Moore '23 (three goals) in SJU's 6-0 home win over Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9, 2022, at the HBNHC.

DIVISION III LEADER: Howe currently (thru Dec. 1) leads NCAA Division III in both GAA (1.00) and save percentage (.972).

RECEIVING VOTES: The Johnnies received votes in both the USCHO.com and D-III Hockey News polls on Monday (Dec. 2).

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SJU, 3.0 gpg.
-BU, 2.4 gpg.

GAA
-SJU, 2.14 (No. 19 in Division III)
-BU, 2.96

Power Play
-SJU, 19.0 percent (4-for-21)
-BU, 18.5 percent (5-for-27)

Penalty Kill
-SJU, 86.4 percent (19-for-22)
-BU, 83.3 percent (25-for-30)

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (3-5-1, 1-1-0 MIAC) brings a two-game losing skid to St. Cloud on Thursday. BU split with Hamline Nov. 22-23 and fell to St. Olaf 1-0 in overtime - outdoors on Saturday (Nov. 30) in St. Louis Park - in a non-conference game. Junior forward Tyler Braccini leads the team in goals (6) and points (8), while junior forward Tyler Kostelecky (2g/4a) and junior defenseman Spencer Kring (1g/5a) are right behind with six points apiece. Junior goaltender Austin Ryman has made six starts in net so far this season and is 2-4 with a 2.86 GAA and a .901 save percentage (155 saves).

LAST SEASON: Bethel swept the Johnnies last season for the first time since 2009.

Bethel 3, at Saint John's 2 (OT; Dec. 1, 2023)
Rudrud scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:11 remaining in regulation for SJU, which picked up a point in the MIAC standings with the overtime loss.

Tyler Kostelecky, however, scored the game-winning goal 42 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime for Bethel.

Sophomore forward Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead 6:23 into the game when he deflected a shot from junior defenseman Michael Spinner (Prior Lake, Minn.) for his third goal of the season. Lyke also added an assist on Rudrud's game-tying tally for the first multi-point game of his collegiate career.

The Johnnies recorded the game's first seven shots on goal but the Royals responded with a surge of their own and the home team led by just a 9-7 margin after the first period. The momentum spilled into the second period as BU gained a 2-1 lead on goals from Jack Brown 5:05 into the frame and Jeremiah Konkel at the 11:54 mark.

Howe made 30 saves in the loss as BU finished with a 33-29 advantage in shots. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.

at Bethel 4, Saint John's 2 (Dec. 2, 2023)
Bethel scored four unanswered goals to defeat Saint John's 4-2 in Blaine. Senior captain Matt DeRosa (Alpharetta, Ga.) gave the Johnnies a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal – a 2-on-1 tally from sophomore forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) - 4:01 into the game. He made it 2-0 with his second goal of the game of the contest, and fifth of the season, 9:36 into the second period.

Special teams came through for Bethel, however, near the end of the second period to tie the game. Konkel tallied a power-play goal with 3:26 left and Kostelecky tied the contest at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal 2:20 later.

Matt Berezowski scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 4:23 into the third period and Tyler Braccini added some insurance with four minutes to play. Huber made 28 saves in the loss.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 23-12-1 against BU under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller (12-5-0 at the HBNHC and 11-7-1 in Blaine). The Johnnies are 16-4-1 in the last 21 meetings overall (20-5-1 in the last 26). Last year's win was just Bethel's third in its last 15 games at the HBNHC, all decided by one goal.