Saint John's hosts two more non-conference games at a neutral site – St. Cloud's Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) – this weekend. The Johnnies face Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 17) and No. 12 Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 4 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 18).

LIVE COVERAGE (Both Games): Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-7, 3-3 MIAC) split a pair of non-conference games last weekend in Wisconsin.

Saint John's 6, at Northland 3 (Jan. 10)
SJU scored six of the game's final seven goals, including a hat trick from sophomore forward Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.), in Friday's win at Northland.

SJU overcame a sluggish start as Northland gained a 2-0 lead with goals from Joe Weber (1:19) and Valerii Kneib (6:32) in the game's opening minutes.

The Johnnies, however, answered with three-straight goals to gain their first lead of the contest. Kernan cut the deficit in half 2:36 after Kneib's tally and senior captain Matt DeRosa (Alpharetta, Ga.) tied it during a delayed penalty with 6:18 left in the frame. Kernan made it 3-2 with his second goal of the night, 4-on-4, 4:43 into the second period.

The LumberJacks responded to tie the game at 3-3 with 6:52 left in the second period, but sophomore forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) scored what proved to be the game-winner with 47 seconds left in the frame. Freshman forward Jordan Newpower (Lino Lakes, Minn.) fed Bisson just inside the blue line for a pseudo-breakaway goal, his first of the season, during a 4-on-4 (one second from a shorthanded goal).

Sophomore forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) padded the lead with a power-play goal, his fifth tally of the season, 2:51 into the third period and Kernan completed the hat trick with an empty-netter with 1:23 remaining.

Junior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) made 27 saves to improve his season record to 4-2.

Twelve Johnnies recorded a point or more and SJU killed off all six Northland power plays, including 1:31 of a 5-on-3 advantage in the third period.

at Wisconsin-Superior 2, Saint John's 1 (OT; Jan. 11)
Superior scored 14 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime to hand the Johnnies a 2-1 defeat on Saturday night. UWS won the faceoff and the defenseman fed Daniel Rozsival, who sped up the left side and centered a one-timer to Justin Dauphinais for the game-winner.

Senior forward Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) tied the game at 1-1 for SJU with his second goal of the season with 9:23 remaining in regulation. Junior defenseman Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) ripped a shot from the point and the rebound trickled to Sabo on the doorstep to the goaltender's left for the rebound goal.

Rozsival broke the scoreless stalemate for Superior with his fifth goal of the season 5:08 into the third period. A defensive-zone turnover along the boards led to a centering pass from Dauphinais to Rozsival in the slot.

Howe made 39 saves in the loss for SJU, which went 0-for-4 on the power play and was out-shot 41-34.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-UWSP, 4.00 gpg. *No. 9 in Division III
-SJU, 2.54 gpg.
-UWEC, 2.13 gpg.

GAA
-UWEC, 2.45
-SJU, 2.52
-UWSP, 2.77

Power Play
-UWSP, 27.9 percent/17-for-61 *No. 11 in Division III
-SJU, 13.9 percent/5-for-36
-UWEC, 13.5 percent/7-for-52

Penalty Kill
-UWEC, 92.5 percent/49-for-53 *No. 1 in Division III
-SJU, 91.9 percent/34-for-37 *No. 2 in Division III
-UWSP, 78.7 percent/37-for-47

A LOOK AT THE BLUGOLDS: Wisconsin-Eau Claire (5-9-1, 4-3-0 WIAC) is 0-3 so far in 2025 following a 4-1 home loss Tuesday night (Jan. 14) to No. 14 Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Pointers broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the third period, including an empty-netter in the final minute. Junior forward Leo Bacallao leads the team with nine points (4g/5a) and senior forward Jordan Randall is close behind with eight points and a team-best five goals. Junior goaltender Max Gutjahr is 4-8-1 with a 2.16 GAA and a .911 save percentage (285 saves).

LAST YEAR: Then-No. 10 UWEC scored three-straight goals in the third period to defeat SJU 4-2 back on Nov. 3, 2023, at the MAC in St. Cloud.

Following a scoreless first period, Tyler Herzberg gave UWEC a 1-0 lead on a tic-tac-toe play 5:27 into the second period.

Senior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) tied the game with a similar goal, thanks to assists from sophomore forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and senior defenseman Cooper Anderson (White Bear Lake, Minn.), 1:44 later.

Sophomore forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a 2-1 lead with his first collegiate goal – a sharp wrister directly off a faceoff win from Kernan – with eight minutes remaining in the frame.

Cade Lemmer took advantage of an SJU turnover in its defense zone with an unassisted goal 9:28 into the third period and Will Stauber scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, on the power play, with 4:26 remaining. Kyle Oleksiuk added an empty-netter with six seconds left.

Howe made a career-high 40 saves in the loss as SJU was out-shot by a 44-29 margin, including a 19-5 mark in the opening period.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 7-17-4 against the Blugolds since 1986. Last year's loss broke the series' 4-4-2 record in St. Cloud (now 0-2-1 at the MAC, 4-3-1 at the National Hockey Center).

A LOOK AT THE POINTERS: Tuesday's 4-1 win at Eau Claire extended Wisconsin-Stevens Point's (10-4-1, 4-2-1 WIAC) win streak to four games. Senior forward Dawson Sciarrino leads the Pointers in goals (12) and points (18), while senior forward Fletcher Anderson and sophomore forward Nico Chmelevski are next with four goals and 14 assists each. Senior forward Andrew Poulias is right behind that duo with 17 points (9g/8a) and classmate Peyton Hart touts 11 goals, including a Division III-best eight on the power play. Junior netminder Alex Proctor is 9-3-1 with a 2.41 GAA and a .916 save percentage (328 saves). UWSP visits Hamline Friday night before Saturday afternoon's game vs. SJU.

A YEAR AGO: Senior goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) made 44 saves and held then-No. 8 Wisconsin-Stevens Point scoreless over the game's final 61:51 in a 1-1 tie last Jan. 13 (2024).

Noah Finstrom gave the Pointers a quick 1-0 lead 3:09 into the game, but Wandmacher tallied the game-tying goal at the 14:15 mark of the opening frame, 17 seconds after SJU killed off back-to-back penalties. The goal was Wandmacher's sixth of the season and his team-leading 11th point.

Huber made 43 saves after the Pointers' first-period goal, including 18 in the third period, to move his record to 2-5-2.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 6-12-2 all-time against the Pointers. The Johnnies' 3-2 win on Jan. 14, 2023, at Sartell broke SJU's seven-game losing streak in the series.