Saint John's returns to MIAC play against St. Olaf this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Nov. 21, in Northfield. SJU hosts the Oles at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Friday in Northfield: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Saturday in St. Cloud: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-1-2, 1-0-1 MIAC) split a pair of non-conference games last weekend in Wisconsin.

Saint John's 4, at Wisconsin-River Falls 2 (Nov. 14)
SJU scored four unanswered goals, including two in the game's final minute, to top Wisconsin-River Falls 4-2 last Friday.

Junior forward Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.) broke a 2-2 tie for SJU off a Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) shot from the point with 53 seconds remaining in regulation to tilt the scales for SJU in the final period. 

Junior forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) drove the puck into the zone to create a scoring play. After Boche's possession, Jordan Newpower (Lino Lakes, Minn.) sent a pass to Campbell at the point who rifled a shot that was tipped by Lyke into the goal with under a minute left to play in the third.

Junior forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) added his second of the night on a make-shift empty-netter 20 seconds later, as his breakaway on the empty net was called for a penalty shot with 33 seconds on the clock, which resulted in an automatic goal.

River Falls scored the first goal of the game with two minutes remaining in the first period, taking advantage of a power play for the lead heading into the first intermission. The rotating power play unit caught the Johnnies looking for Alex Atwill to knock the puck in from the goal line. 

UWRF doubled its lead in the second period on another power play, as Keenan Ingram cleaned up the rebound on a tight shot in front of the net. 

SJU evened the score before the end of the period, the first from Wandmacher with the man advantage. Wandmacher caught the River Falls goalie on the lateral slide across the crease, as a quick pass from junior forward Jackson Borst (Edina, Minn.) across the zone fed him the Johnnies' first goal.

Freshman forward Seth Terhell (Cambridge, Minn.) knotted it at 2-2 less than a minute after Wandmacher's score, ripping a shot over the Falcon goaltender on the zone entry after a tap pass from Borst. 

The Johnnies had a number of chances in the third period but waited until the final minute of play to tally the game-winner.

Senior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) finished with 28 saves between the pipes. Junior defenseman Parker Gnos (Excelsior, Minn.) and Terhell led the team with four shots, while Wandmacher, Campbell and Bisson each had two points.

at Wisconsin-Stout 6, Saint John's 2 (Nov. 15)
Stout scored six unanswered goals, including four in the third period, to hand SJU its first loss of the season on Saturday night.

Junior forward Jacob McPartland (Victoria, Minn.) gave SJU the lead 8:25 into the first period. Boche passed the puck up the wall to sophomore defenseman George Moore III (Edina, Minn.) who moved it across the blue line to senior defenseman Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.). McPartland hacked Enebak's shot into the goal for his second tally of the season.

Senior goaltender Tom Kuriscak (Stillwater, Minn.) made his second collegiate start and stopped 15 shots through period one, smothering a Blue Devil chance and subsequent rebounds to keep his team ahead. 

Campbell doubled the lead 10 minutes later, walking a Stout defender with a toe drag and roofing the puck for a 2-0 advantage. That was the Johnnies' last goal, though, as the home team rattled off six unanswered goals. 

Stout evened the score in the second period, as a pass behind the back to Maksis Brimanis out front caught Kuriscak on the near post. The Blue Devils made it 2-2 heading into the third period after a goal on a 3-on-2 rush down the ice. Arhip Sidarovich scored the eventual game-winner on a shot from outside the dots that beat Kuriscak over the shoulder. 

The Blue Devils added another on a penalty shot and two more with an empty SJU net for the 6-2 final.

Kuriscak finished with 30 saves between the pipes. Four different Johnnies had three shots on goal, but Stout out-shot the visitors 36-25.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (4-1-1, 2-0-0 MIAC) extended its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1 record) with a weekend sweep of the defending MIAC regular-season champions, Gustavus Adolphus, by scores of 5-2 and 2-1. STO built a 4-0 lead in the first period of Friday's win, while all of the game's scoring occurred in the opening frame of Saturday's win in Northfield. Three Oles – Adam Johnson (2g/3a), Connor McNaughton (2g/3a) and Jonathan Panisa (3g/2a) – lead the team with five points apiece. Freshman goaltender Ryan Nolan totaled 82 saves in the sweep of the Gusties and was named the MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. He made 48 stops - tied for the seventh-most saves in any NCAA Division III game this season - on Friday night and added 34 saves in Saturday's narrow victory. He is 3-1 with a 2.26 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

LAST SEASON'S SERIES: The two teams split last season's series with a 5-1 win each on their home ice.

at Saint John's 5, St. Olaf 1 (Nov. 22, 2024)
Forward Spencer Rudrud '25 scored a hat trick and Howe made 33 saves in the series-opening win. 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.
 
Junior 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. 

Panisa cut the Oles' deficit in half with a coast-to-coast goal, unassisted at the 7:08 mark, 38 seconds after Boche 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 Campbell 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.

Senior 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.

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 1 (Nov. 23, 2024)
The Johnnies saw their five-game win streak end with a 5-1 loss the following night in Northfield. SJU 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.

Forward Garrett Smith '25, however, deflected a shot from classmate Jackson Sabo '25 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.

Goaltender Bailey Huber '25 made 18 saves in the loss as shots were even at 23-23. SJU finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 55-31-5 against St. Olaf since the 1984-85 season, including a 16-8-2 record in the last 26 meetings overall and a 21-10-4 mark in the last 35 games on the Johnnies' home ice.