Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Saint John's hockey scored a goal in each of the first two periods and held on to defeat St. Olaf, 2-1, on Friday, Nov. 21 in Northfield.

Junior forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) nearly scored on a breakaway goal 8:46 into the first period, but St. Olaf freshman goaltender Ryan Nolan made an aggressive step up out of the crease in an attempt to play the puck away. His puck redirected to Boche, who was able to pass it back to freshman forward Carter Krenke (Bloomington, Minn.) to tap it into the goal behind a disoriented Nolan for a 1-0 lead.

Junior forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) doubled the lead for SJU (3-1-2, 2-0-1 MIAC) 8:48 into the second period for the second goal of the season and 15th of his career. Five seconds after an SJU power play expired, Bisson took a feed from senior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) on the breakout and moved the puck up ice to Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.). Kernan ripped a shot off the right pad of Nolan and Bisson broke through a pair of Olaf defenders to pick up the rebound. 

St. Olaf (4-2-1, 2-1-0 MIAC) cut the lead in half with a power-play goal 1:41 later, rotating the puck around the zone before Adam Johnson jammed it behind Howe in the crease. 

The Oles called a timeout and pulled Nolan with 2:14 left on the clock in hopes of forcing overtime late in the third period. Bisson had a chance on an open net, but a diving Ole defended the goal and blocked the shot. SJU was called for two icing plays with the empty net, and a loose puck out front nearly tied the game, but a toe save from Howe and a clear out of the zone ended the game with the Johnnies' second regulation MIAC win of the season. The win snapped the Oles' five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1 record).

Howe finished with a season-high 44 saves – which matches his career best between the pipes (set in a home shutout of Wisconsin-River Falls on Nov. 14, 2024) - and his helper on SJU's game-winner was the second assist of his career. 

Krenke led SJU with five shots, three of which were the Johnnies' only shots in the third period. Three other Johnnies collected three shots on goal apiece, contributing to 29 for the team. 

SJU is now 56-31-5 against St. Olaf since the 1984-85 season, including a 17-8-2 record in the last 27 meetings overall.

The Johnnies return home to host the Oles at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.