Saint John's returns to MIAC play by hosting Bethel at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams meet for an earlier puck drop – 5 p.m. – on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Super Rink in Blaine.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday, Dec. 4: Listen Live (WMIN-1010 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Saturday, Dec. 6: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-1-3, 2-0-2 MIAC) took five of the six points from St. Olaf back on Nov. 21-22.

Saint John's 2, at St. Olaf 1 (Nov. 21)
SJU scored a goal in each of the first two periods and held on to defeat St. Olaf, 2-1, on 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 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 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.

t-at Saint John's 2, St. Olaf 2 (OT; SJU, 1-0; Nov. 22)
Junior forward Jackson Borst (Edina, Minn.) scored the shootout's lone goal, a backhanded shot following a deke, in the fourth round and Howe denied all four attempts for SJU. Howe finished with 30 saves.

The Johnnies out-shot the Oles by a 58-32 margin, but were whistled for three penalties in a span of 2:33 that led to the game-tying goal for STO during a 5-on-3 power play. 

Tyler Green gave the visitors a 1-0 lead 7:22 into the game after a failed clear from the Johnnies landed on the stick of Wyatt Hickok at the point. Green tipped Hickock's shot around Howe for the game's first goal. 

Freshman defenseman Cashen Naeve (Independence, Minn.) evened the score at the 14:35 mark of the opening frame with his second goal of the season. Naeve fed the puck to Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) on the breakout, which eventually turned into a 2-on-1. Wandmacher beat the Ole defender with a pass back to Naeve, who made a move and roofed the puck for the 1-1 tie. 

Borst gave SJU its first lead of the game with his second goal of the season with 6:15 left in the second period. Naeve walked into the zone for a better angled shot on Olaf goaltender Matthew Malin, which deflected off his blocker. Kernan picked up the rebound for a shot of his own that was blocked by an Ole defender in the crease making up for Nolan's sprawl across the crease. Borst put the puck away on the third attempt for a 2-1 advantage at the end of the second. 

The Johnnies held St. Olaf without a shot on goal for more than half of the third period, but 18 seconds of a 5-on-3 proved to be too much to keep the puck out of the back of the net, as Jonathan Panisa knotted the game at 2-2 with 5:29 left to play. 

Each team had a quality scoring chance in overtime, but Saturday at the Herb was once again decided by a shootout. 

Senior defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) led SJU with eight shots – five in the second period, while Naeve, junior defenseman Parker Gnos (Excelsior, Minn.) and Boche each had five. SJU's 58 shots were the team's most since SJU totaled the same amount in a quadruple-overtime loss to Augsburg in the MIAC Championship on March 2, 2019.

MIAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Howe was named the MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week back on Nov. 24 for his performance against St. Olaf. He posted a 1.44 GAA and a .961 save percentage (74 saves) as SJU collected five of the series' six points against the Oles. Two of his three goals allowed were on the power play, including one during a 5-on-3. He registered the second assist of his collegiate career – on the game-winning goal – in Friday's 2-1 victory in Northfield and made four saves in Saturday's 1-0 shootout win, following the 2-2 draw, in St. Cloud. 

Howe is now 3-0-3 with a 2.24 GAA and a .937 save percentage (208 saves) this season, including a league-best 249:46 minutes and 147 saves in MIAC play.

RECEIVING VOTES: The Johnnies received votes, for the second-straight week, in the latest USCHO.com Division III top 15 poll.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (3-4-0, 1-1-0 MIAC) picked up four points against Hamline back on Nov. 21-22. The Royals picked up a 4-1 win at home that Friday night but suffered a 3-2 loss in overtime the following afternoon at the TRIA Rink in St. Paul. Senior forward Tyler Braccini leads the team in all four offensive categories through the season's first seven games: goals (4), assists (5), points (9) and shots (37). Freshman forward Peyton Blair is next with seven points (3g/4a) and junior forward Joe Westlund has six (2g/4a). Senior goaltender Austin Ryman is 3-1 with a 2.47 GAA and a .914 save percentage (96 saves). BU was scheduled to play at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) this past Saturday (Nov. 29) but the game was postponed due to weather.

LAST SEASON: The Royals claimed five of the six possible points against the Johnnies last season.

Bethel 4, at Saint John's 1 (Dec. 5, 2024)
BU scored three unanswered goals to top SJU 4-1 in the series opener at the HBNHC. Braccini gave the Royals a quick 1-0 lead with his team-leading seventh goal of the season, a wrister from the left faceoff circle, on the visitors' first shot attempt 1:33 into the game.

Junior forward Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.) tied the game at 1-1 for SJU with his third goal of the season five minutes in. Forward Justin Thompson '25 ripped a shot in the slot off the BU goaltender, and off the pipe, to Lyke on the left side of the net.

BU gained a 3-1 lead with two goals in the second period. Jack Brown unleashed a sharp-angle shot near the end line that hit off the net and trickled over the crossbar Howe back and into the net 8:52 into the frame.

Max Hamstad gave the Royals a two-goal cushion with a 2-on-1 goal, his first of the season, with 1:08 remaining in the second and Shane Lavelle ended the scoring with 5:07 left in the game.

Howe made 30 saves in the loss, his first of the season (3-1 record), as SJU posted a 37-34 advantage in shots.

at Bethel 3, Saint John's 2 (OT: Dec. 6, 2024)
The Royals scored the game-winning goal with 1.9 seconds remaining in the 3-on-3 overtime to defeat SJU at the Super Rink. Braccini scored the 2-on-1 goal for BU, seconds after Boche was denied on a grade A opportunity for SJU, which picked up a point in the MIAC standings with the overtime loss.

BU gained a 2-0 lead with a pair of seeing-eye pucks in the first period. Matt Berezowski scored the first goal with a sharp-angle shot over the shoulder of goaltender Bailey Huber '25 with 8:36 left in the opening frame and Joe Kelly made it 2-0 with a spin-around wrister from the right faceoff circle with 3:14 left.

Campbell cut the Johnnies' deficit in half with six seconds left in the second on a sharp-angle shot near the right corner that found its way over the crease for his first goal of the season and 11th of his collegiate career.

Senior defenseman Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) tied the game at 2-2 with his first collegiate goal 4:37 into the third period. Boche ripped a shot in the slot and the rebound went to Enebak for an easy backhanded shot to the open net.

Huber made a season-high 42 saves in the loss. BU posted a 45-25 advantage in shots and were awarded the game's lone power play in the second period.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 23-14-1 against BU under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller (12-6-0 at the HBNHC and 11-8-1 in Blaine). The Johnnies are 16-6-1 in the last 23 meetings overall (20-7-1 in the last 28).