Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's hockey suffered a 3-1 loss to Saint Mary's on Saturday night, Jan. 24, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (HBNHC). 

Penalties cost SJU (8-7-2, 4-3-1 MIAC) once more, as a Johnnie was whistled for a 5-minue major early in the first period – the second major penalty of the weekend – which led to the Cardinals' first goal of the game. Saint Mary's (8-5-4, 3-2-3 MIAC) scored another four minutes later and an empty-netter to end the game after withstanding a flurry of attempts from the Johnnies in the second and third periods. 

The major penalty came 3:23 into the contest and SMU took advantage of the power play less than a minute later when Joona Juntunen scored his first of two goals on the night. SMU followed with a nifty passing play 4:35 later to beat senior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) and carry a 2-0 lead into the second period. 

Junior forward Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.) cut the lead in half with his fifth goal of the season and second of the series 2:27 after the first intermission. Junior forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) gathered a SMU rebound and sent the breakout pass to Kernan who took a quick shot that snuck under the elbow of Cardinal goalie Adam Prokop. 

Saint John's out-shot the visitors 34-19 in the final two periods, including a 20-7 margin in the final 20 minutes. Eleven different Johnnies had a shot on goal in the third and the home team generated a number of quality scoring chances, but were ultimately denied by Prokop in the crease. SJU was awarded a power play amidst a surge of offensive pressure at 8:12 of the third period, but it was nullified three seconds later with a call against the Johnnies off the faceoff.

SJU pulled Howe for the extra skater with 1:48 remaining in regulation and generated three shots, including two off the stick of junior forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.), but Juntunen eventually broke free to skate in his MIAC-leading 17th goal of the season into the empty net. 

Howe finished with 31 saves between the pipes while his counterpart Prokop made 44. Senior captain Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) led Saint John's with seven total shots on goal.

SJU plays host to Hamline (4-11-3, 4-4-2 MIAC) for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Thursday, Jan. 29, at the HBNHC.