COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - When freshman Cashen Naeve scored the game-winning goal 3:23 into overtime to lift the Saint John's hockey team past Gustavus Adolphus 4-3 in the MIAC men's championship game this past Saturday (March 7), it earned the Johnnies their first trip to the NCAA Division III tournament since 2013.

The 2013 season also featured a dramatic victory over the Gusties in the conference title matchup, one sparked by then-junior forward Justin Hochsprung who scored the go-ahead goal in his team's 2-1 win with just 3:17 remaining in regulation.

"It's just an awesome feeling," Hochsprung told the St. Cloud Times just minutes after he'd helped SJU earn its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2005. "This program hasn't been there in forever, so this is a big step for us."

In that game, played on March 2, 2013 at the National Hockey Center, the Johnnies took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Jason Johnson in the first period before Gustavus tied things up early in the second. 

A power-play goal by Nick Senta put SJU back on top 2-1, but the Gusties again tied the score on a goal by Andy Pearson early in the third.

That set the stage for Hochsprung, who was playing on what the Johnnies called their Black Line.

"We just have great chemistry on that line," a smiling Hochsprung told the Times. "It's me, (John) Haeg and Josh Gross. "And we've been scoring quite a bit lately.

"Everybody calls us the Black Line. We even wear black jerseys in practice. And we had a big game today."

SJU went on to fall 4-2 at Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the first round of NCAA play on March 6, finishing the season 16-8-4 overall.
 
70 years ago (1956)
Athlete-coach DeVaughn Nelson, Don Flynn, Mike Gibbs and Larry Betzler all won individual titles in their weight classes as the SJU wrestling team earned the fifth of what would be eight-straight conference titles at the MIAC Championships held March 3 at St. Thomas.

It was an especially impressive feat because the team had graduated one conference champion and one runner-up from the previous season, as well as losing four other key contributors to graduation or transfer to the University of Minnesota.

80 years ago (1946)
Despite playing in only eight games, 6-foot-7 SJU center Fran Miller earned a spot on the All-MIAC second team. Miller, nicknamed Stretch, did not arrive on campus until late in the season, but still scored 117 points – an average of over 14 per game.

100 years ago (1926)
Sixty bowlers were signed up for the annual year-end campus bowling tournament, which was scheduled for March 15-17.

"The tournament has long been an annual event at Saint John's and has never failed to command the undivided interest of the whole student body," The Record wrote in advance of the event. "This year's meet promises to surpass all previous tournaments both in the number of entrants and interest."