By: Ryan Klinkner, SJU Director of Athletic Communications
Story Links
The Johnnies open the regular-season’s second-to-last hockey series by hosting Augsburg for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams then meet for a 7 p.m. tilt on Friday, Feb. 13, at the Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis.
LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday, Feb. 12 in St. Cloud: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Friday, Feb. 13 in Minneapolis: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John’s (11-6-4, 6-3-3 MIAC) split last weekend’s series against Gustavus Adolphus.
at Gustavus Adolphus 5, SJU 4 (OT; Feb. 6)
SJU earned a critical point in the standings after forcing the game to overtime with a scoreless third period. Gustavus’ Sam Rice scored the ninth and final goal of the game with 49 seconds left in overtime, beating senior goaltender Jon Howe on a failed poke check.
The Gusties scored early in what became a five-goal first frame, as Jack Wineman beat Howe on a quick rebound that escaped through his legs 3:53 after the opening faceoff.
Senior captain Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) tied the game and began a flurry of four goals – two for each team – with 3:57 left in the period. Junior forward Chris Kernan (Maple Grove, Minn.) pulled the puck from a scrum on the half-wall and junior forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) delivered a perfect pass across the slot for Campbell to one-time into the back of the net.
Wineman gave the lead back to GAC 20 seconds later, converting on a 2-on-1 after the center-ice faceoff. Grant Ellings extended the Gusties’ lead to 3-1 at the 17:39 mark, taking a long pass to drive the net after beating the SJU defense.
Sophomore forward Jordan Newpower (Lino Lakes, Minn.) cut the deficit back to one with his seventh goal of the season to end the period down 3-2. Junior forward Jackson Borst (Edina, Minn.) created a 3-on-1 with a quick pass and a trip by a Gustie defender at the blue line. SJU’s leading scorer, junior forward Logan Lyke (Medina, Minn.), rifled a shot from the right circle, and Newpower gloved the rebound out of the air, played it to his stick and tucked it into the net.
Wandmacher knotted the game at three apiece with his seventh tally of the season 4:48 after the first intermission. Kernan intercepted a missed Gustavus breakout pass and dished a quick pass to Wandmacher, who sent the puck directly into the right corner of the net.
Junior forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) gave SJU its first lead of the game with a power-play goal, his seventh tally of the season and 20th of his career, six seconds into the man advantage. After Kernan won the draw for the Johnnies, senior defenseman Conner Couet (St. Michael, Minn.) rifled a shot from the blue line. Kernan tipped the puck in front of the goal to his classmate Bisson, who buried it in the empty net.
Jayar Luedke scored his own rebound with 3:32 left in the second to tie the game at 4-4, where it would hold for the next 24:11.
The two teams exchanged power plays to start the third period, including two opportunities with the man advantage for the Johnnies, but all three attempts came up empty.
Howe ended the game with 31 saves, while Marko Belak made 22 on the other end of the ice for the Gusties. Eight Johnnies had a point in the game, led by Kernan’s career-high three assists.
at Saint John’s 3, Gustavus Adolphus 2 (OT; Feb. 7)
SJU snapped Gustavus’ 12-game win streak and earned the weekend split with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night. Kernan survived a long shift in 3-on-3 overtime and picked off a pass and raced down the ice on the breakaway. Chased by one Gustie, he made a move to his forehand and rifled the puck into the bottom right corner for the win and the extra point in the standings.
SJU opened the scoring with Campbell’s second goal of the weekend 5:16 into the game. Borst fed the puck to Campbell, who walked the goal line and snuck it above the shoulder of Marko Belak.
Hunter Newhouse tied the game for the Gusties 59 seconds later, deflecting a shot past Howe.
Sophomore defenseman George Moore III (Little Falls, Minn.) tilted the scales back in favor of the home team with his first collegiate goal at the 13:15 mark of the first. Bisson dropped the puck back for Moore on the zone entry, and Moore’s shot ricocheted off a Gustavus defenseman and into the net for a 2-1 lead to end the period.
Ludvig Mellgren tied the game once more 6:53 into the second, cashing in on a one-timer from the top of the circle.
The two teams played a scoreless third period to force overtime the second night in a row. GAC out-shot the Johnnies 14-3 in the third period but failed to muster a shot on goal in the extra period.
Kernan’s unassisted tally – the 17th goal of his career – came at 2:33 in OT.
Howe finished the game with 39 saves and 70 on the weekend. Kernan completed a four-point weekend after three assists in Friday’s game and seven different Johnnies had a point Saturday night.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kernan was named the MIAC Men’s Hockey Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 9) for his four-point weekend (1g/3a) and a team-leading seven shots on goal in last weekend’s split against Gustavus. He totaled a career-high three assists in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss in St. Peter and scored the game-winning goal – an unassisted breakaway – in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory in St. Cloud. Saturday’s game-winner came after he survived a shift of 1:37, largely in the defensive zone during the 3-on-3 overtime. Kernan touts five points (1g/4a) over his last three games.
STAT COMPARISONS (ranked by conference play)
Scoring Offense
t1. SJU, 3.58 gpg. (3.67 overall)
9. AUG, 2.08 gpg. (3.00 overall)
GAA
3. SJU, 2.51 (2.70 overall)
4. AUG, 2.53 (2.90 overall)
Power Play
5. SJU, 21.1 percent/8-38 (20.3 percent/13-64 overall)
6. AUG, 17.8 percent/8-45 (21.3 percent/17-80 overall)
Penalty Kill
6. AUG, 77.8 percent/35-45 (79.7 percent/63-79 overall)
8. SJU, 73.3 percent/33-45 (72.7 percent/56-77 overall)
A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (6-12-3, 3-7-2 MIAC) started 2026 with a home sweep of Lake Forest (Ill.) but is 1-6-1 since, including a series split against St. Olaf – 3-0 win in Northfield and 3-2 loss in Minneapolis – back on Jan. 30-31. Sophomore forward Conner Schneider leads the team in assists (17) and points (24), while senior forward Peyton Hanson is next with 23 points and a team-best 12 goals (four on the power play and three game-winners). Juniors Alex Timmons (4-6-2, 2.40 GAA, .919) and Carsen Stokes (1-5-1, 3.33, .889) have combined for 19 of the team’s 21 starts in net.
LAST SEASON’S MEETINGS: SJU swept the regular-season series last year for the first time since 2016.
at Saint John’s 8, Augsburg 2 (Feb. 14, 2025)
SJU broke a 2-2 tie with six unanswered goals to defeat Augsburg 8-2 in last year’s series opener in St. Cloud. The home team erupted for four goals each in the second and third periods and 13 Johnnies recorded a point (four with three points apiece).
At the time, the eight goals scored were the most for SJU in three years (an 8-3 win over Hamline on Feb. 7, 2022, at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud) and the most against the Auggies since Jan. 12, 1990 – an identical score of 8-2 in Minneapolis.
The home team followed a scoreless first period with four goals and hit the pipe twice in the second period. Couet opened the scoring with his second goal of the season – 4-on-4 – 4:45 in and forward Justin Thompson ’25 made it 2-0 2:25 later.
The Auggies, however, battled back to tie the game at 2-2 with goals from Graham Harris (10:51) and Cole Schneider (16:15). The stalemate was short-lived though, as Kernan one-timed home a pretty pass from Wandmacher 15 seconds after Schneider’s game-tying goal.
Junior forward Cam Boche (Lakeville, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a two-goal lead once again when he deflected a shot from the blue line from junior defenseman Parker Gnos (Excelsior, Minn.) with 1:33 left in the second.
Gnos started the four-goal third period with a seeing-eye shot for a goal 5:27 in and Bisson scored the first of two on the night during a delayed penalty at the 7:08 mark.
Lyke extended the lead to 7-2 with 6:44 remaining and Bisson ended the scoring with a power-play goal, his team-leading 10th tally of the season, 2:01 later.
Howe made 35 saves for his fifth win of the season (5-6-1 record). SJU finished with a 38-37 edge in shots thanks to a 15-3 advantage in the third period.
Saint John’s 4, at Augsburg 1 (Feb. 15, 2025)
Ten different Johnnies recorded a point as SJU completed the series sweep of Augsburg with a 4-1 win in Minneapolis. Junior forward Jacob McPartland (Victoria, Minn.) put SJU on the scoreboard first with 3:23 left in the first period on a feed from behind the net by Boche.
Gnos made it 2-0 when his shot deflected off an Augsburg stick to the back of the net 3:24 into the third period, but Jake Hale cut the deficit in half for Augsburg with a sneaky shot off a faceoff win two minutes later.
Forward Spencer Rudrud ’25 padded the Johnnies’ lead with his seventh goal of the season at the 10:21 mark and junior defenseman Sam Berry (St. Louis Park, Minn.) ended the scoring with a 6-on-4, shorthanded goal with an empty net with 11 seconds remaining.
Goaltender Bailey Huber ’25 made 37 saves in the win.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 48-42-2 against the Auggies since the 1986-87 season: 21-16-2 in St. Cloud, 20-24 in Minneapolis and 8-3 at a neutral site. SJU is 11-12-1 in the last 24 meetings.