Saint John's begins the NCAA Division III Hockey Tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, at Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Hobbs Ice Center). – Listen Live (Real Audio Player) | Live Stats | Live Video
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (0:54)
TICKET INFORMATION: The cost of admission is $8 for adults and $4 for senior citizens/students/youth (children two and under free). All tickets are general admission. To reserve tickets, SJU fans can call the UWEC Service Center at 715-836-3727 and identify themselves as SJU fans to get tickets from the school's allotment of 200.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (16-7-4, 9-4-3 MIAC) earned its first MIAC Playoff Championship since 2003 (fifth overall) and first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament since 2005 (sixth overall) with a 3-2 win over Gustavus Adolphus on March 2 in St. Cloud. Junior forward Jason Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 10:42 into the first period. Sophomore John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) and junior Justin Hochsprung (Alexandria, Minn.) assisted on the tally, which was Johnson's eighth of the season. Schyler Adams tied the game at 1-1 for Gustavus 2:12 into the second period. Sophomore defenseman Nick Senta (Savage, Minn.) gave the lead back to SJU four minutes later with a blistering shot from the point, the Johnnies' second power-play goal in as many chances. The Johnnies preserved their lead into the second intermission, but again, it didn't take long for the Gusties to tie it back up after the break. Just over three minutes into the third period, Andy Pearson capitalized on a 2-on-1 breakaway to knot it back up at 2-2. With just over three minutes to play, Hochsprung took a pass from Haeg, skated into the offensive zone against two GAC defenders and unleashed a shot Gustavus goaltender Tyler Venne. The rebound, however, bounced right to Hochsprung's backhand and into the wide-open net. Freshman goaltender Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 19 saves to improve to 15-4-1 on the season and 10-1-1 in his last 12 starts.
MIAC AWARDS: Soley became the first known freshman to be named the MIAC Men's Hockey Player of the Year and Doug Schueller was named the conference's Coach of the Year on March 5. Hochsprung, Haeg and sophomore Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) joined Soley, who was named the Co-Player of the Year with St. Olaf forward Jeff Harris, on the All-MIAC first team. Four defensemen were named All-MIAC honorable mention: juniors Trent Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) and Axel Ramsgard (Gothenburg, Sweden), and sophomores Wally Cossette (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Nick Senta (Savage, Minn.).
HOMECOMING, PART II: Then-No. 3 Wisconsin-Eau Claire ended Saint John's five-game winning streak with a 5-1 win earlier this season on Jan. 4 in Eau Claire. Following a scoreless and even-played first period, UWEC erupted for three even-strength goals in a 5:26 span of the second period. Senior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) cut the deficit to 3-1 with a power-play goal with 2:27 left in the second. The Blugolds capitalized on an SJU turnover, just as a Johnnie power play ended, and added a power-play goal 1:38 later. The first goaltender to be named Mr. Wisconsin, as the state's top high school-hockey player, for Eau Claire (Wis.) Memorial H.S. in 2011, Soley made 26 saves for SJU in the loss. Since that game, Soley boasts a 1.15 GAA, along with a 10-1-1 record, two shutouts and a .949 save percentage (262 saves) in his last 12 starts between the pipes.
RECORDS SINCE JAN. 4: The Blugolds are 8-3-1 since their 5-1 win over SJU on Jan. 4. The Johnnies, meanwhile, have out-scored their opponents 49-21 (41-13 after the first period) and boast a 10-2-3 record with strong numbers on the power play (19.2 percent, 10-for-52) and penalty kill (95.7 percent, 44-for-46) since.
GAME-WINNERS: Hochsprung has accumulated 11 points (7g/4a) in his last five games, including a hand in all five game-winning goals (3g/2a). He currently leads the team with a plus/minus rating of +17 and is second with 24 points (11g/13a). The 6-foot-2 junior entered the season with 11 career points (3g/8a) in 44 games. Hochsprung has 15 points (10g/5a) in his last 13 games (10-0-3 record), including a team-leading 10 goals and a plus/minus rating of +12.
POINTS LEADER, AGAIN: A two-time All-MIAC selection, Haeg posted 13 points (6g/7a) in conference play and once again leads the team with 30 points (11g/19a) overall. Last season, Haeg tallied 27 points (7g/20a) to become the first freshman to lead SJU in scoring since Ryan Langenbrunner '06 in 2002-03.
A LOOK AT THE BLUGOLDS: Wisconsin-Eau Claire (20-5-2, 14-3-1 NCHA) won the NCHA regular-season title for the first time in school history in 2012-13, but fell in the Peters Cup final at home to St. Norbert (Wis.), the two-time defending national champions, 3-0 on March 2. The Blugolds are making their first national-tournament appearance since 1989. Senior forward Jordan Singer leads the team in goals (20) and points (33), while junior forward Mark Pustin leads the team with 17 assists and is second in points (26). The UWEC roster is loaded with experience, with only 37 of its 289 points coming from underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) this season. Four of the team's five losses occurred at Hobbs Ice Center, including shutouts in two of its last three home games (Feb. 8 vs. St. Scholastica, March 2 vs. St. Norbert).
CONFERENCE MVP'S SQUARE OFF: Wednesday's game will be a battle between two of the nation's top goaltenders. The first freshman to earn MIAC Men's Hockey Player of the Year honors, Soley is currently fifth in NCAA Division III with a 1.71 GAA and tied for eighth with a .931 save percentage overall. His 15 wins (15-4-1 overall) are a school record for a freshman, surpassing Mark Ketzner's total of 12 (12-8-1 record) in 1993-94. He led the MIAC with a 1.33 GAA, .945 save percentage and a .731 winning percentage (9-3-1 record) in 14 conference games. For Eau Claire, senior goaltender Brandon Stephenson was named the 2013 NCHA Player of the Year after posting a 14-3-1 record en route to the first outright conference championship in school history. In 18 conference starts, Stephenson led the NCHA with a .930 save percentage, while finishing second in GAA (2.10). He is 18-4-2 with a .928 save percentage and a 2.18 GAA in 24 games overall.
OPPOSITE ROSTERS: The first-round matchup features a pair of rosters that are quite different in makeup. SJU has one Division I transfer, junior goaltender Mitch Thompson (Onalaska, Wis.) from Wisconsin, as opposed to Eau Claire's seven. The Johnnies also have 14 players that came directly to Collegeville from high schools. Each one of the 28 Blugolds either transferred in from a different institution or played junior hockey.
COBBED: The Blugolds followed their 5-1 victory over SJU Jan. 4 with a 2-1 overtime loss at home to Concordia-Moorhead the following night. The Johnnies defeated the Cobbers three times this season, including a series sweep (2-1, 3-1) Jan. 18-19 in Moorhead and a 5-1 win at home in the MIAC playoff semifinals Feb. 23.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Johnnies cracked the top-15 nationally for the first time since the first two weeks of the season, at No. 14, in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com polls released March 4. The Blugolds fell from second to fourth in both sets of rankings.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 2-7 in their last nine meetings with UWEC, including losses in each of the last five, and 2-7 all-time against the Blugolds in Eau Claire.
