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Saturday, January 31, 2004 |
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(Through Froday, January 30) |
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Kevin Willey scored two goals and added an assist in leading the Johnnies to their sixth straight win, a 4-1 decision over SMU on Friday. |
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Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) has now recorded at least one point in 10 of his last 11 games. … Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) and Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.) share the team lead in goals (11), while Hofmann is the team-leader in assists (16) and points (27). … SJU has now won three straight vs. SMU. The Cardinals’ last win vs. the Johnnies was a 4-3 OT win on Feb. 2, 2002. |
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WINONA, Minn. — According to the pollsters at U.S. College Hockey Online, St. John's is the sixth-best team in all of NCAA Division III.
Friday evening at the SMU Ice Arena, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team got a firsthand look at just why the Johnnies are among the nation's best.
SJU scored single goals in the first and second periods, then broke the game open with two goals in the third, as the Johnnies extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over the Cardinals at the SMU Ice Arena.
"First of all, you have to give St. John's credit, they are a very talented team that plays their systems extremely well," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team had its two-game winning streak snapped with the loss. "But, on the other hand, it certainly wasn't our best effort — and I don't know why.
"You would think a big game like this, in front of your home crowd, you would just be flying out there — but we weren't," continued Olson. "We played a little nervous early on, and I think we didn't play with the same confidence we did (last weekend in a sweep of Augsburg)."
Kevin Willey got the Johnnies (6-1-0 MIAC, 12-3-1 overall) on the board midway through the first period, scoring his 10th of the season when he banged in his own rebound past SMU goalie Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.).
The Johnnies made it 2-0 with the lone goal of the second period, a shot by Andy Johnson that beat Nosal to the glove side.
SMU cut the gap to 2-1 at 6:48 of the third period when Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) beat SJU goalie Adam Hanna to the short-side on the powerplay. SMU's comeback was quickly silenced, however, as Willey netted his second of the game three minutes later, and Scott Bjorklund added a shorthanded goal just a minute after that to ice the win for the Johnnies.
"The key for us now is to bounce back — we have to come back (Saturday) and play better than we did tonight," said Olson, whose team falls to 5-4-0 in the MIAC and 10-7-1 overall with the loss. "If we can come away with a win (Saturday), get the two points and the split, it will have been a good weekend for us.
"But to do that , we're going to need to pick it up a notch or two."