SJU Beats Augsburg at Hockey Day MN, Gophers Rout Michigan State

The St. John's University hockey team made a thrilling Hockey Day Minnesota debut with a come-from-behind overtime win, the St. Cloud State University women's hockey team and Gopher men's hockey teams notched shutout wins, and the Gopher women's hockey team, St. Cloud Norsemen, and Granite City Lumberjacks all kicked off the weekend with a win Friday. Meanwhile, the St. Cloud State men's hockey team fell in Duluth and Augustana proved to be too much for the SCSU basketball teams. On Saturday, the St. John's and St. Ben's basketball teams will host St. Olaf, the CSB hockey team will close out the series against Augsburg, the Gopher men's basketball team will face Northwestern on the road, and the Minnesota Wild will host Buffalo as part of the Hockey Day Minnesota celebration.

RECAPS:

- The SJU hockey team beat Augsburg 5-4 in OT in their first Hockey Day Minnesota appearance in White Bear Lake Friday. The thrilling matchup was the first-ever MIAC game to be added to the festivities. SJU scored first and led 2-1 after the opening period. Augsburg tied it up in the second and pulled ahead twice in the third. The Auggies nearly put the game away with a score at the 15:39 mark in the final frame, but Nick Michel slid one in for the Johnnies to tie the game up and send it to overtime. Gavin Holland led all scorers with three goals for Augsburg. Auggie Moore led St. John's with two goals. The Johnnies improve to 11-7-2, 7-3-1 MIAC, and the Auggies fall to 9-8-1, 5-4 MIAC. The teams will finish out the weekend series at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Saturday. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The no. 15 SCSU women's hockey team shut out Bemidji State 2-0 to open the weekend. Addi Scribner and Jenniina Nylund each netted one for St. Cloud, while JoJo Chobak made a perfect 32 saves. The Huskies improve to 14-14, 7-14 WCHA, and the Beavers fall to 4-22-1, 1-20 WCHA. St. Cloud leads the season series 3-0. The teams will play the finale at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

- The no. 2 Gopher men's hockey team routed no. 15 Michigan State with an 8-0 shutout win Friday. Eight different players scored for Minnesota in the win. Justen Close made a perfect 21 saves. The Gophers improve to 19-7-1, 13-3-1 B1G, and the Spartans fall to 13-12-2, 7-8-2 B1G. Minnesota now leads the season series 3-0. The teams will close out the weekend with game two in Minneapolis at 4:00 p.m. Saturday.

- The no. 3 Gopher women's hockey team extended their win streak to 11 games with a 3-1 win over no. 6 UMD on the road Friday. Abbey Murphy led all scorers with two goals for Minnesota. Skylar Vetter made 31 saves and allowed one goal. The Gophers are now 21-3-2, 18-1-2-2 B1G, and the Bulldogs drop to 19-7-1, 13-7-1 B1G. Minnesota leads the series 3-0 this season. The teams will close out the series with a matchup on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

- The Lumberjacks opened the weekend with an 8-2 beatdown of the Willmar WarHawks. Willmar got on the board first with two goals in the opening period, and Granite City responded with eight unanswered goals of their own. The Jacks out shot the WarHawks 46-28 in the win. Coby Weber led all scorers with two goals for Granite City. The Lumberjacks improve to 29-3-0-1. The team will continue their weekend road trip Saturday with a visit to Alexandria to face the Blizzard at 7:10 p.m.

- The Norsemen got a much-needed win, topping North Iowa 4-3 at home on Friday. Four different players lit the lamp for St. Cloud. The Norsemen improve to 16-16-2-2 and remain in sixth place in the Central Division. The Bulls fall to 17-16-2 and have dropped down into fifth place. The three-game series will continue Saturday at 7:10 p.m.

- The Timberwolves outscored the Grizzlies in all four quarters to earn a 111-100 win at home Friday night. Ja Morant led all scorers with 27 points for Memphis, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 25. The Wolves improve to 26-25 and will host the Kings Saturday night. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The no.1 SCSU men's hockey team came up short 5-3 against UMD to open up the weekend series in Duluth Friday night. Ben Steeves led all scorers with three goals for the Bulldogs. Adam Ingram led St. Cloud with two goals. The Huskies fall to 18-7, 10-5 NCHC, and UMD improves to 11-13-1, 6-9 NCHC. The teams will close out the weekend series with game two on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

- The SCSU men's basketball team was routed 90-66 by Augustana on Friday. St. Cloud stumbled in the first half, trailing 42-22 at the break, and could not make up that ground in the second half. Jadan Graves led all scorers with 18 points for the Vikings. Joe Mutimer and Kevin Cook each netted 12 for SCSU. The Huskies drop to 7-13, 4-11 NSIC, and will look to snap their four-game losing streak when they host Wayne State on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.

- The SCSU women's basketball team snapped a five-game winning streak, falling to Augustana 66-48 at home on Friday. St. Cloud trailed 18-11 after the opening quarter, but tripped up in the second to fall behind 37-20 at the half. Michaela Jewett led all scorers with 17 points. Jada Eggebrecht was the only player to reach double digits for St. Cloud. The Huskies fall to 14-5 and 11-4 NSIC. The team will have the chance to rebound from the loss when they host Wayne State at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

PREVIEW:

- The SJU basketball team (11-6, 8-4 MIAC) will look to win back-to-back games when they host St. Olaf (12-6, 8-5 MIAC) on Saturday. The Johnnies lost to the Oles 73-62 on the road back in November. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. in Collegeville.

- The CSB basketball team (13-4, 10-4 MIAC) will host St. Olaf (8-9, 5-9 MIAC) in a conference matchup on Saturday. The Bennies beat the Oles 63-59 in overtime in Northfield back in November. Tip-off for the season series finale is set for 3:00 p.m.

- The CSB hockey team (9-7, 7-4 MIAC) will close out the series against Augsburg (11-5-2, 8-2-1 MIAC) with game two on Saturday. The Bennies fell 2-1 at home on Thursday and will now have to face the Auggies on the road. Puck-drop is set for 2:00 p.m. in Minneapolis.

- The Gopher men's basketball team (7-12, 1-8 B1G) will look to snap a four-game losing streak when they visit Northwestern (14-5, 5-3 B1G) for a Saturday morning matchup. Minnesota is 101-70 all-time against the Wildcats, but just 38-45 at Northwestern. Pre-game coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The Wild (26-17-4) will host the Sabres (26-19-3) Saturday night as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. The Wild dropped a close one 6-5 in OT to Buffalo on the road just three weeks ago. Pre-game coverage starts at 7:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.