Johnnies Pound Carleton in Homecoming Win, Huskies Sweep BSU

The University of Minnesota men's and women's hockey teams earned shutout wins to remain undefeated on the season, the St. Cloud State University women's hockey team shut out St. Thomas to complete the weekend sweep, the St. Cloud Norsemen and Granite City Lumberjacks both earned home wins, and the Minnesota Timberwolves made it three in a row in the preseason on Saturday. Meanwhile, the St. Cloud State men's hockey team was swept and nearly shut out by MSU-Mankato, the NDSU football team was crushed by UND, and the Minnesota Wild fell to Toronto. On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings will visit the Bears in their first NFC North matchup of the season.

RECAPS:

- The no. 14/15 SCSU women's hockey team swept Bemidji State University 3-0 at home Saturday to earn their third straight win. After a scoreless first period, CC Bowlby got St. Cloud on the board 1-0 in the second. Dayle Ross and Alice Sauriol each added one in the third to ensure the win. Sanni Ashola made 17 saves to earn her third straight shutout, giving her the longest streak in program history. The win marks Head Coach Brian Idalski's 300th career victory. The Huskies improve to 5-1 which also marks the best start to a season in the team's history. St. Cloud will face a tough test on Tuesday when they visit the Gophers (4-0) in Minneapolis. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The Gopher men's hockey team shut out the Tommies 3-0 on Saturday to earn their first weekend sweep of the season. No players lit the lamp in the opening period, but late in the second Jimmy Snuggerud found the back of the net for Minnesota. Midway through the third, he added a second one. Late in regulation, Brody Lamb slid one more in for the Gophers. Justen Close made 24 stops and secured his 10th career shutout. The Gophers improve to 2-0 and will visit the University of North Dakota for two next week. Puck drop for game one is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday in Grand Forks.

- The Gopher women's hockey team stayed undefeated with a 4-0 shutout win to sweep St. Thomas on Saturday. Neither team scored in the first two periods, but Minnesota found a groove and the back of the net four times in the fourth to lock up the win. Emma Kreisz, Nelli Laitinen, Josefin Bouveng, and Abbey Murphy each scored once for the Gophers. Lucy Morgan secured her first shutout of the season and the team's third with 16 saves. The Gophers roll to 4-0 and will host St. Cloud State in a single game on Tuesday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. in Minneapolis.

- The no. 8 Johnnies routed Carleton 63-7 in a homecoming matchup in Collegeville Saturday afternoon. St. John's pushed out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. The Knights scored their first and only touchdown of the day in the second but let the Johnnies have their run of the field. At the half, SJU led 42-7. The home team scored two more touchdowns in the third and one in the fourth to cap off a dominant performance. Aaron Syverson completed 31 of 42 passing attempts for 448 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception. Dylan Wheeler had 14 catches for 205 yards and three touchdowns. The Johnnies improve to 5-1, 4-0 MIAC and now sit atop the MIAC Northwoods Division. SJU will travel to St. Peter to face divisional opponent Gustavus (3-3-, 2-2 MIAC) on Saturday. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

-The Norsemen shut out the Bobcats 1-0 at home on Saturday to earn the weekend sweep. Hagen Moe scored the lone goal for St. Cloud in the first period. Ryan Manzella made a perfect 31 saves in the win. The Norsemen improve to 5-3-1-2 and move up another spot in the standings to third in the Central Division behind the Bruins (8-2) and Wings (5-4-1-2). St. Cloud will visit the fourth place Minotauros (6-2) next week. Puck drop for game one is set for 7:35 p.m. Friday in Minot.

- The Lumberjacks blew out the Loons 10-2 at home on Saturday. Granite City scored two to take a solid lead in the first period. The Lumberjacks extended that lead to 4-0 early in the second, gave up one to the Loons, and netted one more to close out the middle frame up 5-1. The hot offensive performance for Granite City continued in the third, with the team scoring four straight, giving up one, and then sliding in one late to lock up the win. Tommy Woods and Jack Louko each scored two goals for the home team. Granite City outshot the Loons 52-8. The Jacks move to 5-4-0-1 and will host Mason City (7-3) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

- The Timberwolves beat the Knicks 121-112 on the road in their third preseason matchup of the year on Saturday. The score stayed close through much of the game. New York led 30-28 after one, but Minnesota rallied in the second to lead 57-54 at the break. The Knicks made up some ground in the third, tying things up 84-84. Then the Timberwolves used a strong push in the fourth, outscoring New York 37-28, to close it out with a win. Naz Reid led Minnesota with 22 points, while Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 17. The Wolves are now 3-0 in the preseason. The team will play their fourth and final exhibition game on the road against the Bulls on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The SCSU men's hockey team struggled in a 5-1 loss to Mankato on the road Saturday. The Mavericks netted the first goal of the day late in the first period to take the lead. MSU extended their lead to 3-0 with back-to-back goals early in the second. With less than five minutes left in the third, Kyler Kupka scored the first and only goal for St. Cloud to avoid the shutout, but any attempt to rally was quickly quelled when Mankato slid in two empty net goals. Dominic Basse made 11 saves and allowed three goals in the first two periods and Isak Posch made 14 saves in the final two periods. The Huskies fall to 1-3 and will look to turn things around when they host Alaska Fairbanks next week. Puck drop for game one is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

- The no. 6/7 Bison lost their second game of the season 49-24 against no. 15 University of North Dakota. UND returned the opening kick-off 100 yards for a touchdown to earn a 7-0 lead. From there, the Fighting Hawks never relinquished their lead over NDSU. North Dakota State's offense was uncharacteristically quiet, with Cam Miller completing 11 of 16 for 175 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and adding nine carries for 48 yards and one rushing touchdown. The Bison drop to 4-2 on the season and will look to get back to the win column when they host Western Illinois on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

- The Wild suffered their first loss of the season 7-4 on the road against Toronto on Saturday. Both teams scored in every period. The Maple Leafs led 3-1 after one. By the end of the second Minnesota closed the gap to 4-3, but Toronto outscored the Wild 3-1 in the third to win it. Matt Boldy, Brandon Duhaime, Ryan Hartman, and Marco Rossi each netted one for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves and allowed seven goals. The Wild drop to 1-1 and will visit the Canadiens on Tuesday. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. in Montreal.

PREVIEWS:

- The Vikings (1-4) will visit the Chicago Bears (1-4) on Sunday. Minnesota will be without Justin Jefferson who is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, but the only other player with a designation is Kene Nwangwu who is listed as questionable. Chicago however, will be without five players including running backs Khalil Herbert, Travis Homer, and Roschon Johnson. Both teams currently sit at the bottom of the division standings and could use a win. Pre-game coverage starts at 11:00 a.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.