Box Score The Piper men's hockey team took advantage of opportunities presented to grab an early lead and go on to defeat St. John's, 5-2, Friday night at Oscar Johnson Arena. Russ Jordan added two more goals to league-leading total of eight with Mitch McPherson, Brandon Wahlin and Chad Hennum adding solos as HU avenged a loss at St. Cloud the night before and improved to 5-1-2 overall, 3-1-0 in the MIAC. 

The opportunity came in the first seven minutes of play. St. John's was assessed a five-minute major and Hamline's  Dan Bartkowiak was given a minor on the same play at 4:13. When Bartkowiak got back on the ice, HU had a three-minute power play. McPherson was the beneficiary of a pair of nifty passes from Mitch Hall and Wahlin for a marker. to open the scoring Later in the same period, Jordan also scored on a power play and the Pipers had a fast 2-0 edge. 

Wahlin pushed it to 3-0 in the first minute of the second period and Hennum (5) chased SJU goalie Tyler Nelson when he swept his own rebound home at 5:08. The Johnnies came back, however, for a pair of goals later in the period and it was 4-2 entering the final 20 minutes. 

The Piper defense stiffened and held the visitors to just four shots on goal in the period. Jordan put the game on ice with an empty netter in the late going. Hamline outshot St. John's, 35-23, for the game. Justin Quale recorded 21 saves for the win in goal.

The Piper have only a couple of days to relish the decision. They face Wis-Superior on Tuesday, November 22 at Oscar Johnson Arena. It's a rematch of game that saw Hamline get three third period goals in a 5-1 win at Wessman Arena last weekend. Game time on Tuesday is 7:00 p.m.