This past weekend we had our first traditional back-to-back MIAC matchup with St. Olaf. We played down at St. Olaf on Friday night and then back at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud on Saturday afternoon. This turned out to be a Jekyll-and-Hyde weekend for us in that we did not play well on Friday and lost 3-1 with an empty-net goal against at St. Olaf, but came back and played our best game of the year at home and got the 4-2 win.
On Friday night, we were simply too inconsistent with our effort and compete level. We were playing a very perimeter game and did not do the things necessary to get the win. In the MIAC, if you do not compete, you will not win. It does not matter who you are playing in this league and that is what makes this league so great, but at the same time so challenging.
On Saturday, we watched some video, had some serious talks about what it was going to take to win in this league, and responded with our best performance of the season. The boys came out and put up 55 shots on St. Olaf, and to be honest, the score was closer than the game really showed. I felt like we dominated the majority of the game and really played a complete game as a group. I was proud of the guys and their ability to respond after a tough game the night before.
Moving forward, we are headed to eastern Wisconsin for a two-game weekend against NCHA opponents Marian (Friday night at 7 p.m.) and Concordia (Saturday at 2 p.m.). We are going to use this weekend to bond as a team and are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving together on our way out to Fond du Lac, WI. We are staying Thursday night at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. This resort is owned and operated by a SJU alum and his family, Jeff Kaminski. Jeff is setting us up with a great Thanksgiving meal, water park passes for Thursday night and a great rate on the rooms. It is always fun to make these connections with alumni and it seems that they are always excited to help whenever possible.
Concordia is nationally ranked at #15 and Marian has won some big games this year against very high-level teams. This is going to be a great challenge for our team while seeing how we stack up against other Western Division III opponents. These games are huge for SJU, as well as the MIAC. We need to continue to have success with the hopes of getting more respect in the West with hosting some NCAA Tournament contests and possibly getting two teams in the tournament, which has not happened in a long time.
I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and while you are spending it with your families, we will be spending it with our second family…the SJU Hockey TEAM.
