Naturals Host Pair of NCAA Division 3 Junior Varsity Hockey Teams
Posted on Nov. 20, 2009
The Naturals, Northwestern Health Sciences University’s club hockey team, host St. Mary’s University and St. John’s University in a pair of games in the next three days. Northwestern plays the St. Mary’s University junior varsity at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, on Rink 1 at Bloomington Ice Garden (BIG). The Naturals will host St. John’s University junior varsity team on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5:15 p.m. at BIG.
The Naturals were in Yankton, South Dakota, last weekend for a pair of American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) games against the University of South Dakota (USD). Northwestern posted 4-1 and 12-1 wins against the Coyotes, and totaled an amazing 133 shots on goal in the two games.
Both St. John’s and St. Mary’s play in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Association. St. Mary’s varsity team is 1-5 this year and was 4-20-1 last season. St. John’s varsity team is 2-3-1 this season and was 10-14-1 last season. St. Mary’s JV team was beaten 4-1 by the Minnesota Ice Hawks, a junior hockey team in Minnesota, in their only game this season. St. John’s JV’s share two common opponents with Northwestern – Gustavus Adolphus JVs and South Dakota State University’s ACHA club team – this season. The Naturals lost to Gustavus 10-2 on Oct. 31, while St. John’s JV lost to the Gusties 6-2 a week later. St. John’s plays South Dakota State University (SDSU) on Nov. 21 in St. Cloud. Northwestern swept SDSU 9-5 and 5-4 to open their season at home in mid-October.
“This will be a good test of our hockey program,” said Steve Dus, the Naturals’ head coach. “I don’t think we were ready when we played Gustavus Adolphus, but we will be ready this weekend.”
CLUB NEWS & NOTES
Top Point Scorers: Forward Jake Bohnen took over the overall Naturals’ points lead (14 points) with an outstanding weekend in Yankton, South Dakota. Bohnen had a four-goal game in the 12-1 win and totaled 8 points in the two games. Forward Matt Miller moved into second in points with 10 after scoring two goals and getting an assist in the two games. Aaron Howe had the second-highest point total among Northwestern players against the Coyotes, notching three goals and a pair of assists.(For a complete list of Northwestern players who have scored points this season, go to the chart below.) Net News: Northwestern’s goalie, Nick Ongaro, picked up his second assist of the season on a goal by Bohnen in the 12-1 win against USD. Ongaro gave up just a pair of goals in the two games, lowering his ACHA goals-against-average to 3.83. Against the Coyotes, Ongaro had a save percentage of 95.3 percent. Injury Report: Defenseman Jeff Bjorklund (knee) was back in the lineup against USD after missing almost three games. He picked up a pair of assists in Yankton and was praised by Head Coach Steve Dus for his solid play on defense. He will see limited action this weekend. Next Opponent: The Naturals host Palmer College of Chiropractic on Dec. 4 and 5. The late games – 10:30 p.m. on Friday and 9:45 p.m. on Saturday – will both be on Rink 3 at Bloomington Ice Garden. Palmer played in the ACHA several years ago, but this year is just playing a few games as a non-ACHA team.
NATURALS STATISTICS
Player Goals Assists Points
Jake Bohnen 9 5 14
Matt Miller 6 4 10
Giles Stifter 1 8 9
Zach Lundbohm 6 3 9
Chris Trimner 6 3 9
Aaron Howe 5 4 9
Drew Fautsch - 7 7
Dan Cianni 1 4 5
Nick Moe 1 3 4
Cassidy Quinton 2 1 3
Andrew Erlandson 1 1 2
Mike Modich 1 1 2
Adam Garcia 1 1 1
Jeff Bjorklund - 2 2
Nick Ongaro - 2 2
Tom Policano - 1 1