Johnnies pull away from Lawrence with big third period

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. John’s University hockey team scored four times in the third period Sunday to pull away for a 6-1 nonconference win over Lawrence University at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

St. John’s (5-4-1) was clinging to a 2-1 lead through two periods, but the Johnnies scored three times in the first 9:55 of the third to seal the win. St. John’s added a goal in the final minutes for the final margin.

The Johnnies led 2-0 in the second when Lane King scored on the power play for the Vikings (3-5-0) with 5:34 left in the period.

Evan Okeley pushed the lead to 3-1 with a goal just 3:41 into the final period. Sam Valerius then scored his second goal of the game at the 6:25 mark to give St. John’s a 4-1 edge.

Cole Suoto and Matt Colford added power-play tallies to finish the scoring. St. John’s went 4-for-5 on the power play, and the Vikings were 1-for-4.

Andrew Lindgren made 22 saves to pick up the win, and Mattias Soderqvist stopped 40 shots for the Vikings.

Box score