Posted by: Feldman
Lots of games and not much time (3 minutes to be exact) before games begin today. So let's get right to it.
The 6-1-0 JM Rockets passed one test Thursday night by beating Northfield in a battle of teams that were unbeaten in conference play. Today, the Rockets have a bigger test — at home against St. Paul Academy, the No. 7-ranked team in Class A.
Century faces Chanhassen — two teams who could face each other in the Kiwanis Festival — at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The Panthers have a three-game winning streak and a two-game shutout streak going.
And Mayo concludes its Up-North roadie with a game at the historic Hippodrome in Eveleth against Eveleth-Gilbert.
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TODAY'S GAMES
ST. PAUL ACADEMY at ROCHESTER JM
3 p.m., Rochester Rec Center
Records: SPA 4-3-0 overall (ranked No. 7 in Class A); JM 6-1-0 overall
Coaches: SPA, Matt Funk; JM, Jay Ness
Last meeting: SPA beat JM 6-1 on Jan. 31, 2015, at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
Last game: SPA lost to No. 2-ranked Breck 6-0 last Saturday; JM defeated Northfield 5-3 on Thursday.
Team leaders: SPA-- Jack Johnston 6-6--12; Matt Dahlseide 5-6--11; Justin Jallen 6-4--10; G Andy Beran 4-3-0, 3.09 GAA, 887 save pct. JM-- Isaac Lamppa 10-6--16; Brady Dahl 6-9--15; Josh Frerks 4-7--11; G Brady Meyers 6-1-0, 1.78 GAA, .933 save pct.
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Notes: SPA is ranked No. 7 in the state in Class A. ... JM's victory over Northfield on Thursday leaves it as the only unbeaten team in Big Nine Conference play. ... The Rockets' lone loss this season is a 3-2 OT loss at Spring Lake Park. ... SPA's three losses this season came against Bloomington Kennedy, No. 4-A Mahtomedi and No. 2-A Breck. ... JM concludes its challenging pre-Christmas stretch with games at rival Rochester Century onTuesday and at No. 17-ranked Farmington on Wednesday.
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CHANHASSEN at ROCHESTER CENTURY
7 p.m., Rochester Rec Center
Records: Chanhassen 5-3-0 overall; Century 4-4-0 overall.
Coaches: Chanhassen, Chris Wilson; Century, Josh Klingfus
Last meeting: Chanhassen and Century tied 2-2 on Dec. 13, 2014, at the Victoria Rec Center.
Last game: Chanhassen lost to No. 14-AA Minnetonka 6-3 on Tuesday; Century shut out Winona 7-0 on Thursday.
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Team leaders: CHAN-- Jake Theis 9-5--14; Eric Worre 4-7--11; G Taylor Thompson 4-2-0, 2.84 GAA, .901 save pct. CENT-- Will Zmolek 4-6--10; Eric St. Marie 5-3--8; Nick Aney 4-2--6; Ben Haas 1-5--6; G Cole Walter 4-2-0, 2.50 GAA, .886 save pct.
Notes: Walter has backstopped the Panthers to back-to-back shutouts. He has allowed two or less goals in four of his six starts. ... Zmolek has four points in the past three games. ... Chanhassen returns to Rochester in nine days to play in the Kiwanis Festival. ... Two of Chanhassen's three losses have come against ranked teams -- No. 14-AA Minnetonka and No. 6-A Delano/Rockford.
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ROCHESTER MAYO at EVELETH-GILBERT
2 p.m., Hippodrome, Eveleth
Records: Mayo 4-4-0 overall; E-G 3-5-1 overall.
Coaches: Mayo, Lorne Grosso; E-G, Jeff Torrel.
Last meeting: Mayo and E-G tied 1-1 on Jan. 10, 2015, at Graham Arena I.
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Last game: Mayo lost at No. 16-A Hibbing/Chisholm 9-2 on Friday; E-G lost to Albert Lea 5-3 on Friday.
Team leaders: MAYO-- Anthony Oliveto 4-11--15; Veikko Weckman 10-5--15; Max Billings 7-1--8; G Liam Claton 3-2-0, 3.41 GAA, .866 save pct. E-G-- Nick Przybylski 9-11--20; Cody Hendrickson 11-8--19; Aaron Koivunen 1-13--14; G Thomas Koskela 2-2-0, 3.96 GAA, .865 save pct.; G Danny Niemi 1-3-1, 4.83, .846.
Notes: Mayo has lost two consecutive games since a four-game winning streak. ... The Spartans play at Hastings on Tuesday in their final game before a short Christmas break. ... Eveleth-Gilbert is 0-3-1 in its past four games, after going 3-1-0 in its previous four. ... E-G's Przybylski has 11 points in the past five games.
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AREA GAMES
• Bagley/Fosston (1-6-0) at Austin (0-6-1), 1 p.m., Riverside Arena: Austin is still looking for its first win of the season, coming off an 8-2 loss to Mankato East on Thursday. ... The Packers are led by senior F Dan Bollingberg(6-0--6) and G Noah Bawek(0-5-1, 2.90 GAA, .876 save pct.). ... B/F made a more than 350-mile trip to play Dodge County and Austin this weekend. Fosston is approximately halfway between Grand Forks, N.D., and Bemidji on US Highway 2.
• Red Wing (4-1-0 Big Nine, 4-5-0 overall) at Mankato East (2-4-0, 3-6-0), 7:30 p.m., All Seasons Arena: East has won two consecutive games after starting the season 1-6-0. ... The Cougars are led by senior F Judd Schulz, one of the top scorers in the Big Nine (8-8--16). ... Red Wing is led by senior F Tyler DeFore, one of the leading goal-scorers in the state (12-2--14). DeFore's 12 goals tie him for 11th in the state. ... The Wingers are 0-4-0 in non-conference play and have been outscored 22-6 in those four games.
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AROUND THE STATE
• No. 2-AA Eden Prairie (6-1-0) vs. No. 5-AA Edina (6-3-0), 8:30 p.m., Braemar, Edina: The second game of a star-studded double-header at Braemar features two of the top five teams in the state. Edina showed its strengths at both ends on Friday, shutting out No. 13 Elk River 4-0, while E.P. beat No. 9 Grand Rapids 6-3. E.P. and Edina are scheduled to meet twice more this season: Jan. 28 at Eden Prairie and again in the regular-season finale, Feb. 13 at Edina.
• No. 13-AA Elk River/Zimmerman vs. No. 9 Grand Rapids, 6 p.m., Braemar, Edina: Grand Rapids looks to get back on track after losing two of its past three against tough opponents. Elk River looks to snap a three-game losing skid.
