The Johnnie soccer team travels to take on MIAC-leading St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. match this Saturday, Oct. 13, in St. Paul.
Preview Video:
-Head coach John Haws (0:35)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Sophomore Ian Scudder (Sherwood, Ore.) tallied a hat trick, his first career multi-goal game, as the Johnnies earned a 5-0 win at Bethel Oct. 10 in Arden Hills. Scudder gave SJU (6-5-2, 3-2-0 MIAC) an early 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season 12:07 into the match. Sophomores Zane Heinselman (River Falls, Wis.) and Josh Whitaker (Milwaukie, Ore.) assisted on the scoring play. Junior Michael Coborn (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) made it 2-0 with his third goal of the year 5:40 later, with another assist going to Whitaker. Scudder increased SJU's lead to 3-0 with his second goal of the afternoon 9:37 into the second half, with assists going to Heinselman and sophomore David Wee (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake). Freshman Victor Perez (Inglewood, Calif./Verbum Dei) recorded his first collegiate goal at the 84:04 mark, assisted by Coborn, before Scudder wrapped up the hat trick with an unassisted tally 1:15 later. The hat trick is the first for a Johnnie since Coborn tallied three goals against Macalester on Oct. 26, 2010. Bethel earned a red card with 27:32 left and played the rest of the match a man short on the field. Freshman Kevin Lebahn (New Hope, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) made two saves in the first half to earn the win and improve to 3-4-0 on the season. Junior Ryan Brutger (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) played a flawless second half to share the shutout. SJU out-shot the Royals 18-5 in the match, including a 10-2 margin on goal.
GAME-WINNING BALANCE: All six of the Johnnies' game-winning goals have been scored by different players, all six of which are in order of the team's leading scorers: Coborn/Scudder/Wee (13 points), Heinselman (11 points), Whitaker (six points) and junior defender Joe Balder (four points; Stillwater, Minn.).
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (10-2-2, 6-0 MIAC) defeated Macalester with a pair of late goals, 90 seconds apart, for a 2-1 win Oct. 10. The win over the Scots is the Tommies' sixth in a row. Rapisarda leads the Tommies with 22 points (10g/2a), followed by Enderson and Alex Bernhardt with 15 points apiece. Mitchell Wolff is 9-0-1 with a 0.51 GAA and a .821 save percentage in goal this fall.
LAST FALL: The Tommies scored three goals in the second half to defeat SJU 4-2 last Oct. 19. UST scored goals on each of its first two shots on net, nearly 42 minutes apart. MacAlister Enderson gave UST an early 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season 7:51 into the match. Sam Hautman '12 tied the game with his first collegiate goal at the 49:19 mark of the match. Following a UST foul, Hautman lobbed a deadball kick over the out-stretched keeper. The swing in momentum didn't last long, however, as UST's Robert Courtney gave the lead back to the visitors 27 seconds later. Nick Rapisarda added a pair of goals in the 75th and 85th minutes to increase the lead to 4-1. Wee added an unassisted goal, his second of the year, with 2:33 remaining. Brutger made seven saves, all in the second half, in the loss. SJU out-shot the Tommies 23-18, though UST held an 11-10 advantage on goal (10-6 in the second half alone).
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 20-12-4 all-time against UST since 1979, including a 10-7-1 record in St. Paul. SJU, however, is 0-4-1 in its last five meetings with the Tommies.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: The Tommies were ranked fourth in the latest National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) North Region rankings released Oct. 9. Loras (Iowa) received the top spot, followed by Wisconsin-Platteville and Carleton. Augsburg (No. 5) and Gustavus Adolphus (No. 6) were also listed among MIAC schools.
