The Saint John's soccer team opens the 2012 season with a 4 p.m. match at Minnesota-Morris this Friday, Aug. 31. The Johnnies return home to host No. 19 Luther (Iowa) for a 4:30 p.m. contest on Sunday, Sept. 2, at Clemens Stadium. - Live Stats (Luther)
Preview Videos:
-Head coach John Haws (1:35)
-Juniors Balder & Laue (0:52)
SEASON PREVIEW: A lot of great things have happened to the Saint John's University soccer team since February. The Johnnies hope that trend carries right through the 2012 season.
Last February, Coborn's Inc. announced a $400,000 gift to Saint John's for a new soccer field in honor of Pat Haws, retired SJU head soccer coach. Construction on Haws Field began in May. Key features of the new Haws Field will include a natural grass playing surface (sand-peat topsoil blend) and permanent team dugouts, as well as berms around the field for spectators to watch the game from.
To top it off, the new field's namesake returns to the Johnnies as the junior varsity coach this fall in what will be his 33rd season with the SJU soccer program. Haws retired as head soccer coach in the summer of 2010, following 37 years with the SJU athletic department. The winningest coach in Minnesota college men's soccer history, Haws guided the Johnnies to a 341-140-50 (.689) record and a 218-77-31 (.716) MIAC record with seven regular-season conference titles and one MIAC playoff championship to his credit.
In May, four Johnnies and Haws were members of the 2012 USA Division III All-Star team that competed in Brazil. Junior midfielders Joe Balder (Stillwater, Minn.) and Matt Carson (Waconia, Minn.), junior defender Calvin Koep (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) and sophomore defender Austin Parker (Beaverton, Ore./Southridge) played on the 14-member team, which went 1-2-1 against top U-22 club teams from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Going into the 2012 season, things look downright rosy on the pitch for the Johnnies.
SJU returns its top six scorers, and seven of its top nine. Overall, the Johnnies return 26 goals and 86 percent of last season's points scored. Third-year head coach John Haws needs to replace only two graduated seniors from 2011.
The Johnnies faced the second strongest schedule in the region and still finished the 2011 soccer season with a 9-8 overall record and a 4-6 mark in the MIAC, including a 1-2 record against the conference's top three teams. SJU defeated MIAC Playoff Champion St. Olaf 1-0, and only trailed by three minutes and 39 seconds in two overtime losses to Carleton (2-1) Sept. 17 and Gustavus Adolphus (2-1 in double overtime) Sept. 24.
Here's a look at the 2012 Johnnies, by position:
Forwards
The Johnnies return a trio of forwards in sophomores Zane Heinselman (River Falls, Wis.), Ian Scudder (Sherwood, Ore.) and David Wee (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake), who all made quite a splash as freshmen last fall. Wee was named to the All-MIAC second team after finishing second on the team in assists (4) and shots-on goal (14), and fourth with eight points (2g/4a). Heinselman and Scudder, meanwhile, tied for second on the team with 10 points apiece. Heinselman tallied four goals and two assists, while Scudder collected three goals, all three of which were game-winners, with four assists.
Midfielders
Junior Michael Coborn (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) is expected to once again lead a strong group of versatile midfielders in 2012. Coborn earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-North Region third-team honors after leading SJU in goals (10), assists (10), points (30), shots (54) and shots-on-goal (35) for the second consecutive season. He also led the MIAC (all games) in assists and was second in points. A two-time All-MIAC pick, Coborn's 2011 season point total is the fourth-most by a Johnnie since 1979.
SJU also returns Balder, Carson and senior Andrew Johnson (St. Louis Park, Minn.). Balder started all 17 matches for the Johnnies and finished the season with seven points (2g/3) and one game-winning goal. Carson and Johnson added seven (3g/1a) and four (1g/2a) points, respectively, while appearing in all 17 matches.
Defense
Haws once again returns a deep backline in 2012 that includes Koep, Parker, senior Ryan Fuchs (St. Michael, Minn./Rogers); juniors Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) and Elliott Olsen (East Bethel, Minn./St. Francis); and sophomore Josh Whitaker (Milwaukie, Ore.).
A two-time Academic All-MIAC selection, Fuchs played in 14 games for the Johnnies and collected one assist on the year. Fuchs returns to the lineup after studying abroad in South Africa last spring. Laue started all 17 matches but did not record a point, while Olsen and Whitaker appeared in 12 matches and collected two assists apiece. Koep and Parker were held scoreless in 13 and seven matches, respectively.
SJU needs to replace its only field player lost to graduation, defender Sam Hautman '12. Hautman bounced back after missing all of the 2010 season due to an ankle injury and tallied two goals while earning All-MIAC second-team honors in 2011.
Goalkeepers
The Johnnies return one half of their goalkeeping tandem from last fall, junior Ryan Brutger (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo). He posted a 4-6 record with a 1.80 GAA and a .780 save percentage in 11 matches (eight starts). The position's depth, however, is untested. Mike Sikich graduated after tallying a 5-2 mark in net with a 1.68 GAA and a .793 save percentage last fall. Both Brutger and Sikich earned two shutouts each last season.
Junior Dan Cahill (Golden Valley, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) is studying abroad in Chile this fall, leaving freshman Kevin Lebahn (New Hope, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's), an All-State keeper and member of the 2011 Minnesota Class A state championship team, as the leading candidate to battle Brutger for the starting job.
2012 Schedule
Due to the construction of Haws Field, the Johnnies will play all seven of their home matches in Clemens Stadium this fall. Five of the matches will be played at night under the lights, which were installed in late March.
SJU begins the 2012 season with matches against two NCAA Division III Tournament teams from last fall, Aug. 31 at Minnesota-Morris and Sept. 2 at home against Luther (Iowa). The Johnnies begin their conference schedule with matches against last year's conference tournament participants: vs. Carleton (Sept. 14), at Gustavus (Sept. 22), vs. Augsburg (Sept. 26), and at St. Olaf (Sept. 29). The St. Olaf contest starts a five-game, 21-day road stretch for the Johnnies, with Haws' crew then traveling to the Pacific Northwest for matches against Linfield (Ore.) and Puget Sound (Wash.), a region which six SJU student-athletes hail from. The Johnnies play host to Macalester Oct. 17 and wrap up the regular season with home matches against Hamline (Oct. 23) and Concordia-Moorhead (Oct. 27).
