The Saint John's soccer team begins a five-match road stretch with a pair of contests in Iowa this weekend. The Johnnies travel to take on Wartburg for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday, Sept. 7, in Waverly, before ending the trip with a 4 p.m. match at No. 6 Luther in Decorah. – Live Stats/Live Video (Luther)
Preview Video:
-Head coach John Haws (0:36)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's enters the season's second weekend with a perfect 2-0 record thanks to wins over Minnesota-Morris (5-1) and Concordia (Wis.) (1-0) to open Haws Field last weekend. Junior David Wee (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake) gave SJU an early 1-0 lead with his 10th career goal 5:32 into the opener. Freshman Sam Newman (St. Louis, Mo./Priory) added to the lead with a blast off the crossbar and in for his first collegiate goal 20 minutes later. Junior Zane Heinselman (River Falls, Wis.) padded the Johnnies' lead in the second half off a corner kick from Coborn. The initial kick went to sophomore Alex Niederloh (Maple Grove, Minn.), who ripped a shot that deflect off Heinselman and to the back of the net. Coborn made it 4-0 three minutes later. Junior Josh Whitaker (Milwaukie, Ore.) fed Wee, whose shot deflected directly to Coborn open on the left side. Morris erased the shutout at the 63:55 mark of the second half before senior Matt Carson (Waconia, Minn.) ended the scoring with 15 minutes remaining.
Coborn's goal at the 68:43 mark of the second half proved to be difference in the Johnnies' 1-0 win over Concordia (Wis.) on Aug. 31. Called for offside attempting to run a similar play just four minutes earlier, junior Nicholas DeVetter (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) brought the ball up the right side and gained the near post, where he then crossed a pass to Coborn in front of the net for his fourth career game-winner. The Johnnies had a man advantage for the final 38:16 of the match due to a red card issued on the Falcons, who were out-shot by SJU 23-15 overall (11-3 on net). Senior Ryan Brutger (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) made three saves to improve to 2-0 on the young season and earn his sixth career shutout (9-8-4 career record).
ONE ASSIST AWAY: The game-winning goal against Concordia (Wis.) was the 22nd of Coborn's career, which moved him into a tie for seventh in SJU history with John Tracy (1979-82) and Tyler Kodet (2005-08). He is now fifth all-time with 73 career points (22g/29a), 13 behind Tyler Bosch (2001-04) for fourth, and still needs one assist to become the Johnnies' all-time leader in that category.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Goals and season openers are one in the same for Wee, who now has a tally in the first match of the season each of the last three years (all against Minnesota-Morris). His tally 1:05 into the second half proved to be the game-winner in the 3-0 win at Morris last fall, while his first collegiate goal provided insurance in the 2-0 victory in 2011. Wee's goal Aug. 30 was the Johnnies' fastest to start a season since associate head coach Tudor Flintham (2002-05) scored 2:30 into the 2-1 home win over Luther (Iowa) on Sept. 4, 2004.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS CONTINUES: The Johnnies are now 22-8-3 in season openers since 1981, including a 15-1-1 record in Collegeville.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: The Johnnies were ranked sixth in the latest National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) North Region poll released Sept. 3. Luther is ranked No. 1 in the region and sixth nationally, while Wartburg is ninth. Three other MIAC schools made the list: Carleton (second, 15th nationally); St. Olaf (fifth); and Augsburg (10th).
A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Wartburg (2-0-1 overall) tallied a 1-0 win at Macalester Sept. 5, following a 2-1 overtime win over St. Thomas and 1-1 tie with Augsburg last weekend. Shot totals were only 12-7 in favor of Mac, 3-2 on goal. Junior Dan Nadeau tallied the game-winner and leads the team with five points (2g/1a) so far this fall.
LAST YEAR: Wartburg took advantage of an own goal and a lucky bounce to defeat Saint John's 2-1 in non-conference action last fall (Sept. 16) in Collegeville. Carson (Waconia, Minn.) gave SJU an early 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season 3:32 into the match. The Knights tied it at one apiece when SJU's Andrew Johnson '13 attempted to clear a loft pass by the Knights, but instead, his header bounced backwards into the open net. Bad luck struck again for the Johnnies when senior Calvin Koep (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) attempted to clear the ball in the 71st minute, but the ball deflected off a Wartburg player directly to Chris Nothnick, who was all alone in front. SJU held an 18-12 advantage in shots, as well as a 7-2 margin in corner kicks.
A LOOK AT THE NORSE: Luther vaulted from the non-ranked realm to No. 6 nationally after earning a 2-0 victory over then-No. 8 Trinity (Texas) and a 1-0 overtime victory over Southwestern (Texas) last weekend. The Norse host Augsburg Sept. 7 before taking on SJU the following day. Senior Brock Arend, senior Logan Martell and junior Clay Walker each have a goal, while junior Peter Wright touts the perfect GAA and save percentage (eight saves) in net.
LAST YEAR: SJU battled then-No. 19 Luther to a 1-1 tie in the Johnnies' home opener on last Sept. 2 (2012) at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville. J.W. Slauson gave the Norse a 1-0 lead at the 64:08 mark. Jon Gednalske took advantage of an SJU turnover and fed Slauson through the box for the tally. The Johnnies battled back to tie the game with 6:17 remaining. Coborn placed a corner kick to the far right post where it found the foot of sophomore Cole Howard (Ridgefield, Wash./Skyview) for his first collegiate goal. Luther out-shot the Johnnies 20-16, including a 13-3 advantage in the first half. Shots-on-goal, however, were an even 7-7 as SJU out-shot the visitors 13-7 from the second half on.
