Saint John's soccer returns to the Twin Cities for a 3:30 p.m. match at St. Thomas on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at South Field in St. Paul. - Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's soccer (6-6, 3-3 MIAC) suffered its second consecutive 1-0 loss on Saturday (Oct. 11) at Bethel. Tim Ness scored the match's only goal, his first of the season, with a header off a corner kick from Danny Jaderholm 11:34 into the second half. The win snapped an eight-match losing streak for BU and was the first for the Royals over SJU since 2004. SJU had two goals called back, including one with less than two minutes remaining in the match, and another shot on goal that was ruled to have been cleared before it crossed the goal line. Junior Kevin Lebahn (New Hope, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) made seven saves in the loss.

OCTOBER SUCCESS: The Johnnies entered the 2014 campaign with an 18-8-5 record (16-4-4 MIAC) in October during the previous four seasons under the direction of head coach John Haws. SJU is 0-2 so far this October.

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (8-5-1, 3-2-1 MIAC) plays host to SJU on Wednesday for its first home match in 10 days after tying Concordia-Moorhead 2-2 (Oct. 8) and falling to Gustavus Adolphus 1-0 (Oct. 11). Junior Miles Stockman-Willis leads the team in assists (6) and points (16), and is tied for the team-lead in goals (5) with freshman Pierce Erickson. Erickson and junior Matt Bouche are second with 10 points each. Senior Mitchell Wolff is 7-3-1 with a 1.47 GAA and a .714 save percentage (40 saves) in net this season. UST ends its 2014 regular season against each of last year's four MIAC Playoff teams: the aforementioned Gusties, SJU, St. Olaf (Oct. 25) and Carleton (Oct. 28).

PIVOTAL WEEK: Both of SJU's matches this week are pivotal in the race for the six-team MIAC Playoffs. UST is currently in fourth place with 10 points, while SJU is in a three-way tie for fifth, with Augsburg and Macalester, at nine points. The Johnnies return home to host the Auggies at 1 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 18, at Haws Field.

LAST FALL IN COLLEGEVILLE: Saint John's and St. Thomas battled to a 2-2 tie last fall (Oct. 16) in Collegeville. Nick Rapisarda gave UST a quick 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal, his 10th of the season, 4:18 into the match. Junior Alex Niederloh (Maple Grove, Minn.) looked to have tied the match 16 minutes later but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call. Sophomore Nick Van Marter (Portland, Ore./Cleveland) did, however, tie the match with his first collegiate goal in the 40th minute (39:34). Michael Coborn '14 sent a corner kick to senior Zane Heinselman (River Falls, Wis.), who sent a perfect pass to the head of Van Marter on the far post.

Coborn gave SJU a 2-1 lead with his sixth goal of the season, 26th of his career, 3:31 into the second half. Matt Carson '14 sprinted up the right side, gained the corner and sent a cross pass to Coborn who was all alone in front. Ryan Bernhardt tied the match at 2-2 for the Tommies in the 78th minute (77:17).

Lebahn made eight saves in the tie for SJU, which out-shot UST 20-18 (12-10 on net) in the match. The Johnnies held a 19-10 (11-6 on net) shot advantage in the match's final 74 minutes and posted 10 corner kicks to the Tommies' one.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 16-13-6 against St. Thomas since 1981, including a 9-8-2 record in St. Paul. SJU, however, is winless in the series (0-4-3 record) since posting a three-match win streak from 2004-06.