Saint John's soccer visits Concordia for a 5 p.m. match on Wednesday, April 14, in Moorhead. – Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (1-0 overall) erupted for a pair of goals less than three minutes apart in a 2-1, season-opening win over Bethel on Sunday (April 11) at Haws Field.

Freshman midfielder Kaidan Popp (Redmond, Wash./Mount Si) started the scoring for SJU with his first collegiate goal, on a nice feed from sophomore forward Brandt Belisle (St. Paul, Minn./St. Croix Prep) 76:43 into the game.

Sophomore midfielder Ryan Erickson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) gave the Johnnies a two-goal cushion – with what proved to be the game-winning goal – 2:43 later on an assist from senior forward Paul Wadsworth (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium).

Bethel cut its deficit in half on a header goal from Jacob Redden - direct off a corner kick - in the 81st minute.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Swanson (Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) made six saves in his first collegiate start (and action) to earn the win. SJU out-shot BU, 19-7 (10-7 on goal).

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (2-0 overall) started its 2021 spring season with a 4-3 overtime win March 27 at NAIA Jamestown (N.D.). The Cobbers scored three goals after halftime, including the game-winner from junior Brendan Koplin in the sixth minute of overtime.

Concordia had nearly two weeks off before its most recent game, a 2-1 conference win over Bethel last Thursday (April 8) at Northwestern. Sophomore Matthew Nemer gave CC a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute with his first collegiate goal, but Bethel scored the equalizer at the 14:47 mark. BU posted an 8-6 edge in shots in the first half. Junior Nate Weaver scored the game-winner in the 64th minute as the Cobbers out-shot the Royals 11-4 in the second half (17-12 for the game).

Sophomore Telvin Vah leads the team with six points (1g/4a), while classmate Noah Sahr is 2-0 with a 1.94 GAA and five saves (.556 save percentage).

IN 2019: SJU opened its conference schedule with a 1-0 win at Concordia back on Sept. 18, 2019, in Moorhead.

Sophomore defender Matt D. Anderson (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) gave SJU a quick 1-0 lead with his first collegiate goal, a header off a well-placed corner kick, 3:39 into the game. The deficit was the first for Concordia after it out-scored the opposition by a 15-1 margin in the season's first four games.

Goalkeeper Nicholas French '20 denied the Cobbers' Sam Gess on a penalty kick with 13:01 left in the first half. Keith Sullivan returned the favor for CC by stopping forward Patrick Erredge '20 on a penalty-kick attempt for SJU in the 58th minute.

French made two saves to record his seventh collegiate shutout and improve to 3-0 on the year (16-12-4 in his career).

The Johnnies out-shot the Cobbers 9-4 (7-2 on goal) and held a narrow 4-3 edge in corner kicks. CC committed 18 fouls to SJU's seven (4-1 in yellow cards).

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 22-9-3 against the Cobbers since 1987, including a 12-2-2 record in Moorhead. SJU holds a slight edge in the series, however, in the last six meetings overall (3-2-1 record).