Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's controlled the game from start to finish but fell to Bethel by a score of 2-1 on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Haws Field.

The Johnnies (5-3-3, 2-3-1 MIAC) out-shot the Royals (6-7, 2-4 MIAC) by a 24-9 margin (14-7 on goal), tallied a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks and possessed the ball for 64 percent of the game.

Junior forward Kaidan Popp (Redmond, Wash./Mount Si) blasted a shot to the underside of the crossbar seven minutes into the game and the Johnnies had a number of point-blank opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play.

Two handball whistles went against SJU in the loss. The first was an alleged handball called against senior midfielder Drew Engel (De Pere, Wis.) in the box in the 25th minute. Matthias Caspari put away the penalty kick, his team-leading seventh goal of the season, to give BU a 1-0 lead. The other critical handball was whistled against senior defender Aidan Becken (Prior Lake, Minn.), just before he scored the potential game-tying goal - a blast from the top of the box to the top-right corner - in the closing minutes.

Less than three minutes after the penalty kick, a goal kick from Juan Valdivia Cortes bounced past a cluster of players toward the SJU goal. Becken fell down in pursuit and Jack Hanson chipped a shot to the far post before sophomore goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) could secure it for a 2-0 Bethel lead. Siefken finished with four saves.

The Johnnies finally broke through on a goal from senior forward Ryan Erickson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan), his second in as many games, in the 57th minute. A throw-in from sophomore defender Joe Pearson (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) found the head of senior midfielder Matt D. Anderson (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) and his pass across the box met a BU defender, but the Royals' attempt to clear went to Erickson near the far post for his eighth career goal.

The Johnnies travel to face Hamline (3-10, 0-6 MIAC) for a 3:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Oct. 15, in St. Paul.