Saint John's soccer ends the regular season against Carleton at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in Northfield. – Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-5-3, 4-4-1 MIAC) kept its postseason hopes alive with a key 3-0 shutout of St. Scholastica on Wednesday (Oct. 26) at Haws Field.

Sophomore goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) made a number of key saves for SJU in the second half to keep St. Scholastica off the scoreboard. Illhan Rrahoshi hit the left pipe on a breakaway 6:51 into the game and Siefken denied Andres Gradillo at point-blank range, both on the initial shot and the ensuing rebound, early in the 17th minute. The Saints out-shot the Johnnies 10-4 in the first half, including 9-2 on goal.

SJU turned the tide offensively in the second half and posted a 10-8 advantage in shots (7-3 on net).

Freshman Alex Bowman (Elk River, Minn./Rogers), fresh off his goal in SJU's 2-1 loss to Macalester on Saturday (Oct. 22), opened the scoring on a feed from classmate Foster Conlin (Mooresville, N.C./Mounds View) in the 58th minute.

Bowman then put away a rebound off senior forward Ryan Erickson's (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) initial shot on goal 3:53 later for his fifth goal of the season. He is now tied with senior midfielder Matt D. Anderson (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep), who did not play Wednesday, for the team lead with five goals in eight games played.

Freshman forward Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) ended the game's scoring with his second collegiate tally, from classmate Cooper Nowak (Princeton, Minn.) in the 78th minute.

Siefken set a career high with 12 saves to move his season record to 6-5-3 and earn his third shutout of the season (sixth of his career).

CSS ended the game with close stat advantages in shots (18-14) and corner kicks (6-5).

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: Wednesday's game was the first between the two soccer programs in Collegeville since Aug. 31, 1996 (a 4-0 SJU win). SJU is now 15-3 all-time against the Saints.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS: The six-team field for the 2022 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs currently has four berths clinched – No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus, Macalester, No. 24 St. Olaf and Carleton – with two spots still up for grabs. SJU and Augsburg are currently tied with 13 points in the standings, followed by Bethel (12) and St. Scholastica (10). SJU owns the tie-breaker against Augsburg (conference wins), St. Scholastica (head-to-head) and three-way ties with Augsburg/Carleton (record amongst tied teams and conference wins) and Augsburg/St. Scholastica (record amongst tied teams). The Johnnies, however, lose a three-way tie with Bethel and St. Scholastica (record vs. other playoff teams).

Saturday's Key Games
Augsburg at Bethel
Saint John's at Carleton
Saint Mary's at St. Scholastica

The Johnnies are in the playoffs if:
-SJU wins (seeded No. 4) 
-SJU ties and Augsburg/Bethel ties (seeded No. 5) 
-SJU ties and Bethel wins (seeded No. 6) 
-SJU loss and an Augsburg loss (seeded No. 6)

The Johnnies miss the playoffs if: 
-SJU loss, Bethel wins and St. Scholastica wins
-SJU loss and Augsburg/Bethel ties
-SJU loss, Augsburg/Bethel ties and St. Scholastica wins

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (7-6-3, 5-3-1 MIAC) dropped a 1-0 decision, late, to regionally ranked Wisconsin-Eau Clare on Sunday (Oct. 23) in Northfield. The Blugolds' Will Miers scored the game-winning header in the 88th minute, UWEC's lone shot of the second half. The Knights posted a 16-9 advantage in shots, including an 11-1 margin after halftime. Sophomore Owen Flanagan leads the team in points (16), goals (7) and shots (40), while classmate Blake Jones is next with five goals and 11 points.  

LAST FALL: SJU finished the regular season with a 1-0, overtime loss to Carleton on last Oct. 30 (2021) in Collegeville. Despite the loss, SJU earned its 11th trip to the MIAC Playoffs and eighth in the last nine seasons with St. Scholastica's 1-0 home loss to then-No. 10 St. Olaf earlier in the day. 

Trevor Jones provided the heroics for Carleton with his second goal of the season 5:25 into overtime.

The Knights out-shot SJU 16-8 (5-3 on goal), though the Johnnies amassed 10 corner kicks to the visitors' nine. Siefken stopped four shots in the loss.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 10-9-2 against Carleton since 1983.