Box Score

MORRIS, Minn. – Saint John's soccer opened the 2022 season with a 3-0 win at Minnesota-Morris on a steamy (near 90 degrees) Thursday, Sept. 1.

Senior midfielder Matt D. Anderson (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) started the scoring with his ninth collegiate goal in the 11th minute, with assists going to classmates Kevin Stark-Haws (Cold Spring, Minn./Saint John's Prep) and Ryan Erickson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan).

Junior forward Kaidan Popp (Redmond, Wash./Mount Si) scored the first of his two goals on the night - his third and fourth career tallies - at the 51:45 mark and made it 3-0 early in the 86th minute. Freshman forward Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) recorded his first collegiate point with a helper on the game's third goal and sophomore midfielder Christian Rodriguez (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) collected assists on both.

Senior goalkeeper Jake Swanson (Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) made two saves in net to record his third career shutout.

SJU out-shot the Cougars 32-4 (14-2 on goal) and posted a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks. Twenty-three Johnnie field players competed in the opener.

With the win, SJU improves to 28-9-4 in its season opener since 1981.

The Johnnies travel to California this weekend for a pair of non-conference games, beginning with a neutral-site contest at 1:30 p.m. PT Saturday, Sept. 3, against Cal Lutheran at UC-Santa Cruz. The Johnnies face the host Banana Slugs at noon PT Monday, Sept. 5, to wrap the west-coast trip.