Saint John's soccer hosts Saint Mary's for its home and MIAC opener at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Haws Field. – Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-0-2 overall) stayed unbeaten with a 1-0-1 showing last weekend in Wisconsin.

t-Saint John's 1, at Wisconsin-Platteville 1
SJU and Wisconsin-Platteville played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night (Sept. 10) in Platteville, Wis. Senior defender Cavin Allen (Excelsior, Minn./Chanhassen) gave SJU (2-0-2 overall) a 1-0 lead in the 76th minute with his first goal of the season (fifth of his career) on corner kick from junior midfielder Jack Simonet (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnetonka). The Pioneers, however, tied the game with 7:40 to play.

Saint John's 3, at Wisconsin-Whitewater 0
The Johnnies ended the weekend trip - and five-game, road stretch to start the season - Sunday (Sept. 11) with a 3-0 shutout at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Senior midfielder Kevin Stark-Haws (Cold Spring, Minn./Saint John's Prep) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, his second career tally, in the 10th minute for SJU (3-0-2 overall).

Senior midfielder Drew Engel (De Pere, Wis.) settled the ball near midfield and played a vertical ball to freshman forward Cooper Nowak (Princeton, Minn.), who drove diagonally to the goal until a defender stepped to him. Stark-Haws made an incisive run from the attacking-mid position and Nowak cut the ball back against the grain of the play, where the senior finished it low to the right with his left foot.

Sophomore midfielder Christian Rodriguez (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) made it 2-0 with his second career goal less than seven minutes later. Stark-Haws took a pass from freshman forward Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) and slipped the ball to Rodriguez, who hammered a shot from atop the box across the goal to the far post.

Freshman defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) ended the scoring with his first collegiate goal, on a give-and-go from his twin brother Carter, in the 66th minute. Carter now has five assists this season.

SJU out-shot the Warhawks by a 12-7 margin (6-4 on net) and corner kicks were even at 6-6.

MIAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Siefken went 1-0-1 with 14 saves in net for Johnnie soccer over the weekend. He tied a career high with 10 saves, including a stop on a penalty kick 9:50 into the game, in Saturday night's 1-1 tie at Wisconsin-Platteville. Siefken then made four saves to record his second shutout of the season and fifth of his SJU career in Sunday's 3-0 win at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

FINALLY AT HOME: The first of six home games, Saturday's home opener is SJU's latest on the fall calendar since 1992, when the Johnnies hosted St. Olaf on Sept. 19. That game against the Oles was held 13 days after SJU opened the season with a pair of non-conference matches in Colorado over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 5-6).

REGIONALLY RANKED: The Johnnies were ranked No. 5 in the first Region IX poll released by United Soccer Coaches on Tuesday (Sept. 13).

1. Gustavus Adolphus (No. 16 nationally)
2. Wartburg, Iowa (No. 24 nationally)
3. Loras, Iowa
4. Luther, Iowa
5. SJU
6. Wisconsin-Eau Claire
7. Simpson, Iowa
8. Augsburg 

MIAC OPENERS: SJU is 27-9-4 in its first conference game of the season since 1981, including an 14-5-2 record when the MIAC opener is in Collegeville. 

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (3-1-2, 0-1-0 MIAC) was dealt with its first loss of the season, 3-0, Tuesday night (Sept. 13) against Carleton in Winona. The Knights scored their first goal in the 13th minute and padded the lead with a penalty kick in the 81st minute and ended the scoring less than four minutes later. Carleton posted a 13-9 edge in shots (9-5 on goal), though the Cardinals had the 7-5 advantage in corner kicks. Junior Jack Hurley leads the team in goals (3) and points (6), while senior Jacob Clements is close behind with five points (2g/1a). Junior Daniel Sessler is 3-1-1 with a 1.47 GAA and a .795 save percentage (31 saves). SMU lost its top three scorers, accounting for 56.5 percent (26 of 46) of the team's points and 66.7 percent (12 of 18) of the goals, from a squad that finished 3-12-2 (0-8-2 MIAC) in 2021. 

LAST SEASON: Senior defender Aidan Becken's (Prior Lake, Minn.) game-winning goal 2:45 into overtime gave SJU a 1-0 win at Saint Mary's last Sept. 18 (2021) in Winona.

Junior midfielder Cole Ober's (Hudson, Wis.) free kick across the six-yard box pin-balled between players until a Saint Mary's clearing attempt hit Becken in the chest. The 6-foot-5 defender played the ball to his feet and easily tapped it to the back of the net for his first goal of the season and second of his career.

Becken was certainly due, however. He hit the post in the first half and rattled the crossbar in the second. Simonet hit the pipe less than two minutes before Becken's game-winner in overtime.

Siefken made five saves, including one on a penalty kick in the 39th minute, to earn his second collegiate shutout and improve to 3-2-1 on the season.

The visitors collected a narrow 12-11 edge in shots (5-5 on goal), including 3-0 in overtime, and a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 33-6-4 against the Cardinals since 1981, including a 17-2-3 record in Collegeville.