The Johnnie soccer team visits Augsburg for a 3:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Oct. 1, at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis. – Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-1-2, 2-1-0 MIAC) scored three goals in the second half and returned to the win column with a 4-1 victory over Concordia-Moorhead this past Wednesday (Sept. 28) at Haws Field.

Junior Kaidan Popp (Redmond, Wash./Mount Si) gave SJU a quick 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season and fifth of his career late in the seventh minute. Freshman forward Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) sent a cross into the box for senior midfielder Drew Engel (De Pere, Wis.), who chipped a pass to Popp on the right side. 

Senior defender Aidan Becken (Prior Lake, Minn.) made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season and fourth of his career 8:50 into the second half. Senior midfielder Sawyer Schugel (Victoria, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) sent a corner kick to senior midfielder Matt D. Anderson (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) at the far post, and his header sent the ball along the ground to Becken in the box. 

The Cobbers orchestrated a nice cross to cut their deficit to 2-1 less than nine minutes later. Telvin Vah sent a pass through the air – from right to left – to Mason Weigel, who connected on a cross to Yousif Alshihmani for the goal.

Senior midfielder Sawyer Schugel (Victoria, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) gave a 2-goal lead back to SJU with his first collegiate tally in the 74th minute. The Cobbers attempted to clear the ball out of the box, but the ball went directly to Schugel, who blasted a shot to the top-left corner.

Freshman defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) ended the game's scoring with a penalty kick, his second goal of the season, with four seconds remaining.

Sophomore goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) made one save to improve to 4-1-2 on the year. 

The Johnnies out-shot the Cobbers by a 21-6 (14-3 on goal) margin, 11-2 in the first half and 10-4 after the break. Each team was whistled for offsides six times.

LATE GOAL: Noah Hermanson's penalty-kick goal with four seconds remaining was the Johnnies' 11th tally in the final minute of regulation since 2000 (see list below), but not the latest. Brandt Belisle '23 found the back of the net with three seconds left until the final horn in SJU's 7-2 home win over Hamline on Sept. 21, 2019.

-89:00 – Nov. 1, 2000 vs. St. Olaf (W, 6-1) – Ross Golla
-89:23 – Nov. 4, 2000 at Concordia (W, 5-1) – Matt Howard 
-89:14 – Sept. 18, 2002 vs. Hamline (W, 3-0) – Tyler Bosch
-89:17 – Oct. 27, 2007 at Concordia (W, 2-0) – Tyler Kodet
-89:49 – Oct. 10, 2020 at Wisconsin-Superior (T, 1-1 OT) – Joe Balder
-89:53 – Sept. 17, 2014 vs. Hamline (W, 3-1) – Daniel Bruckbauer
-89:57 – Sept. 21, 2019 vs. Hamline (W, 7-2) – Brandt Belisle
-89:01 – Sept. 11, 2021 at Wisconsin-Whitewater (T, 2-2 OT) – Brandt Belisle
-89:31 – Oct. 17, 2021 vs. Hamline (W, 2-1) – Ryan Erickson
-89:07 – Sept. 17, 2022 vs. Saint Mary's (W, 7-0) – Alex Bowman
-89:56 – Sept. 28, 2022 vs. Concordia (W, 4-1) – Noah Hermanson

CORNHUSKERS: The Johnnies are now 24-10-3 against the Cobbers since 1987, including a 11-5-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last nine meetings on its home pitch, out-scoring CC by a 28-3 margin.

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (6-1-2, 2-1-1 MIAC) bounced back from its first loss of the season – a 2-1 decision last Saturday (Sept. 24) at St. Scholastica – with a 4-0 shutout of Carleton on Wednesday (Sept. 28) in Minneapolis. The Auggies scored a pair of early goals 1:40 apart – senior midfielder Nick Zuchowski at the 7:35 mark and sophomore forward Kebba Janneh at 9:15 – and Zuchowski made it 3-0 on a penalty kick in the 77th minute. Freshman forward Camel Htoo ended the scoring 3:15 later. Zuchowski leads the team in goals (7) and points (16), while Htoo (5g/3a) and Janneh (6g/1a) are close behind with 13 points apiece.

A YEAR AGO: SJU handed regionally ranked Augsburg its first loss of the season with a 3-0 shutout last Oct. 2 (2021) in Collegeville.

Midfielder Tommy Picka '22 snapped the Auggies' six-game shutout streak – a span of 564:10 - 9:45 into the contest. The transfer from Augsburg (following the 2017 season) ripped a rocket from just outside the 18-yard box for his first goal of the season and third of his SJU career. Senior defender Cavin Allen (Excelsior, Minn./Chanhassen) and forward Guy Mohs '22 were credited with the assists.

An SJU free kick from 30 yards out pin-balled in the box before junior midfielder Jack Simonet (Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) found sophomore midfielder Christian Rodriguez (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) alone near the right post for his first collegiate goal with 4:38 left in the first half.

Becken ended the game's scoring with a textbook header off a corner kick from Picka in the 59th minute.

Siefken made three saves for his third shutout of the season (4-4-1 record).

SJU out-shot the Auggies, 17-14 (9-3 on net). Augsburg entered the game ranked No. 4 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Region IX poll released prior to Sept. 28's game and had allowed a total of three goals through the season's first nine games.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 40-10-5 against the Auggies since 1974, including a 16-6-3 record in Minneapolis. SJU, however, is 2-5 in its last seven trips to Edor Nelson Field.