Saint John's soccer wraps up its regular-season schedule by hosting No. 14 Carleton at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at Haws Field. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Then-No. 17 St. Olaf erased a 2-0 deficit with four second-half goals to defeat Saint John's (7-5-4, 4-3-2 MIAC) 4-2 last Saturday (Oct. 21) in Collegeville. Despite the loss, SJU clinched its 13th MIAC Playoff appearance (10th in the last 11 seasons) with Saint Mary's 2-0 defeat at Carleton the same day.

The Johnnies gained a 1-0 lead on an own goal 13:47 into the game when sophomore defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) sent a long volley to the box and a St. Olaf defender deflected the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Sophomore forward Riley Buxell (Afton, Minn./Stillwater Area) made it 2-0 with a beautiful shot inside the left post for his third goal of the season in the 30th minute. Freshman midfielder Andrew Pitzner (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) tallied the assist.

Robi Buzakovic cut the deficit in half for STO in the 55th minute and Victor Gaulmin tied it 1:02 later with his 10th goal of the season. An own goal proved to be the deciding tally in the 59th minute and Ian Holtz-Hazeltine added some insurance in the 77th minute.

Junior goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) made eight saves in the loss. The Oles posted a 21-15 advantage in shots (12-5 on goal) and a 13-2 margin in corner kicks.

NEXT WEEK: The Johnnies will be on the road for Monday's 2 p.m. MIAC quarterfinal game, as either the fifth or sixth seed, unless they can finish ahead of Augsburg (vs. Macalester) and Gustavus Adolphus (vs. St. Scholastica) with a win and some help. SJU loses the tie-breaker against all of the other postseason teams except for Augsburg, due to the number of conference wins. The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday (Nov. 2) with the championship on Saturday (Nov. 4). – MIAC Playoffs 

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (14-1-1, 7-1-1 MIAC) extended its unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1 record) with a 2-0 home win – the team's 12th shutout of the season – over Saint Mary's last Saturday (Oct. 21). Junior midfielder Owen Flanagan tallied the first goal in the 17th minute and sophomore midfielder Briggs Priem added some insurance in the 57th. The Knights out-shot the Cardinals by a 24-7 margin (12-1 on goal). Sophomore forward Ben Pennell leads the team in goals (11) and points (29), while Priem is next with seven goals and 18 points. Senior goalkeeper Daniel Linder is 11-1-1 with nine shutouts (another shared), a 0.24 GAA and a .900 save percentage (27 saves). He was named MIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday (Oct. 23) thanks to last week's pair of shutouts. Carleton was listed at No. 3 in this week's NCAA Region IX rankings and fell 10 spots to No. 14 in Tuesday's (Oct. 24) United Soccer Coaches national poll.

LAST FALL: SJU ended the 2022 regular-season schedule with a 2-0 loss last Oct. 29 at Carleton.

Pennell gave Carleton a 1-0 lead with a rebound goal in the 24th minute and found Priem for the game's final goal 8:09 into the second half.

SJU recorded the contest's first eight shots and totaled a 13-6 (4-1 on goal) shot advantage in the first half. The Knights, however, retaliated with a 10-3 margin in the final 45 minutes to even the stat at 16-16 (6-4 in favor of SJU on goal). Corner kicks were even at four apiece. Siefken made two saves in the loss.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 25-14-3 record since 1983, including a 14-4-1 mark in Collegeville.