The Johnnie soccer team travels south to Iowa for a pair of games this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest at Dubuque on Friday, Sept. 8. SJU wraps up the trip with a 5 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Loras.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Friday, Sept. 8 (7 p.m.) at Dubuque: Live Stats | Live Video
-Saturday, Sept. 9 (5 p.m.) at Loras: Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Sophomore forward Alex Bowman (Elk River, Minn./Rogers) scored the game's lone goal and junior goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) made eight saves in the Johnnies' 1-0 win over Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday night (Sept. 5) at Haws Field.

A give-and-go between sophomores Will Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) and Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) near the top-right of the box created a feed to a streaking Bowman at the left post for the header goal in the 67th minute. The goal was Bowman's second of the season and seventh at SJU (2-1-0 overall).

The Yellowjackets posted a 7-2 advantage in shots in the first half, but the Johnnies came alive in the second half of their home opener for a 10-4 advantage (12-11 for the game).

The shutout was Siefken's second in a row and ninth of his career.

The physical game resulted in six yellow cards – three on each team – all in the second half.

A LOOK AT THE SPARTANS: Dubuque (1-2 overall) picked up its first win of the season - 3-0 – Tuesday (Sept. 5) at Grinnell (Iowa). All three goals came in the second half, starting just 20 seconds in from sophomore midfielder Liam Persson. Sophomore midfielder Carson Kowalski added some insurance with goals in the 65th and 68th minutes. He leads the two with the two goals and junior forward Gavin Wooldridge - a 2022 All-ARC first-team selection - has three assists. Junior goalkeeper Matt Marchiori all 270 minutes in net with a 2.00 GAA and a .667 save percentage (12 saves). Dubuque tallied an 8-7-4 (3-2-3 ARC) record last fall and was picked to finish sixth in the league's preseason coaches poll.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 2-0 all-time against Dubuque on the soccer pitch: W, 2-1 on Sept. 12, 2009 (at Wartburg); and W, 2-0 on Sept. 9, 2018 (at Dubuque).

THE LAST MEETING: A week after completing a hat trick with an overtime game-winner at Jamestown (N.D.), forward Ben Becker '20 scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the Johnnies' 2-0 win at Dubuque (Iowa) the last time these two teams met on Sept. 9, 2018. A long free kick from defender Thomas Bell '19 near midfield pinballed in the box until midfielder Nathan Stone '19 chipped the loose ball to Becker for the go-ahead goal in the 64th minute.

Forward Patrick Erredge '19, a goalkeeper during his first two years at SJU, made it 2-0 with his first collegiate goal in the 81st minute. A volley from forward Guy Mohs '22 to the far post found midfielder Rene Cabrera '19, who headed the ball back across the goal mouth to a hard-charging Erredge.

Shots were even at 9-9, though the Johnnies posted a 6-2 advantage on goal. The Spartans hit the post twice. Goalkeeper Payton Spencer '20 made three saves to record his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career.

A LOOK AT THE DUHAWKS: Loras (3-0 overall) has outscored the opposition by a 14-1 margin so far this season, all at home: Monmouth (6-0), Concordia-Moorhead (4-1) and Northland (4-0). Four Duhawks have six points or more already this season. Senior forward Reed Miklavcic leads the team in assists (3) and points (7), while freshman defender Liam Bennett (3g/0a), sophomore forward Dani Gallana Torres (2g/2a) and junior midfielder Michael Koutsopanagos (3g/0a) all have six points. Three goalkeepers have minded the net this fall, with fifth-year Owen Johnson leading the way with two starts. He has only faced one shot on goal in 155:42 played. The Duhawks were picked to win the American Rivers Conference in the league's preseason coaches poll after posting a 10-6-2 record (5-1-2 ARC) last fall. Loras hosts No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus Friday night before SJU's visit on Saturday.

THE LAST TIME: Then-No. 16 Loras took advantage of two free kicks for a 2-0 non-conference win over SJU the last time these two teams met on Sept. 13, 2019, at the CSB Soccer Field in St. Joseph.

Tigrio Huerta gave Loras a quick 1-0 lead 6:10 into the game. Raudel Fierro took a free kick from just outside the right corner of the box and Huerta connected on the lob for a one-timer to the back of the net for his team-leading fourth goal of the year. Patrick Clancy padded the Duhawks' lead on a header off a 40-yard free kick from Mark Histed in the 59th minute.

Midfielder Paul Wadsworth '21 nearly cut the Johnnies' deficit in half with 6:15 remaining, but goalkeeper Jesse Buffington made a sprawling save on the penalty kick to preserve the shutout. Buffington played the second half and made four saves as SJU posted an 8-6 shot advantage in the final 45 minutes.

Loras out-shot the Johnnies 16-11 (9-4 on goal) overall and recorded a 10-6 edge in corner kicks. Ball possession was even at 50 percent for each team.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 1-7-1 against Loras, but just 1-2-1 against the Duhawks' in the Rock Bowl.