MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Three Saint John's student-athletes earned MIAC Player of the Week honors on Monday, Nov. 18.

Junior goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn./Totino-Grace) was named the MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, while senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) and senior linebacker Cooper Yaggie (Breckenridge, Minn.) collected MIAC Football Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week accolades, respectively.

Howe made a career-high 44 saves in the Johnnies' 3-0 shutout of then-No. 15 Wisconsin-River Falls last Thursday night (Nov. 14) in St. Cloud. The shutout was the first for SJU against River Falls in 42 meetings on the ice and the 44 saves were the most by a Johnnie in a shutout since Andrew Lindgren '20 recorded 44 in a 2-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Feb. 14, 2019. Howe is 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .973 save percentage (72 saves) so far this season.

SJU (4-1, 2-0 MIAC) returns to conference action by hosting St. Olaf (2-3-1, 1-1-0 MIAC) at 7 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 22, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams then meet for a 5 p.m. puck-drop on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Northfield.

Syverson finished 32 of 44 passing for 419 yards and five touchdowns in the Johnnies' 41-33 win over Bethel on Saturday (Nov. 16) in the MIAC championship game. The performance served as Syverson's eighth 300-yard passing game of the season, the third over 400 yards, and the fifth with five touchdowns or more. He is now tied with Jackson Erdmann '19 for the program and MIAC record of 139 career passing touchdowns and also became the Johnnies' all-time leader in total offense (12,177) in the victory. 

He ended the regular season as the NCAA Division III leader in completion percentage (.765); second in completions per game (26.7), passing yards per game (355.9), passing touchdowns (43), points responsible for per game (26.4) and total offense (355.0 ypg.); fifth in passing efficiency (200.5); and ninth in yards per pass attempt (10.2).

Yaggie totaled nine tackles (eight solo), including one for a loss, forced a fumble and broke up two passes in the MIAC championship game. His first pass breakup came on a 4th-and-9 play from the Johnnies' 28-yard line during the Royals' first drive of the game. He stuffed BU's Aaron Ellingson on another 4th-down play, 4th-and-1 from SJU's 19-yard line, on the visitors' first possession of the second quarter. The forced fumble came on Bethel's first offensive play after SJU turned the ball over on downs at the BU 28-yard line. Syverson connected with junior wideout Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) for a 31-yard touchdown, and a 20-9 lead, on the first play after the turnover. On special teams, Yaggie recovered the onside kick after BU cut the deficit to 41-33 with 1:29 remaining. 

Yaggie leads SJU in solo tackles (34), is tied for the team lead in quarterback hurries (4) and is second in both total tackles (59) and pass breakups (6) this season. He cracked SJU's all-time list for career solo tackles at No. 10 with 115 in Saturday's victory.

The Johnnies (10-0, 8-0 MIAC) earned the No. 1 overall seed and a first-round bye in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs when the expanded 40-team field was announced yesterday (Nov. 17).

SJU hosts the winner between No. 18 Wisconsin-La Crosse (7-3, 5-2 WIAC) and Northwestern (7-3, 7-0 UMAC) in the NCAA's second round at noon Saturday, Nov. 30, in Collegeville.