Saint John's soccer plays host to St. Norbert (Wis.) for a 4:30 p.m. non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Haws Field. – Live Stats | Live Video 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (0-2-0 overall) opened its 2024 season with a pair of frustrating, 1-0 losses in Collegeville.

Wartburg (Iowa) 1, at Saint John's 0 (Aug. 30) 
A Wartburg corner kick deflected off a Johnnie defender to the top of the box where Sam McDevitt unleashed a shot to the bottom-right corner of the net for the game's lone goal 10 minutes into the second half (55:27). The assistant referee called offsides but was overruled. The Knights registered a 13-5 advantage in shots (6-3 on goal) and a 7-2 margin in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Evan Siefken (Lakeville, Minn./North) made four saves in the loss for SJU. 

Carroll (Wis.) 1, at Saint John's 0 (Sept. 1)
The Johnnies fell to Carroll (Wis.) on an own-goal off a corner kick with 5:01 left in the first half two days later. The Pioneers edged the SJU in shots (8-6), shots on goal (5-1) and corner kicks (3-2) in the first half, but the home team flipped the stat sheet in the second. SJU out-shot the visitors by a 13-7 margin (7-3 on goal) and totaled six corner kicks – three in the final minute – after halftime.

Junior midfielder Riley Buxell (Afton, Minn./Stillwater Area) hit the post in the 19th minute and freshman forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) was denied by a sprawling save from the Pioneers' Jason Brunger in the game's closing seconds. Siefken made eight saves.

A LOOK AT THE GREEN KNIGHTS: St. Norbert (0-1-1 overall), like SJU, is aiming for its first win of the 2024 season. The Green Knights tied Wisconsin-Stevens Point on the road, 2-2, last Friday (Aug. 30) and fell to Augsburg by a 4-1 decision Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Joe Anguil leads the team with three points (1g/1a), while senior Jonathan Hill and junior Dominic Lagona scored a goal each last weekend. Senior Joe Meade is a two-time All-Region honoree and led the team in goals (11), game-winning goals (2) and points (26) in 18 games last season. SNC was picked to finish fourth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) preseason coaches' poll last month.  

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: Saturday's matchup will be the first between the Johnnies and Green Knights on the soccer pitch since Sept. 10, 2006 - a 2-1 loss for SJU in overtime at St. Norbert -  and the fourth overall. The Johnnies won the first two meetings: 6-1 on Oct. 6, 1991, at Oshkosh, Wis.; and 6-0 on Sept. 28, 1996, in Collegeville.