Saint John's returns to MIAC play by hosting Concordia for the final home game of the regular season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, in Collegeville. – Live Stats | Live Video (after football ends)

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-4-3, 2-4-1 MIAC) exploded for five goals – two each from sophomore forwards Micah O'Leary (Phoenix, Ariz./Casa Grande) and Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) – in a 5-0 non-conference win over Wisconsin-Stout on Wednesday (Oct. 22) at Haws Field.

The two teams played a scoreless first half, one in which SJU out-shot Stout by a 20-1 margin (8-0 on net). O'Connor broke the deadlock four minutes after the break, as the Johnnies' leading scorer headed a shot off the back of his head from senior defender Foster Conlin (Mooresville, N.C./Mounds View) into the net after senior defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) recovered the ball in the midfield.

O'Leary scored his second of the season – 15 seconds after he checked into the game – in the 68th minute as freshman midfielder James Torguson (Shakopee, Minn.) fed a ball from the top of the box to freshman midfielder Carter Gellner (Chaska, Minn./Chanhassen), who delivered the ball in front of the net for O'Leary to tap in. 

SJU scored its next three goals in a span of six minutes. O'Leary tallied his second of the game and third of the year, as Gellner connected with him once more with a pass into the box. The sophomore scored on a makeshift bicycle kick, tapping the bouncing ball to himself twice and then backwards out of the air into the goal.

O'Connor grabbed a rebound from O'Leary to score the next one, delivering the ball off his right foot from just in front of the Stout goalkeeper. 

Sophomore midfielder Luke Madden (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) capped the game with the second goal of his career and first of the season in the game's final seconds. Sophomore Brendan Hainey (Minneapolis, Minn./Holy Angels) worked up the field for freshman forward Simon Willets (Soldotna, Alaska), who delivered a ball into the box for Madden to tap in for the final 5-0 score.

The Johnnies ended the game with an overwhelming 39-2 advantage in shots (19-1 on net) and also took 15 corner kicks to the Blue Devils' one. 

Freshman goalkeeper Cole Hanson (Urbandale, Iowa) made one save to record his first collegiate shutout and improve to 4-2-1 on the year.

RONAN'S RECORD BOOK: O'Connor now has 16 goals in 16 games this season, the second-most by a Johnnie in program history, and three from the record of 19 scored by Ken Potts in 1974. His 40 points (16g/8a) are also second-most behind Potts' 56 in '74.

REGIONALLY RANKED: SJU was ranked No. 8 in today's (Tuesday, Oct. 21) United Soccer Coaches Region IX poll, the program's first showing in the poll since Oct. 11, 2022 (No. 7). 

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (0-11-4, 0-7-1 MIAC) dropped its second-consecutive 5-0 score to Gustavus Adolphus on Wednesday (Oct. 22) in St. Peter. The Cobbers bring a 31-game winless streak (0-24-7 record) to Collegeville Saturday, with their last win coming on August 30, 2024. Junior defender Ricco Rolle (3g/1a) leads the Concordia in points (7) and is tied with senior midfielder Colin Moore (3g/0a) for the team high in goals (3). Senior goalkeeper Jack Solheid has started all 15 games and has a 3.08 GAA and a .596 save percentage (68 saves). 

EARLIER THIS SEASON: SJU collected its second draw in nearly 24 hours with a 2-2, non-conference decision at Concordia earlier this season on Aug. 30 in Moorhead.

Senior defender Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) gave SJU an early lead in the 16th minute. Torguson started the play with a free kick from the right sideline that found classmate Olin Franzwa (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) on the opposite side of the field. Franzwa's pass into the box was headed away by a Cobber defender, but landed on the foot of Hermanson, who turned to beat the keeper with a quick goal off his left foot, the seventh of his career.

Rolle tied the game at 1-1 when he stole the ball from Hanson for an uncontested tally in the 41st minute.

SJU regained the lead in the 64th minute as a long ball from senior forward Connor Drong (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) broke the Cobber defense to help O'Connor tally his second goal in as many days. O'Connor chipped the ball over the head of the hard-charging Concordia goalkeeper for the eighth goal of his career and a 2-1 Johnnie lead.

Parker Gast scored the equalizer for CC on a free kick at the top of the box following an SJU yellow card in the 74th minute.

Both teams totaled 10 shots and shots on goal were 5-2 in favor of the home team. Senior forward Alex Bowman (Elk River, Minn./Rogers) hit the crossbar on a long shot 10 minutes in.

Hanson made two saves in the first half, while sophomore Ed Krinke (Shoreview, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) collected a save in the second 45.

Fouls were 17-9 in favor of the Cobbers, but yellow cards were shown at a 4-1 count against SJU. The visitors also posted a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series since 1987 with a 26-10-4 record, including an 11-5-2 margin in Collegeville. The Johnnies are 9-0-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Cobbers on their home pitch.