Saint John's soccer visits Wisconsin-River Falls for a 4:30 p.m. game on Monday, Sept. 15. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-0-2 overall) soared to a 7-0 victory – the Johnnies' third in a row – at North Central on Thursday (Sept. 11) in Minneapolis. 

Reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) scored the first hat trick of his career and extended his goal streak to five games after tallying the Johnnies' first, second and sixth goals. The sophomore forward assisted the fifth for a seven-point game, bettering his five-point outing against Crown last Wednesday (Sept. 3). O'Connor's seven points are the most by any player in a single game since 2000. 

Freshman midfielder Ike Deuel (Maple Grove, Minn.) quarterbacked the first goal of the game in the 13th minute, walking the ball from the Johnnies' defensive half through the North Central formation. Deuel chipped a pass through the gap to senior defender Carter Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels), who was fronted by the Rams' aggressive keeper. Hermanson nudged the ball to O'Connor, who buried the eventual game-winner, his third of the year. 

Seven minutes later, O'Connor connected with Hermanson once more for the second of the game. Hermanson attempted a shot that landed off-target and deflected off the body of classmate Alex Bowman (Elk River, Minn./Rogers). The ball slipped through the hands of the leaping NCU goalkeeper and onto the right foot of O'Connor, who just needed a light tap to double the lead.

Sophomore forward Micah O'Leary (Phoenix, Ariz./Casa Grande) put the Johnnies' up 3-0 before the end of the half, playing another second-chance opportunity, this time created by a Thomas Theising (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) free kick. Theising's ball deflected off freshman Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) in front of freshman forward Axel Martin (Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount), who delivered the assist on O'Leary's first collegiate tally.

A frustrated Ram defense conceded a penalty kick five minutes after the break, as freshman midfielder James Torguson (Shakopee, Minn.) drew the call in the box. Martin delivered the goal, the first of his career and fourth for the Johnnies. Martin's tally was the first PK for SJU since Matt Anderson '23 converted on Sept. 3, 2023 at Carroll (Wis.).

Momentum carried into another collegiate first, this time for freshman forward Lisle Cherwien (Mound, Minn./Orono), who put SJU up 5-0 six minutes later. A foul in the Johnnies' defensive half of the field resulted in a free kick for Ryan, who booted the ball nearly all the way down the field to O'Connor, who set up Cherwien with a high pass in the box that he headed into the goal. 

O'Connor completed his hat trick after a North Central defensive blunder gave the ball to an attacking Carter Gellner (Chaska, Minn./Chanhassen), who passed the ball to O'Connor for goal six of the afternoon. 

The seventh and final tally came off the head of senior defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels), who found the right corner off a Matt Holmes (Edina, Minn.) corner kick. 

In total, SJU out-shot North Central 26-3 and 15-3 in shots on goal. Freshman Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) made all three saves for his second-consecutive shutout, while a pair of NCU keepers made eight saves. SJU also held the advantage in corner kicks, 13-1.

HAT TRICK: O'Connor became the first Johnnie to net a hat trick in six years since Ben Becker '20 scored three in SJU's 5-2 victory at Northwestern on Sept. 7, 2019 and the ninth Johnnie to score three goals in a game since 2000.

SEVEN GOALS: The seven goals scored in Thursday's win were the most by the Johnnies, on the road, since Oct. 1, 1994 – an 8-0 victory at Hamline.

20 POINTS IN 5 GAMES: O'Connor secured SJU's first 20-point season since Kagan Foster '20 totaled 26 (11g/4a) in 18 games during the 2019 season and has already bettered his first-year statistics with 20 points compared to last season's total of 14 (6g/2a) in 15 contests.

A LOOK AT THE FALCONS: Wisconsin-River Falls (3-1-1 overall) extended its unbeaten streak to four games, since its season-opening (3-1) loss at Carleton, with a 2-2 draw to St. Scholastica on Thursday (Sept. 11) at home. Oscar Moline gave UWRF a quick 1-0 lead 4:10 into the match, but the Saints answered in the 33rd and 79th minutes for a 2-1 advantage despite playing a man down due to two yellow cards in the 38th minute. Sophomore Mauricio Cuevas tallied the equalizer with 4:11 remaining. Freshman Josh Villanueva leads the team in goals (3) and points (8), and graduate student Josh Bates has all five decisions in net with a 1.66 GAA and a .636 save percentage (14 saves).

LAST FALL: SJU scored two goals in each half for a 4-1 non-conference win over Wisconsin-River Falls last Oct. 21 (2024) at Haws Field. Andrew Pitzner gave SJU an early lead with his second goal of the season 3:32 into the contest. O'Connor fed forward Christian Rodriguez '25 up the right side and he sent a perfect cross to the box for an easy one-timer from Pitzner. The goal was SJU's fastest since Matt D. Anderson '23 gave SJU a quick 1-0 lead 2:26 into the eventual 3-0 shutout of Carleton on Nov. 2, 2019, in Collegeville. 

Sophomore midfielder Matt Holmes made it 2-0 with his first collegiate goal in the 43rd minute and Carter Hermanson extended the lead with his third goal of the season – and sixth of his career – in the 60th minute. 

Landon Christiansen broke the shutout for River Falls with a shot from the 18-yard mark – the Falcons' first attempt on goal – for his team-leading 10th goal of the season 52 seconds later.

Senior forward Connor Drong (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) ended the scoring with his second tally as a Johnnie in the 81st minute.

Goalkeeper Evan Siefken '25 made three saves in the win, the 25th of his career (25-28-9 record). SJU posted a 21-9 advantage in shots (12-4 on net).