Saint John's soccer visits Gustavus Adolphus for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Sept. 27, in St. Peter. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-1-2, 1-1-0 MIAC) earned its first conference win of the 2025 campaign with a 4-1 win over St. Scholastica on Monday (Sept. 22) in Collegeville. Freshman forward Axel Martin (Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount) scored twice in the first half, five minutes apart from each other, to give SJU a 2-0 lead at the break. His first tally, the second of his career, came off the foot of a corner kick from senior defender Noah Hermanson (St. Paul, Minn./Holy Angels) in the 28th minute. Hermanson set up Martin with a high ball that he headed over the St. Scholastica goalkeeper.  

The rookie's second of the game off a balanced offensive attack and a series of connected passes between fellow classmates Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) and Ike Deuel (Maple Grove, Minn.) in the 33rd minute. After a pair of passes between the midfielders, Deuel dished Martin a pass on the outside of the box, which he tapped into the left corner.

Senior Foster Conlin (Mooresville, N.C./Mounds View) scored his second goal of the season – and the second of his career – to extend the Johnnies' lead to three after the break. Conlin headed in another well-placed corner kick from Hermanson in the 66th minute. 

Martin completed his hat trick a minute later, taking a lateral feed from freshman defender Gabe Franzman (Bettendorf, Iowa) to tap in SJU's fourth and final goal Monday afternoon. O'Connor collected the second assist to extend his point streak to all eight games this fall (10g/4a).

CSS broke the shutout at minute 76, beating freshman goalkeeper Cole Hanson (Urbandale, Iowa) 1-on-1 for the team's fourth goal of the season. 

Freshman goalkeeper Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) made the start and stopped both shots on goal in the first 73:18 to earn the victory and improve to 5-1-1 on the year.

The Saints posted a 19-11 advantage in shots, though the home team garnered a 5-4 edge on goal and a 5-1 margin in corner kicks.

2 HAT TRICKS, 1 SEASON: The hat trick was the second for the Johnnies this season, after sophomore Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) scored three at North Central on Sept. 11. The last time SJU had two players net a hat trick in the same season was 2004, when now-head coach Tudor Flintham '06 (in the 9-1 win over Northland, Wis. on Sept. 5) and Tyler Bosch '05 (in the 4-0 win over Hamline on Sept. 29) completed the trifecta.

BACK IN ST. PETER: SJU head coach Tudor Flintham '06 returns to Gustavus Adolphus after serving the previous seven seasons as the Gusties' coach. During that time, Flintham directed GAC to a 92-20-18 record, four MIAC regular-season championships (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024), one MIAC postseason title (2019) and five NCAA Division III tournament appearances (2018-19, 2022-24).

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (6-2, 1-1 MIAC) scored three unanswered goals to top Nebraska Wesleyan 3-1 on Monday (Sept. 22) in Lincoln, Neb. Junior Sam Kaeding tied the game in the 61st minute and freshman Kieran Mahan put the Gusties ahead with a pair of goals in the 72nd and 80th minutes. Mahan (6g/4a) and junior Joe Flory (7g/2a) lead GAC with 16 points apiece through eight games. The Gusties have rotated through a handful of goalkeepers in net. Sophomore Jackson Baker holds a 3-0 record in three games with a 0.93 GAA and a .800 save percentage (eight saves). Senior Micah Lesch earned a shutout against Pacific Lutheran (Aug. 31) and possesses a 1.67 GAA and .500 save percentage (five saves) this fall. GAC received votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll released Tuesday (Sept. 23).

LAST FALL: Then-No. 6 Gustavus pulled away with four goals in the second half en route to a 5-0 win over SJU last Oct. 11 (2024) in Collegeville.

Owen Johnson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for GAC in the 28th minute for a 1-0 halftime lead. Flory made it 2-0 with his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 59th minute and Jared Hecht – who scored all four goals for the Gusties against SJU in a pair of 2-0 victories in 2023 – extended the lead to 3-0 in the 73rd minute.

Matt Carlson and Nick James ended the scoring with goals 1:43 apart in the 83rd and 85th minutes, respectively.

Goalkeeper Evan Siefken '25  made eight saves in the loss for SJU.

GAC posted a 17-8 advantage in shots – 13-3 on net – and a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. The two teams combined for nine yellow cards.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 20-28-7 against Gustavus since 1979, including a 12-15-3 record in St. Peter. The Gusties have won 11 of the last 12 meetings overall.