No. 21 Saint John's soccer ends its non-conference schedule with a 4 p.m. game against Wisconsin-River Falls on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Haws Field. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (12-1-1, 4-1-1 MIAC) recorded its first tie of the season in a scoreless draw against Augsburg on Saturday (Oct. 10) in Minneapolis. SJU held the edge in shots, 10-6, and came close to a goal on a number of occasions but was whistled for 25 fouls to Augsburg's nine. 

Both teams had five shot attempts in the first half, but freshman forward Grady Monette (Andover, Minn.) and SJU held the pressure with a number of scoring chances. Two of Monette's first-half shots narrowly missed in the box. The Auggies were issued the game's first card – a yellow at 43:01 to end the first half.  

SJU maintained possession in the second half, and Monette nearly scored another, but Auggie goalkeeper Finnur Mercier leaped to keep the ball out of the top right corner of the goal.  

The Johnnies received five yellow cards in the second half, including a double-yellow that put them down a man for the final 6:13. But, unlike last year's MIAC quarterfinal game, SJU was unable to convert while playing a man down.  

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Keekley (St. Louis Park, Minn./Minnetonka) made four saves for his eighth complete shutout of the season (10 combined).

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Keekley and freshman forward Jacob Oliver (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) were named the MIAC Men's Soccer Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week, respectively, yesterday (Oct. 12).

Keekley made six saves across a pair of starts as SJU went 1-0-1 in conference play last week. He stopped two shots in 55:37 of play in Tuesday's (Oct. 6) 7-0 home win over Hamline and collected four saves in Saturday's (Oct. 10) scoreless draw at Augsburg for his seventh full shutout of the season. 

Oliver scored a hat trick off the bench in the Johnnies' 7-0 home win over the Pipers on Tuesday. The hat trick was the third by a Johnnie freshman since 2000, joining teammate Axel Martin (Sept. 22, 2025 vs. St. Scholastica) and Michael Coborn '14 (Oct. 26, 2010 vs. Macalester). Martin and Coborn, however, were in the starting lineup in their three-goal performances. He leads the MIAC with five goals in conference play and is second in all games with nine.

NCAA STAT KINGS: SJU currently (through Oct. 11) leads all divisions of NCAA soccer in assists (65), corner kicks per game (9.71), goals (60), goal differential (+56), penalty-kick percentage (1.000/7-for-7), scoring offense (4.29 gpg.) and total points (185).

Individually, sophomore midfielder Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) is tied for the Division III lead in assists (11), while Keekley is third nationally in shutouts (7), fourth in save percentage (0.914) and fifth in GAA (0.288).

NEW RANKINGS: SJU slipped four spots to No. 21 in today's (Tuesday, Oct. 13) United Soccer Coaches' (USC) top 25 poll. The Johnnies were No. 26 in the latest NCAA Division III National Power Index (NPI) and stayed at No. 2 in the USC's Region IX poll.

A LOOK AT THE FALCONS: Wisconsin-River Falls (5-5-3, 0-1-1 WIAC) saw its unbeaten streak end at four (2-0-2 record) with a 2-0 home loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday (Oct. 10). Senior forward Victor Vancauteren leads the team in goals (4) and points (9), while junior defender Mauricio Cuevas (3g/1a) and senior midfielder Sorel Richardson (3g/0a) have three goals apiece. Richardson boasts a team-leading 13 shots on goal to Cuevas' 10. Freshman goalkeeper Greyson Shiek is 3-3-3 with a 1.37 GAA and a .739 save percentage (34 saves), while senior Jaime Mata is 2-2-0 with a 1.17 GAA and a .792 save percentage (19 saves).

LAST FALL: The Johnnies scored a pair of first-half goals and looked to freshman goalkeeper Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) to hold the lead in the second half in a 2-1 win last Sept. 15 (2025) in River Falls, Wis. Junior forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) extended his goal streak to six games, while center back Foster Conlin '26 scored the first of his career to cap the first 45 minutes. 

O'Connor tallied the first of the game 8:55 into play, tapping a long ball from sophomore midfielder James Torguson (Shakopee, Minn.) over the head of a pair of UWRF defenders. Sophomore forward Lisle Cherwien (Mound, Minn./Orono) collected the bouncing ball and passed it to O'Connor, who rejoined the play in the box just in time to tap in his 10th goal of the year. 

Conlin scored the eventual game-winner 10 minutes before halftime off a corner kick from classmate Connor Drong '26. Drong's kick sailed to the far post where Conlin headed it in for his first goal in 47 career games, which he sealed with a front flip. 

River Falls broke Ertel's shutout streak that lasted 263 minutes over three games with 6:16 remaining. Nine of the Falcons' 10 shots came in the second half, with Ertel making a pair of saves late in the game.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 2-0 all-time against the Falcons on the soccer pitch: 4-1 on Oct. 21, 2024 in Collegeville and 2-1 last fall on Sept. 15 (2025) in River Falls, Wis.