No. 21 Saint John's visits Concordia for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Moorhead. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (12-1-2, 4-1-1 MIAC) concluded its non-conference schedule with a 0-0 tie against Wisconsin-River Falls on Wednesday (Oct. 14) in Collegeville. What started as a relatively tame match heated up in the second half, as both teams combined for 14 fouls, seven cards and 21 shots in the final 45 minutes.

SJU tallied five shots on goal to River Falls' two in the first frame, but none were more dangerous than a ball from junior forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) that hit the pipe and deflected out of play.

The Johnnies held offensive pressure on the Falcons for much of the second half and nearly capitalized right after the break as reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week Jacob Oliver (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) forced Shiek to make a diving save in the right corner.

SJU totaled 20 shots and 11 on target after halftime. Eight of those shots came within a five-minute span, and four from the foot of freshman forward Soren Benson (Brainerd, Minn./Lake Region Christian), who generated a corner kick and several scoring chances in the final five minutes of the game.

Oliver led the team with four shots – all on goal – followed by sophomore midfielder James Torguson (Shakopee, Minn.) with three total and two on target. Benson had five shots total and one kept out of the goal by Shiek.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Keekley (St. Louis Park, Minn./Minnetonka) made three saves for his ninth complete shutout of the season (11th combined).

ANOTHER SCORELESS DRAW: Wednesday's scoreless draw, coupled with Saturday's (Oct. 10) same result at Augsburg, gave SJU its second occurrence of back-to-back 0-0 ties in program history. The first was three years ago during the 2023 season, also involving Augsburg, though both were at home: Sept. 26 against the Auggies and Sept. 30 vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Johnnies had a pair of scoreless draws divided by a game in both 1979 and 1982.

NCAA STAT KINGS: SJU currently (through Oct. 15) leads all divisions of NCAA soccer in assists (65), corner kicks per game (9.60), goals (60), goal differential (+56), penalty-kick percentage (1.000/7-for-7), scoring offense (4.00 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 second nationally in both GAA (0.263) and shutouts (8), and is third in save percentage (0.921).

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (2-7-4, 0-5-2 MIAC) saw its winless skid extend to eight games (0-5-3 record) with a 3-0 loss on Tuesday (Oct. 13) at Macalester. Junior Parker Gast leads the team with seven points (2g/3a) and sophomore Johan Lizarraga is next with five (1g/3a). Freshman Dante Kummer is 2-6-4 with a 1.89 GAA and a .685 save percentage (50 saves).

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: The Johnnies went 1-0-1 against the Cobbers last fall.

t-Saint John's 2, at Concordia 2 (Aug. 30, 2025)
Defender Carter Hermanson '26 gave SJU an early lead in the 16th minute of last season's first meeting, which served as a non-conference game in Moorhead. 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.

Ricco Rolle tied the game at 1-1 when he stole the ball from sophomore goalkeeper Cole Hanson (Urbandale, Iowa) for an uncontested tally in the 41st minute.

SJU regained the lead in the 64th minute as a long ball from forward Connor Drong '26 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. Forward Alex Bowman '26 hit the crossbar on a long shot 10 minutes in. Hanson made two saves in the first half, while Ed Krinke 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.

at Saint John's 4, Concordia 0 (Oct. 25, 2025)
SJU's first three goals came from freshmen, while defender Caden Ligman '26 capped the game with his first collegiate goal in the 77th minute. 

Franzwa opened the scoring 15:45 into the game, tallying the first of his collegiate career with a header in the box. Torguson took a corner kick for SJU that sailed to the far end of the box, where defender Foster Conlin '26 nodded it to a jumping Franzwa for the eventual game-winner.

Less than three minutes later, sophomore forward Gabe Franzman (Bettendorf, Iowa) scored his second of the year, taking a feed from O'Connor - his first of two assists on the afternoon – and sophomore midfielder Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) down the left side of the field. Franzman beat the goalkeeper on the outside after taking a feed in the box from O'Connor, who received a long pass from Ryan to start the play. 

Concordia tallied five of its eight shot attempts after the halftime break, but Drew Ripp put the game out of reach in the 71st minute for his second goal in three games. Sophomore midfielder Carter Gellner (Chaska, Minn./Chanhassen) made an outlet pass down the field to Bowman, who sent a well-placed cross into the box. O'Connor tipped the ball to Ripp who buried the Johnnies' third of the game.

Ligman scored six minutes later, as a corner kick from Drong tipped off a Cobber and to the senior defender at the top of the box, who buried it into the left corner of the goal.

The Johnnies out-shot the Cobbers 26-8 (15-5 on goal) and amassed 19 corner kicks to the visitors' one.

Hanson and classmate Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) combined for the shutout, SJU's second in a row. Hanson made two saves in 76:32, while Ertel saved three in the final 14 minutes.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 26-10-5 against the Cobbers since 1987, including a 14-3-3 record in Moorhead.