Third-seeded No. 22 Saint John's soccer visits second-seeded Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC semifinals at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in St. Peter. – Live Stats | Live Video (PPV) | Online Tickets

TICKET INFORMATION: Fans wishing to attend the game must purchase tickets online. General admission adult tickets are $12 (plus HTT service charge). Student (with ID) tickets are $3 (plus HTT service charge), and children ages five and under are admitted free. As a reminder, artificial noisemakers are not permitted at any MIAC events. – Purchase Online Tickets

PAY-PER-VIEW: The 2026 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs will be streamed live on the MIAC Sports Network in a pay-per-view format. Individual playoff contests will be streamed for $10 each, or $25 for a "championship pass" to stream the entire tournament live. On-demand access to playoff games will be available after the NCAA Tournament concludes.

PLAYOFF APPAREL: Official apparel for the 2026 MIAC Men's Soccer Playoffs is on sale now. The limited-time online store powered by UNRestricted MKTG. The online store features officially licensed short-sleeve t-shirts, long-sleeve t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts to commemorate the 2026 conference tournament. The items available in this shop are custom-decorated. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. All apparel items are online-only, custom-made and all sales are final. – Playoff Apparel  

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (16-2-2, 7-2-1 MIAC) defeated Augsburg 3-2 in the MIAC Playoff Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Haws Field. SJU scored two goals in the first half and a third quickly after the break before seceding a pair of goals to the Auggies late in the second half. 

Freshman defender Billy Cornett (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) opened the scoring for the Johnnies with his seventh goal of the season, a penalty kick (3-for-3) in the 31st minute after an Augsburg handball in the box. 

Freshman forward Soren Benson (Brainerd, Minn./Lake Region Christian) doubled the lead seven minutes later with his sixth goal of the season. Freshman Ethan Brown (Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount) sent a ball to classmate Laird Holden (Iowa City, Iowa/Regina) who was driving along the sideline. Holden beat his man on the outside and crossed the ball to Benson in the box, who beat an Auggie defender and the goalkeeper to the left corner. 

Freshman defender Aidan Buckneberg (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Southwest) scored the eventual game-winner 4:48 into the second half. The goal was Buckneberg's fourth of the season, all of which have come in the Johnnies' last six games. Sophomore midfielder Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) started the play in the midfield, beating a defender along the sideline before passing the ball into the box. Freshman forward Grady Monette (Andover, Minn.) touched the ball off the back of his foot to Buckneberg to convert. The assist for Ryan was his team- and nation-leading 13th of the season.

Caleb Ibarra erased the shutout for Augsburg in the 59th minute and Liam Paradiso made it a one-goal game with 2:35 remaining. Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) denied Gio Casias' penalty kick, but Paradiso put the rebound away for his ninth goal of the season.

The start in net was the fourth of the season for Ertel, who finished with five saves to improve to 3-0 on the year.

SJU posted a slim edge in shots, 22-21 (10-8 on goal), which were comprised of a near-even split by half: 15-7 by SJU in the first half, 14-7 by AUG in the second. The home team tallied a 10-7 advantage in corner kicks.

NEW RANKINGS: SJU jumped two spots to No. 22 in yesterday's (Tuesday, Nov. 3) United Soccer Coaches' (USC) top 25 poll. The Johnnies are No. 26 in the latest NCAA Division III National Power Index (NPI, through Nov. 3) and stayed at No. 2 in the USC Region IX poll.

SJU is currently No. 13 nationally in the Massey ratings.

United Soccer Coaches Region IX Rankings
1. St. Olaf (No. 1 nationally)
2. SJU (No. 22 nationally)
3. Gustavus Adolphus
4. Luther, Iowa
5. Wisconsin-Platteville
6. Wisconsin-Superior
7. Wartburg, Iowa
8. Wisconsin-Eau Claire

ANOTHER MIAC HONOR, HAT TRICK: Monette, who was named the MIAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week today (Nov. 2) for the second time this season, is the third Johnnie to score a hat trick this season and second freshman, joining Oliver and his three goals in the Johnnies' 7-0 home win over Hamline on Oct. 6.

15 WINS: Saturday's win served as the Johnnies' program-record 15th of the year. The previous record of 14 was set in three different seasons: 1974 (14-3-3), 1986 (14-1-0) and 2005 (14-3-3).

NCAA STATS: The Johnnies currently (through Nov. 2, have not updated to include Tuesday's game) lead all divisions of NCAA soccer in assists (76), corner kicks per game (9.21), goal differential (+60) and penalty-kick percentage (1.000/7-for-7). The Johnnies are second in Division III in goals (69) and points (214); third in scoring offense (3.63 gpg.), shots on goal per game (10.84) and shutout percentage (.684); and fourth in shots per game (21.58).

Individually, Oliver leads Division III in shot accuracy (0.711), while Ryan is tied for the national lead in assists per game (.75) and is third in total assists (12). Keekley is third in GAA (.434) and fourth in save percentage (.887).

SJU'S MIAC PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Johnnies are making their 15th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs, which were established in 2003, and 12th in the last 14 seasons. SJU is 9-13-2 in the conference tournament.

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (12-3-3, 8-0-2 MIAC) is unbeaten over its last eight games (7-0-1 record) since a 4-3 loss on Oct. 7 to Bethany Lutheran. Sophomore forward Kieran Mahan leads the Gusties in goals (12), game-winning goals (4) and points (29), while senior forward Joe Flory is close behind with 10 goals and 25 points. Junior goalkeeper Jackson Backer is 9-3-3 with a 0.91 GAA and a .787 save percentage (48 saves).

IN SEPTEMBER: Then-No. 20 SJU saw its unbeaten streak to start the season end at 659:08 in a 2-0 loss to Gustavus earlier this season on Sept. 19 at Haws Field. GAC scored once in each half and the two teams combined for 35 fouls. 

The Johnnies bettered GAC in corner kicks in the first half, but a foul put the Gusties in front of the box for a free kick. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Keekley (St. Louis Park, Minn./Minnetonka) made the initial diving save but lost track of the rebound to give Gustavus a 1-0 lead 19:08 into the contest. 

SJU had a number of chances, including one off the crossbar from Cornett, but couldn't convert in the second half. The Gusties added another in the 78th minute to put the game away. 

Six cards were issued in the game – four on the Gusties and two on SJU. Gustavus out-shot SJU 9-7 on goal but the Johnnies held the edge in total shots, 18-16, and in corner kicks (8-7).

Keekley finished with seven saves. Ryan led SJU in shots on goal with two, despite a first half injury, while three other Johnnies had three total shots.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 20-30-7 against the Gusties since 1979, including a 12-16-3 record in St. Peter. Thursday's meeting is the ninth between the two programs in the MIAC Playoffs (2-5-1 record), all of which were on the road for SJU:

-Nov. 3, 2003: L, 0-3 in St. Peter (semifinals)
-Nov. 2, 2005: T, 0-0 (W, 4-3 PK's) in St. Peter (semifinals)
-Nov. 6, 2013: W, 2-1 in St. Peter (semifinals)
-Nov. 8, 2014: L, 0-2 in St. Peter (championship)
-Nov. 7, 2019: L, 2-6 in Mankato (semifinals)
-Nov. 1, 2021: W, 2-1 (OT) in St. Peter (quarterfinals)
-Nov. 2, 2022: L, 0-1 in St. Peter (semifinals)
-Oct. 30, 2023: L, 0-2 in St. Peter (quarterfinals)