COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Life at the college level can take some adjusting for a freshman - on the field and off.

But Jacob Oliver is no stranger to adapting to new surroundings. He's been doing it all his life.

The standout forward on the nationally ranked Saint John's University soccer team is a St. Cloud Cathedral High School graduate whose family moved to Central Minnesota when he was in seventh grade.

Before that, though, they lived in both Singapore and Dubai.

"I think it shaped my personality," said Oliver, whose father Aaron is from the Twin Cities and whose mother Christina is British. "It certainly shaped me as a soccer player.

"It's definitely helped me feel more comfortable coming into new environments," he continued." Adaptability is one of my strong suits. I'm usually able to figure things out wherever I go."

He certainly seems to have gotten a quick grasp of collegiate soccer. 

The 6-foot, 170-pounder is his team's leading scorer this season with 25 points, helping lead the way for the third-seeded Johnnies (16-2-2), who defeated No. 6 seed Augsburg 3-2 in the MIAC quarterfinals Tuesday and play at No. 2 seed Gustavus Adolphus (12-3-3) at 2 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 5) in the semifinals.

Oliver's 10 goals are tied for second-most in the MIAC.

"He's steadily gotten better and better as the season has gone on," SJU coach Tudor Flintham '06 said. "We knew he came in with a dangerous skillset. But it was a matter of how quickly that could translate to the college level. He had a ton of points during his career at Cathedral. But it's another thing to do that at the college level on a nationally ranked soccer team. He's found a way to make an impact though.

"He just does the right things," he continued. "Other coaches in the conference have commented to me about that as well. He always seems to make the right choice. He doesn't do a lot of things that are super-flashy or speculative. But he does his job and he does it super-consistently."

Indeed, Oliver did set state high school career records for both points (192) and goals (139) and led Cathedral to a second-place finish at the Class A state tournament a year ago.

Still, he said he wasn't sure what to expect in his first season at the college level.

"I definitely didn't know I'd be able to make this kind of impact immediately," said Oliver, who scored 56 goals for the Crusaders in his senior season alone. "I knew I'd have a lot to learn. It's a big change going from the high school to college levels.

"I've just tried to make the best of the situations I've found myself in. It helps a lot that my teammates and coaches have shown so much confidence in me. They've put me in positions to be successful and I'm just glad I've been able to take advantage of those opportunities."

Oliver was also a standout baseball player at Cathedral and plans on playing that sport at SJU as well.

"Soccer and baseball are kind of a unique combination and that probably comes from growing up overseas as well," he said. "There were no sports like football in Singapore or Dubai. So I always played both soccer and baseball.

"My dad is a soccer guy, and my mom and her parents were huge soccer fans. Growing up, my grandpa used to make my mom dribble a soccer ball home from school. So it's always been a big sport in our family and that was instilled in me at an early age."

Oliver's parents met in Singapore where his father, a Breck High School graduate, worked in banking and his mother, who grew up in Durham, England, was in marketing. But the family spent the summers in Central Minnesota. His grandmother resides in St. Joseph and Oliver played travel baseball in Waite Park for a number of years, getting to know many of his future Cathedral classmates.

While living overseas, though, Oliver attended school with other expatriate students.

"In Singapore, there were a lot of British kids and kids from China and other Asian countries," he said. "I was pretty much the only one without a British accent. So when I came back here in the summers, I fit in pretty well.

"We moved back here during COVID because it was getting crazy overseas and my parents thought this would be a better place. I picked Cathedral because I knew it was a school where I could be part of a close-knit group of friends who had the same passion and drive to succeed that I did."

Oliver said he found that same kind of community atmosphere at SJU, which is what made the school so attractive to him.

"I did look at a couple of other places, but ever since we moved back here, I've been coming to basketball and football games at Saint John's - spending time in the tailgate lot," he said. "I've had the chance to see the Johnnie network up close. Everyone is friends with everyone else. That kind of welcoming environment really appealed to me.

"You can show up on this campus and make 10 new friends in one day. I've never seen anyone have a bad time here, or heard anyone say a bad thing about being a Johnnie."

Oliver, who plans to major in economics, would one day like to pursue a career of some kind in finance. But that's awhile down the road.

Right now, he's focused on helping a still-young SJU team (the roster includes no seniors and just three juniors) make as deep a postseason run as possible.

"Because we are so young, a lot of the freshmen and sophomores have had to step into leadership roles right away," said Oliver, whose team is ranked No. 22 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III men's national rankings.

"There have been times when we could have used a little older leadership this season. It's definitely been a learning process. But we've figured out how to work together as a group really well with everyone taking ownership and doing the things we need to do to win."