Saint John's soccer starts its 2026 season by hosting St. Norbert (Wis.) for a 4:30 p.m. match on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at Haws Field. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES (Season Preview): Last season was an amazing start.

Now head coach Tudor Flintham and the rest of the Saint John's University soccer team are out to prove the best is yet to come.

The Johnnies produced one of the best turnarounds in NCAA Division III a year ago, going from a 6-8-1 finish in 2024 to 13-5-3 record last fall. The 13 wins were the program's most since 2014 (13-7-0).
 
SJU tied for fifth in the conference with a 5-4-1 record and made its 14th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (established in 2003) and 11th in the last 13 seasons. 
 
The Johnnies were 40th in the NCAA's National Power Index (NPI) prior to the 2025 national tournament selections. Denison (Ohio) was the final at-large qualifier to the NCAA Tournament at No. 31. The Johnnies were 39th in the final NPI following the national championship.
 
Statistically, SJU led Division III in assists per game (3.48); was second in both corner kicks per game (7.52) and total assists (73); fourth in points per game (8.90); fifth in total points (187); and 14th scoring offense (2.71 gpg.).
 
The Johnnies now return 80.7 percent (46 of 57) of their goals scored last season, including 11 of 13 game-winners, and 75.4 percent (141 of 187) of their total points. Six of the 11 returning game-winning goals came from junior forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray), an All-Region and All-MIAC selection last season. 

The other five game-winners came from five different SJU players.
 
The Johnnies' 19-game schedule includes five against teams who reached the Division III Tournament last fall, nine nonconference matches and nine total contests in Collegeville.
 
Here is a more in-depth look at the 2026 Johnnies:
 
Ronan O'Goals
A United Soccer Coaches All-Region IX third-team selection, O'Connor's 20 goals in 2025 broke the program's single-season record, which had previously been set in 1974 (19 by Ken Potts '74). His 50 points finished second behind Potts' 56 in '74. O'Connor finished second in Division III in total points; fourth in goals; fifth in game-winning goals and points per game (2.43); and seventh in both assists (10) and goals per game (0.95).
 
He played and started in all 10 MIAC games, tying for second in the league in points (17), fourth in goals (6) and fifth in assists (5) in conference play. His seven points (3g/1a) at Saint Mary's on Oct. 28 were tied for first in a single game last season. He was also one of five players to net a hat trick in league play and was selected as the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week three times. 
 
O'Connor has 64 points (26g/12a) in two seasons and is tied with Michael Coborn '14 for fifth in program history in goals, while his 64 points are tied with Andy Witchger '05 and Joe Schmidt '04 for seventh.
 
Solid Freshmen
Eight Johnnie sophomores recorded four points or more as freshmen last fall. Forward Lisle Cherwien (Mound, Minn./Orono) led the group with 15 points and five goals in 19 games (15 starts), which were both good for second on the team. Fellow forward Axel Martin (Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount) was right behind him in third, in both points (12) and goals (4), in 16 matches (14 starts) and midfielder Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) registered 11 points (3g/5a) in 19 games (17 starts). Ryan scored a goal in each of the Johnnies' final two games.
 
Midfielder Carter Gellner (Chaska, Minn./Chanhassen) came off the bench for 18 games and totaled nine points (2g/5a) and defender Drew Ripp found the net twice in 13 games as a reserve. Midfielder Olin Franzwa (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) registered four points (1g/2a) in 19 games (16 starts).
 
On the back line, Gabe Franzman (Bettendorf, Iowa) posted five points (2g/1a) in 17 games (11 starts), while James Torguson (Shakopee, Minn.) joined O'Connor as the other Johnnie to start all 21 games and tallied six points (1g/4a).
 
Netminders
SJU returns two of its main goalkeepers as sophomores in 2026. Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) started eight games (11 appearances) and posted a 5-2-1 record with a 1.19 GAA and a .783 save percentage (36 saves), while Cole Hanson (Urbandale, Iowa) went 8-3-1 with a 1.16 GAA and an .813 save percentage (61 saves) over 13 starts (14 games). Hanson started the Johnnies' last nine games in net and tallied a 6-2-1 record with a 1.03 GAA. Another sophomore, Alex Keekley (St. Louis Park, Minn./Minnetonka), transferred to SJU from St. Olaf after making three scoreless appearances, totaling 52:30 in net, last fall.
 
Year-Two Juniors
A pair of juniors, who made their Johnnie soccer debuts last season, return. A transfer from MIAC-foe Gustavus Adolphus, forward Micah O'Leary (Phoenix, Ariz./Casa Grande) seven points (3g/1a) in 13 games off the bench and defender Thomas Theising (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) totaled five points (1g/3a) in 19 games (11 starts) after spending Fall 2024 on the SJU football team. Four (1g/2a) of Theising's five points came in SJU's final four games.
 
The 2026 Schedule
The Johnnies start the 2026 season with an eventful week of five games in eight days. St. Norbert (Wis.) visits Haws Field for the Sept. 1 opener, followed by a pair of road matches at a pair of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opponents, Minnesota-Morris (Sept. 4) and Crown (Sept. 5). SJU wraps up Labor Day weekend by dedicating its new scoreboard Sept. 6 vs. Coe (Iowa) and returns to the road for two more trips to UMAC schools Bethany Lutheran (Sept. 8) and Wisconsin-Superior (Sept. 12). UWS reached the NCAA Tournament by winning the UMAC playoffs and finished with a 16-7 record last fall.
 
SJU's conference opener Sept. 15 at Bethel serves as the precursor to a six-game stretch that includes five in Collegeville: Gustavus Adolphus (Sept. 19), North Central (Sept. 22), Saint Mary's (Sept. 30), No. 13 Macalester (Oct. 3) and Hamline (Oct. 6). Gustavus was an NCAA Tournament team with a 14-6-1 record last season and was joined in the national tournament by Macalester, which won the MIAC playoff title and finished with a 17-5 record.
 
The lone match away from the friendly confines of Haws Field is a neutral-site showdown with Colorado College at night Sept. 26 at Division I Creighton's Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium in Omaha, Neb. The Tigers posted a 12-1-6 record last fall.
 
SJU visits No. 8 Augsburg Oct. 10 in a rematch of last year's MIAC-quarterfinal win in Minneapolis and hosts Wisconsin-River Falls Oct. 14 for the final nonconference game. The Johnnies served as two of the Auggies' three losses last season (18-3-3 record) en route to the NCAA Tournament.
 
SJU heads northwest to Concordia Oct. 17 and to No. 3 St. Olaf, the 2025 MIAC regular-season champion and an NCAA Tournament team with a 20-3-3 record, on Oct. 21. Carleton wraps up the Johnnies' home schedule Oct. 24 and the regular season ends on Halloween at St. Scholastica.
 
MIAC Playoffs
The first round of the six-team MIAC Playoffs is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2, and the MIAC semifinals follow on Thursday, Nov. 5. The MIAC championship game, with the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line, is set for Saturday, Nov. 7. The high seed hosts in all three rounds.

A LOOK AT THE GREEN KNIGHTS: St. Norbert finished third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) with a 9-3 record (11-8 overall), but fell to sixth-seeded Illinois Tech 3-0 in the first round of the conference tournament last fall. The Green Knights were picked fifth in Aug. 26's NACC preseason coaches' poll and return three of their top-eight point scorers from last season. Sophomore midfielder Hayden Dunn led the team in every offensive category in 2025: goals (8), game-winning goals (3), assists (4), points (20), shots (43) and shots on goal (22). Senior forwards Joe Anguil and Ben Swicionis totaled nine (3g/3a) and six (2g/2a) points, respectively. Junior goalkeeper Jackson Kiszka went 10-7 with a 0.97 GAA and a .803 save percentage (61 saves) in 18 games. Kiszka and senior midfielder Davis Vega were named to the All-NACC second team, while Dunn was honorable mention.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 3-1 all-time against the Green Knights on the soccer pitch:

-Oct. 6, 1991 (Oshkosh, Wis.): W, 6-1
-Sept. 28, 1996 (Collegeville): W, 6-0
-Sept. 17, 2006 (De Pere, Wis.): L, 1-2 (2OT)
-Sept. 7, 2024 (Collegeville): W, 3-0