COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The seeds for the hot start Saint John's senior Nabil Gharib got off to in the fall of 1996 were planted that summer when he was back home in Sweden.
 
"I trained harder than ever to prepare for the soccer season that year, and the simple fact is I was more prepared than ever, which showed right away in training camp," he recalled. "One of my Achilles heels throughout my career as a soccer player was that I wasn't exactly known as a trained lion. I mostly managed (to get by) on the field with talent and skill. But that was the first season I was truly in shape.
 
"I even recall that after one of the running tests or drills we had that preseason, (head coach) Pat (Haws) asked me what I'd been up to over the summer."
 
Gharib's additional conditioning work continued to pay off when the season started. He had seven goals in SJU's first four games, helping the Johnnies begin the year unbeaten. That included the game-winning goal in a 4-3 nonconference overtime win at Viterbo on Sept. 14 in La Crosse, Wis., and another goal in a 3-1 win at Wisconsin-Platteville the following day.
 
"I remember (the Viterbo) game like it was yesterday," said Gharib, who is now global head of one of the product areas for SEB, a bank based in Stockholm. "The first goal scored by Erik Werner is actually a stronger memory in my mind than the game-winner. I was standing on the center line and Eric Ross, our amazing midfielder and my best friend in college, had the ball on our half of the pitch. I ran toward the right corner of Viterbo's goal, got the ball perfectly from Eric, ran down the sideline and pitched it perfectly to Erik, who put the ball in the net.
 
"The game-winner itself was actually a weird goal. I again got the ball from Eric Ross somewhere in Viterbo's box, fairly close to the goal. I was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and all I had to do was shoot it into the right corner. It went in, but that's not what I remember most. 
 
"It's actually Eric Ross's comment after the ball went in. He asked, 'What took you so long to put it in the net?' Eric is one of the greatest players I ever played with, and I have played with some great ones."
 
Gharib put a lot of balls in the net during his four seasons in Collegeville. His 23 career goals still rank eighth in program history, and many of those came on free kicks – a particular skill he possessed.
 
"He could kick a ball that moved like a knuckleball in baseball," former SJU head coach Pat Haws '72 recalled. "It popped around and it made it difficult for the goalkeeper to track. When we got a free kick within shooting distance, we knew he was going to put it in the net."
 
Perhaps his most memorable free kick came during his sophomore season in 1994. The Johnnies hadn't defeated MIAC power Macalester in St. Paul since 1988, but Gharib's goal at the 43:24 mark of the first half proved all his team needed to come away with a 1-0 victory.
 
"Although I got a lot of playing time as a freshman, my sophomore year was when I started to make a footprint as an SJU soccer player," said Gharib, who earned All-MIAC honors that season, then again as a senior in 1996. "I had settled in at college. I felt at home. I'd gotten into a routine, I was disciplined in my studies and I truly loved college life – the whole package, with friends both on the team and in general. 
 
"I'd found balance, which brought out the best in me as a soccer player."
 
Gharib's road to SJU began in 1991 when his mother decided it would be a good idea for him to visit his brother's family in Minnesota.
 
"At the time, my focus was on anything but school," he recalled. "It was 100 percent on soccer. My ambition was to become a professional soccer player here in Sweden. This, of course, had a negative effect on my studies and education. Since I was already in the U.S., my mother wanted me to test a semester in high school there. One thing led to another and I ended up starting the fall of 1991 as a sophomore at Irondale High School."
 
Gharib went on to a successful prep career there, earning a spot in the Minnesota state high school all-star game after his senior season. He earned MVP honors in that contest, which was played at Macalester in St. Paul.
 
"I'd already been approached by Coach Haws before that game, but afterward, our dialogue intensified even more," he said. "And over that summer, which I spent back in Sweden, I made my decision to enroll at SJU – the best decision of my life for many reasons."
 
Gharib and his wife Anna are now the parents of two children – Annie, 14, and Hugo, 7. But he still looks back on his college days at SJU with warmth and affection.
 
"What struck me most when I arrived there in 1993 was the professionalism, the organization, the leadership and the quality of the whole college sporting experience, said Gharib, who still plays soccer on a veteran team in Stockholm when his knees allow him to. "The leadership was great, not only from Pat, but from the assistant coaching staff at the time which included (former SJU hockey coach and 1980 U.S. Olympian) John Harrington. They complemented one another in an awesome way.
 
"The senior captains my first year did a great job of creating a team spirit, taking in the newcomers and making them feel psychologically safe and part of the team. That spirit continued throughout my four years there. I felt very much part of the team and made many friendships."

40 years ago (1986)
Junior fullback Todd Bock made the most of his first collegiate start, rushing for 165 yards and four touchdowns as the SJU football team rolled past Augsburg 60-0 on Sept. 13 in Minneapolis.

70 years ago (1956)
Tommy "Whizzer" White, returning from military service, hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass with just over five minutes to play as the Johnnie football team opened its season with a 14-9 win over St. Cloud Teachers College (now St. Cloud State) at Selke Field on Sept. 15.

100 years ago (1926)
The MIAC announced the conference tennis tournament would be held at SJU the following May. George Clifford would go on to win the conference singles title at that competition.