No. 20 Saint John's soccer hosts Gustavus Adolphus at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Haws Field. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-0-0, 1-0-0 MIAC) cruised past Bethel in its MIAC opener with a six-goal, shutout victory on Tuesday (Sept. 15) in Arden Hills.

SJU had a number of early opportunities but was held scoreless until minute 39 of the first half. Freshman forward Charlies Foslien (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) scored the eventual game-winner and his third goal of the season on a quick touch into the goal. Junior midfielder Thomas Theising (Minneapolis, Minn./Wayzata) made a short pass to sophomore forward Eli Ryan (Victoria, Minn./Minnetonka) on a free kick to break around the wall of BU defenders. Ryan drove to the goal line before crossing the ball to Foslien in the box.

The Johnnies wasted little time doubling the lead after halftime, as sophomore forward Axel Martin (Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount) headed in a pass from junior forward Ronan O'Connor (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) with a defender on his back 3:44 into the second frame.

Forward Jacob Oliver (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) added his third of the season in the 57th minute on an all-freshman connection. Forward Soren Benson (Brainerd, Minn./Lake Region Christian) recovered the ball from Bethel defenders near the goal line and sent a cross through the box to Foslien, who nudged the ball to Oliver after being fronted by the BU goalkeeper.

Freshman defender Billy Cornett (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season on a penalty kick after a foul in the box at 68:21.

Benson made it 5-0 just 1:27 later, as SJU moved systematically up the field thanks to some nifty passing from sophomores Gabe Franzman (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Olin Franzwa (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury).

Sophomore forward Carter Gellner (Chaska, Minn./Chanhassen) added the exclamation point with 2:16 remaining, stealing the ball from the Royals after a misplayed pass from a BU defender to the goalkeeper. Gellner chipped it past the keeper racing into the play and sprinted the ball into the goal.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Keekley (St. Louis Park, Minn./Minnetonka) maintained his scoreless streak, now extended to 522:06, without having to make a save against the Royals. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Ertel (Brownsburg, Ind./Lawrence Central) finished the last 17:54 of the shutout in goal.

The Johnnies out-shot Bethel 19-5 and didn't allow a shot on goal for the second time this season (10-0 on goal).

7-0-0: Although the Johnnies opened the 2005 season with an eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1 record), the 7-0 start is the program's best since 2002 – head coach Tudor Flintham's '06 freshman year.

GOAL DIFFERENTIAL: Tuesday's 6-0 victory at Bethel was the Johnnies' largest goal differential against the Royals in program history, topping 5-0 margins in 1980, 1985, 1991, 2000, 2007 and 2012. SJU is now 38-13-5 all-time against the Royals since 1973, including a 19-5-3 record in Arden Hills.

NCAA STATS: SJU has out-scored the opposition 34-0 and recorded a sizeable margin in shots (156-39), shots on goal (87-18) and corner kicks (72-10). The Johnnies enter the weekend (through Sept. 17) as the NCAA Division III leader in assists (33), corner kicks per game (10.3), goals (34), GAA (0.00), goal differential (+34), penalty-kick percentage (1.000/4-for-4), save percentage (1.000), shutout percentage (1.000) and total points (101). 

Individually, Keekley is the Division III leader in GAA (0.00), save percentage (1.000) and shutouts (5). Cornett leads the nation in game-winning goals (3), while Ryan is second in assists (6).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: SJU was ranked No. 20 in the first United Soccer Coaches (USC) poll of the 2026 regular season released before Tuesday's MIAC opener at Bethel. The national ranking is the first for SJU soccer since Sept. 22, 2015 (No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll). SJU also debuted at No. 2 in the USC's Region IX poll.

United Soccer Coaches Region IX Rankings
1. St. Olaf (No. 2 nationally)
2. SJU (No. 20 nationally)
3. Wisconsin-Eau Claire
4. Macalester
5. Augsburg
6. Wisconsin-Platteville
7. Luther (Iowa)
8. Wartburg (Iowa)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (1-2-1, 0-0-0 MIAC) is coming off a 3-1 loss to then-No. 25 Luther (Iowa) last Saturday (Sept. 12) in St. Peter. Senior forward Joe Flory gave the Gusties an early lead with his second tally of the season in the 16th minute, but the Norse tallied three unanswered goals for the win. Sophomore forward Kieran Mahan leads the team in goals (3) and points (6) thanks to his hat trick in Sept. 9's 3-0 win at Wisconsin-Superior. Junior goalkeeper Jackson Baker has played all 360 minutes in net and has a 1.75 GAA and a .667 save percentage (14 saves).

LAST FALL: GAC scored two second-half goals to defeat Saint John's last Sept. 27 (2025) in St. Peter. Cole Frazier scored what proved to be the game-winning goal just 1:34 into the second half and Simon Woods added an insurance goal early in the 72nd minute. The Gusties posted a narrow 11-9 edge in shots (6-4 on goal) and a 9-4 mark in corner kicks.