The Johnnie soccer team travels to face Gustavus Adolphus for the MIAC Playoff Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament this Saturday, Nov. 8. The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Gustie Soccer Field in St. Peter. – Live Stats | Live Video

Preview Video:
-Head coach John Haws (1:00) 

FAN BUS: Thanks to the SJU Senate, a fan bus and paid entrance for the first 50 CSB/SJU students will be available for Saturday's match. The bus departs from the Abbey Bell Banner at 10:30 a.m.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-6, 7-3 MIAC) defeated St. Olaf 4-1 in Northfield in the MIAC Playoff semifinals Wednesday (Nov. 5) in Northfield. Sophomore Rocky Harmon (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the year 13:32 into the game and junior Alex Niederloh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) doubled the Johnnies' lead just over 30 seconds later with his fourth goal of the year. Junior Paul Wageman (Roseville, Minn./DeLaSalle) put SJU up by three after 20 minutes with his first collegiate goal and senior Zane Heinselman (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) ended the scoring with his sixth goal of the year in the 63rd minute. 

FOUR-GOAL THRESHOLD: Prior to Wednesday's victory, SJU had scored four goals or more against St. Olaf only three times since 1981. All three instances occurred in Collegeville (4-2 in 1981; 6-1 in 2000; and 4-3 in overtime in 2001).

SECOND STRAIGHT: The Johnnies will make their second consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoff Championship game after upsetting the MIAC's regular-season champion and top seed in the semifinal. SJU upset the regular-season champion and top seed, Gustavus, with a 2-1 victory in last year's MIAC Playoff semifinals nearly a year to the date (Nov. 6, 2013).

WINS IN BUNCHES: SJU takes a seven-match win streak to St. Peter on Saturday, its longest run since the team started the 2002 season with seven straight victories. The Johnnies allowed four goals during that seven-game stretch, out-scoring their opponents 16-4 (compared to the current 18-3 margin in 2014). The program had six-game win streaks in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

WHATDYA KNOW, NIEDERLOH: Niederloh has four goals on the year, all of which were game-winners, including his tally on Wednesday. Six of his seven career goals have been game-winners.

PLAYOFF ROCK: Harmon added three more points to his postseason ledger and now has nine (4g/1a) in his last three MIAC Playoff matches going back to last year's MIAC Playoff Championship game.

COBWEBS ON THE NET: Junior goalkeeper Kevin Lebahn (New Hope, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) has kept a string of clean sheets for the Johnnies as of late. The last goal scored against Lebahn was on a rebound, off a penalty kick that he initially saved, at the 68:10 mark of the 3-2 win at St. Thomas on Oct. 15. He has accumulated 520:29 consecutive minutes of scoreless soccer since. 

50+: Heinselman's goal and assist at St. Olaf pushed him to 51 points (19g/13a) in 64 career games for the Johnnies. He currently leads the team with 14 points (6g/2a) this fall and needs two goals to draw even with associate head coach Tudor Flintham '06 for 10th on SJU's career goals list. 

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Johnnies are aiming to earn their second MIAC Playoff title and 11th national-tournament appearance (fifth at the NCAA Division III level).

14 WINS: A win on Saturday would tie the program's season record of 14 posted in five different years: 1974 (14-3-3), 1979 (14-1-3), 1986 (14-1-0), 1991 (14-2-2) and 2005 (14-3-3). 

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus (14-4-1, 7-2-1 MIAC) secured the second seed and first-round bye for the MIAC Playoffs and defeated Carleton 1-0 on Wednesday. Senior Zach Brown scored the game-winner with a header in the 26th minute. The goal was his 11th of the season and league-leading sixth game-winner. Brown has five career goals against SJU, including two game-winners, and leads the team with 28 points (11g/6a). Seniors Braden Schmid (9-3-1) and Brett Ylonen (5-1-0) have combined for a 0.56 GAA and a .820 save percentage in net.

EARLIER THIS FALL: The Johnnies defeated the Gusties 1-0 in double overtime on Sept. 27 in St. Peter on Niederloh's first goal of the season, in the 104th minute. The win snapped the Gusties' 17-match, MIAC regular-season win streak. At the top of the box with his back to the goal, sophomore Sam Newman (St. Louis, Mo./Priory) flicked the ball over his and the defender's head, behind him, where a hard-rushing Niederloh and Wageman were charging into the open space. Niederloh beat his teammate to the ball and chipped it into the net for the game-winner, his third in his last four goals going back to last season. Harmon picked up the second assist. SJU out-shot the Gusties 12-10, though the home team held a 6-4 edge on goal and a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.

LAST YEAR'S MIAC-PLAYOFF MATCHUP: Heinselman scored two unanswered goals in the first half to give the Johnnies a 2-1 win at then-No. 20 Gustavus in the MIAC Playoff Semifinals on last Nov. 6 (2013) in St. Peter. Mark Tollefsrud gave Gustavus an early 1-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season 26:45 into the match. Heinselman tied the match at 1-1 six minutes later and gave SJU the lead for good on a header shot with 5:32 left off a corner kick by Michael Coborn '14 for his first multi-goal game as a Johnnie. Ryan Brutger '14 made five saves in the win to improve to 5-2-0 on the year (12-10-4 in his career). The win was the first for SJU over the Gusties since 2009 (1-0) and the first in St. Peter since 2006 (1-0). The victory also ended a two-game MIAC-Playoff losing streak for the Johnnies, their first since the 1-0 overtime win at Macalester to claim the 2005 title.