Alumni return to play for first time in three years

Last Saturday April 23rd marked the annual St. John’s Soccer Alumni Game where past players come back to take the field against the current squad of Johnnies.

The 2022 Alumni Game was the first in three years due to COVID.

The game itself was a competitive one. Lots of recent alumni returned to play, but many haven’t laced up their cleats for SJU in a while also return which makes the game that much more special.

The alumni don’t return to just kick the balls around either, both teams want to compete.

“It’s pretty intense,” sophomore midfielder Kaidan Popp said. “The people playing on the team now want to prove that they can play better than the guys prior, and the prior guys want to prove that they can still play so it’s a pretty good fight between the two.”

The game turned out to be a good one as well as both teams battled back and forth, but it was the current Johnnie team that outscored the alumni by a 2-0 score. Popp was able to net both those goals to secure the win for the younger team.

The alumni team was filled with players of all ages, from seniors who are just finishing college to a player who graduated in 1978.

The alumni game is something important to previous graduates as many travel across states to participate. According to head coach John Haws, players flying in from Arizona and Colorado.

As for the energy around the game, there was a lot of excitement.

“There was a lot of energy because it’s always kind of fun seeing the old guys you used to play with and now you’re playing against them. So, I thought it was a very fun game and there was a lot of energy from our team and their team as well,” junior forward Ryan Erickson said.

The Johnnies are looking to build off the late playoff momentum from last year as they beat number three seed Gustavus in overtime before narrowly falling to nationally ranked St. Olaf two days later.

SJU is bringing back 11 of the 14 athletes who played in 15 or more games last year, including 71% of their scoring.

All-MIAC honorees first-year goalkeeper Evan Siefken, junior midfielder Matt D. Anderson and junior defender Aiden Becken are all returning to lead the Johnnies into the 2022 season.

Last year SJU was elite on defense but struggled to put the ball in the net.

“We have some really talented attacking players coming in,” Haws said.

Haws is hoping to maintain an solid defense while adding some dynamic offense this season.

The team is looking forward to playing on the road early this fall. They start with a trip to California where they will play Cal Luthern and UC-Santa Cruz before a trip into Wisconsin to play UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater.