College Sports Wrap: Johnnies Win First Football Game, SCSU Volleyball Still Perfect

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College Football

St. John’s University’s Varsity Football Team proved Saturday that its lofty preseason ranking is deserved. The Johnnies opened at home, besting #4 UW-Whitewater, 24-10.

St. John’s hadn’t beat the Warhawks since 2002. The Johnnies took advantage of three turnovers, scoring 14 points off of those errors. Late in the second quarter St. John’s capped a five-play, 28-yard drive with a short touchdown pass from Aaron Syverson to Alex Larson to go up 9-3.

Whitewater battled back to take the lead, 10-9, when quarterback Evan Lewandowski found Tyler Holte from four yards out with 11:05 remaining in the third quarter. That was the last hurrah for the Warhawks.

The Johnnies defensive unit had two safeties in addition to the forced turnovers. They got their second at the 6:50 mark of the third to put the home team up, 11-10. They then set up the offense on the Whitewater 17, which turned into a touchdown and an eight-point lead.

On Whitewater’s final seven possessions, they accumulated only four yards of total offense. Syverson found Larson for a second time to put the game away for the Johnnies in what was the only scoring of the fourth quarter. They went up 24-10 with 10:46 to go.

College Volleyball

Saint Cloud State’s Women’s Volleyball Team remains perfect on the season, now 8-0. For the second consecutive weekend, they have swept a two-day tournament. The most recent one was in West Palm Beach, Florida, about 1,800 miles away.

The Huskies downed Barton, Palm Beach Atlantic, Lynn, and New Haven in straight sets to cruise through the Hyatt Bash at the Beach. The host Sailfish received votes in the most recent AVCA poll, the third Huskies opponent to have that recognition.

The Huskies were remarkably efficient, averaging an attack percentage of well over 30% in the tournament. Attack percentage is defined as (kills – errors)/total attempts. SCSU also benefitted from roughly 10 aces per contest.

The St. Cloud Technical and Community College Women’s Volleyball Team lost the only match they played this week, falling in five sets Wednesday night to Century College, 23-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, 13-15.

Emily Kemp, Kailee Barnett, and McKenna Gross all had at least 10 kills in the match for the Cyclones. Kylie Winter played exceptional defense, picking up 45 digs.

The Cyclones are now 4-3.

College Soccer

The Saint Cloud State University Men’s Soccer Team is now 1-1-2 on the season. The squad tied Truman State in Kirksville, Missouri on Wednesday. The Huskies led 1-0 at the intermission but a Luke Payne goal just 21 seconds into the second half was the only scoring the rest of the way.

On Saturday, the men played Colorado Christian at home and managed only two shots on net. They were blanked 3-0 at Husky Stadium. Silas Hess, Adrian Diez, and Gabe Roloff each notched a goal for the Cougars.

The Women’s Varsity Team took down rival Minnesota-Duluth on Friday at Husky Stadium, 4-1. The Bulldogs started the scoring only 3:29 into the match when Anna Tobias beat Evie Kohn for her first of the season.

Saint Cloud State found momentum late in the first half, garnering all four of their tallies in under 20 minutes of gameplay. Jenna Dominguez tied it at 37:57. In the early part of the second half, Megan Kirby (49:15), Gracie Parsons (52:37), and Emali Ortega Talamentes (56:19) all snuck balls behind the Bulldog keeper.

SCSU ended the match with 15 shots, eight of those on net. The team is 1-2 overall.

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