COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - No. 6 Gustavus men's soccer earned a convincing 5-0 victory at Saint John's on Friday evening, remaining unbeaten on the season at 10-0-2 overall and 5-0-1 in the MIAC.
The Gusties scored the first goal of the game in the 28th minute.
Mason Gilliand set up the play from midfield by chipping the ball to
Leo Runestad who dribbled it down the left side to the goal line and sent a cross to
Owen Johnson, who was left uncovered directly in front of the goal for the easy tap in.
In the 59th minute,
Alex Krumenauer sprung loose up the right side, made a move around a defender, centered to Johnson, who connected with
Joe Flory on the left side for the goal. The goal was Flory's team-leading seventh of the season, while Johnson earned his 42nd career assist, breaking the previous program record of 41 held by Matthew Gibbons (2017-21).
Jared Hecht added an insurance goal in the 73rd minute after making a quick move around a defender in the box followed by a shot past the keeper attempting to make a sliding save. The goal was Hecht's second of the season.
The rout was on in the 82nd minute as
DJ Taylor found Krumenauer on the right side, who made a slick pass to
Matt Carlson out front, who then finished with his first career goal. And less than two minutes later,
Nick James put the final nail in the coffin after scoring his first career goal on a second chance opportunity off the keeper.
"That was a real squad performance," said Head Coach
Tudor Flintham. "It's fun to be able to really go through the gears as the game went on and I thought we got better and better. Probably unlucky to only be at 1-0 at half but honestly I barely had to give a team talk. The guys kind of ran it. I have a few small pieces on information and then the guys just took over and knew exactly what was demanded. The leadership from
Brian Brown and
Carlos Robles was excellent. The team absolutely erupted when
Nick James and
Matt Carlson scored those goals. They've been doing absolutely everything they needed; trained super well this week and earned the opportunity. They deserved those goals and the reaction from their teammates tells you everything you need to know about their place in the team. Finally,
Owen Johnson. What can you say; 'GOAT'ed' officially. And we don't think he's done yet."
The Gusties outshot the Johnnies 17-8 overall and 13-3 on goal.
Egan Bedwell stopped all three shots he faced, earning his eighth shutout of the season.
Gustavus returns home Sunday afternoon for its final non-conference matchup of the season against UW-Superior.
