By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Were it not for a childhood bout with mononucleosis, and the foresight to take the initiative a bit later, Evan Siefken might not be where he is now.
The Saint John’s University sophomore goalkeeper is already in his second season as a starter for the Johnnies. He was a United Soccer Coaches All-Region IX third-team selection as a freshman and boasts a record of 4-1-3 this fall with an MIAC-best .871 save percentage.
But soccer wasn’t originally his sport of choice.
“I didn’t start playing until I was 9,” the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Lakeville North High School graduate said. “Before that, I was into football. But I got mono when I was 8, and afterwards, my parents didn’t really love the idea of me playing a contact sport.
“So, I tried soccer. When I first joined, there was no one on my team who wanted to play goalie. So, I thought I’d offer a helping hand. After that, I was never allowed to play another position.”
His prodigious talent led to such typecasting. As a senior, he was named to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s All-Metro first team and drew recruiting interest from across the MIAC and beyond.
He chose Saint John’s and immediately earned the starting job, even if his first appearance did not go smoothly.
“That first game last year is not one of my fondest memories,” Siefken said. “We played up at St. Scholastica (in what was considered a non-conference game) and we lost 2-0. I was really nervous beforehand and I didn’t know what to expect. People say the college level is a lot different than high school and I found out that really was the case.
“I gave up a goal right away and I knew it was going to be a bad day. It was a long bus trip home. I didn’t feel like I performed very well at all.”
But things eventually turned around and he finished the season with a 1.13 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .798, earning All-MIAC honorable mention distinction in addition to being named all-region.
He says a 1-0 overtime win at Saint Mary’s in the MIAC opener was a turning point. He finished with five saves, including a big stop on a penalty kick just before halftime.
It’s a performance his head coach remembers well.
“It was still the first half and I heard the announcers on their live stream filling time before the penalty kick,” SJU head coach John Haws ’99 said. “They were talking about how Evan Siefken was maybe one of the best players in the conference and in the region. And I was like ‘Can we chill out a little bit?’ The kid hadn’t even played 20 minutes of MIAC soccer at that point.
“But then he stopped the penalty kick and we won in OT, so he seemed to do OK handling high expectations.”
Haws said Siefken brings a rare blend of size and agility at this level.
“It’s hard to find a guy his size who can move like he does,” Haws said. “You can find a smaller, catlike keeper. And you can find a bigger, lumbering keeper. They both have their pluses and minuses. But the tall, catlike guys usually go to Division I. Evan is kind of a unicorn in Division III.”
A global business leadership major with a minor in accounting and finance, Siefken is also a member of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity and represents the soccer team on the SJU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
He’s also become a more vocal leader on the field.
“Last year, I’d say I was pretty quiet,” Siefken said. “I was still trying to find my place on this team. But this year, I’ve opened up a little bit. Those nerves I was feeling before games have gone away. I’m a lot more confident in myself now that I have a year under my belt.”
And the Johnnies – who boast an MIAC record of 2-1-1 and 5-1-3 overall heading into a matchup at 3:30 pm Sunday against St. Olaf in Northfield – hope to ride his confidence all the way to their first berth in the national tournament since 2005.
“That’s always been my goal — to play in the national tournament,” Siefken said. “Saint John’s hasn’t been there in a long time. Seventeen years is too long a drought. We want to be the team that snaps that streak.”
