Central Minnesota Sports Roundup: Week of Oct. 5, 2026

by CentralMNBuzz.com | Oct 8, 2026 | Sports | 0 comments

CentralMNBuzz.com

Saint John’s keeps climbing, St. Cloud State hockey is finally home, and a handful of area high school teams are heading into the playoffs. Here’s what you need to know around central Minnesota this week.

Johnnies up to No. 3

Saint John’s football is 4-0 after a 42-16 win over then-No. 7 Bethel, and the Johnnies rose to No. 3 in both the D3football.com poll and the AFCA coaches’ poll. WJON notes the Johnnies even drew one of the 25 first-place votes in the D3football.com poll. Junior defensive end Charlie King made D3football.com’s national Team of the Week. Saint John’s plays at Macalester in St. Paul on Saturday at 1 p.m., then returns to Collegeville for homecoming against Concordia on Oct. 17.

The rest of Collegeville is winning too. The No. 17 Johnnies soccer team beat Hamline 7-0 on Tuesday for its 10th shutout of the season. The golf team tied Bethel for the team title at the Twin Cities Classic, and senior Cole Stencel was named MIAC men’s cross country Athlete of the Week for the third time this fall.

Huskies men’s hockey comes home

St. Cloud State opened the Nick Oliver era on the road last Saturday with a 3-2 overtime loss at Bemidji State. The Huskies fell behind 2-0, then answered with a power-play goal from Nolan Roed and a third-period breakaway goal by Charlie Lurie, according to KVSC’s game story. Bemidji State won it on a power-play goal 1:46 into overtime. Sophomore goalie Yan Shostak was busy all night.

This weekend the Huskies play their first games in the renovated Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. They host Michigan Tech at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday (schedule). KVSC 88.1 carries the radio call.

Women’s hockey climbs to No. 8

The SCSU women swept Minnesota State in Mankato and moved up to eighth in the USCHO rankings. Sophomore Maria Mikaelyan had five goals and six points on the weekend, including her first career hat trick, and was named WCHA Forward of the Week. Freshman Alexis Ehrman made 33 saves in her first college start, a 3-0 shutout, and earned WCHA Goaltender of the Week. Next up is a road trip to Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., on Friday and Saturday.

High school roundup

Volleyball (Tuesday): Cathedral swept rival Little Falls 3-0, and Ava Meyer had 11 kills for the Crusaders. Royalton beat St. Cloud Tech 3-1. Sartell lost a five-setter to Detroit Lakes (WJON).

Boys soccer (Tuesday): St. Cloud Tech beat Willmar 3-2. Abdisalan Ali scored the go-ahead goal with under nine minutes left, and Abdirahman Salad added an insurance goal, KVSC reports. That puts the Tigers at 10-3-1. Sartell blanked Fergus Falls 7-0, and Sauk Rapids-Rice beat Zimmerman 2-0.

Girls soccer (Tuesday): Sartell beat Sauk Rapids-Rice 6-0, and Little Falls beat Melrose 6-0. Amelia Newiger had a hat trick as Cathedral beat St. Paul Academy 4-1. ROCORI fell 5-3 to Anoka.

Girls tennis: The St. Cloud Crush’s playoff run ended with a 4-3 loss to Elk River in the Section 8-3A semifinals, after an upset of second-seeded Bemidji. In Section 8-2A, ROCORI and Becker meet for the title on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in Sartell.

Football: Cathedral hosts Paynesville in its homecoming game Friday at 7 p.m. in Collegeville, and a tailgate with food trucks and kids’ games comes first. St. Cloud school district football and soccer games now start at 4:30 p.m., with metal detectors and a clear-bag policy, as WJON reported this week. Morrison County Record: Royals fall to Melrose 56-20.

Also on the water

The St. Cloud State Rowing Club hosts the Husky Sprints on the Mississippi at Wilson Park on Saturday. Racing runs from about 9 a.m. to noon, and St. Olaf will be there.

Central MN Buzz is brought to you by Dan DeMark, Realtor | LPT Realty (goldenrulerealestateservices.com), illuminet and StarShot.