ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Martin Luther College football team came from behind to win 28-24 at Rockford University on Saturday thanks to a 68-yard touchdown pass from Zach Bloomquist to Josh Arndt with 53 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Knights fell behind 7-0 early, but took control from there to build a two-score lead early in the third quarter. The Knights’ first score came late in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Nate Stein, and then took the lead right before the half with an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by an Austin DeNoyer 1-yard run.

MLC continued its advantage to open the third quarter, scoring on a five-play drive that ended with a Bloomquist 24-yard scoring run to push the lead to 21-7.

Rockford turned the momentum from that point, tying the game early in the fourth quarter before taking a three-point advantage with a field goal with 6:26 to play.

Following a defensive stop by the MLC defense to get the ball back with just over two minutes to play, Bloomquist connected with Arndt down the sideline for the 68-yard score on third and long to give the Knights the lead.

On the ensuing possession, the Regents converted a fourth down to get into MLC territory, but Joe Herrewig ended the game with an interception in the end zone to secure the MLC win.

Bloomquist missed his first four passes on the day, but finished the day 12-of-24 through the air for 186 yards and one score. Arndt caught five of those passes for 120 yards, while DeNoyer added four receptions for 30 yards.

The Knights also finished with 208 yards rushing, led by 87 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries by DeNoyer. Stein recorded 18 carries for 68 yards, while Bloomquist finished with 34 yards on the ground and one score.

MLC improved to 1-1 on the season with the win. Rockford fell to 1-1 in defeat.

The Knights have a bye on the schedule for next week, and will return to the field on Saturday, September 22, at Greenville.

Men’s soccer team wins

NEW ULM — The MLC men’s soccer team earned its first win of the season on Saturday by the score of 2-1 over Buena Vista University.

The Knights dominated play in the first half, but missed a penalty kick and several other close chances before finally getting on the board on a Luke Meihack goal in the 24th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

MLC continued to dominate play later in the half and was rewarded by a Jon Pedersen goal in the 40th minute to take a 2-0 lead into the half.

The Knights outshot the Beavers 28-17 for the game and held a 17-6 edge in that category in the first half.

Gabriel Plocher was strong in net for the Knights, stopping seven of the eight shots he faced to earn the win.

MLC improved to 1-3 on the season with the win, while the Beavers fell to 0-4 in defeat.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday when they host Northwestern for the first game of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference season. That contest is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.

Women’s soccer team falls to Buena Vista

NEW ULM — The MLC women’s soccer team lost 2-0 against the Beavers of Buena Vista University on Saturday.

The Knights had several strong scoring chances in the first half, but strong goalkeeping on both sides kept the game scoreless heading into the second half. MLC keeper Mollie Fischer started and stopped six shots in the first half, while BVU keeper Katie Voortmann turned away five MLC shots on goal.

The Beaves jumped on the board early in the second half with a goal by Holly Coogler in the 50th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

That score stood for much of the second half, but the Knights were unable to get the kinds of chances they generated earlier in the game before the Beavers added an insurance goal in the 88th minute to put the game away.

MLC fell to 0-3 on the season in defeat. BVU improved to 1-2 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, September 12, when they host Northwestern for the conference-opener. That game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Volleyball team remains winless

OSHKOSH, Wis. — The MLC volleyball team lost both its matches on day two at the Pizza Hut Classic hosted by UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. The Knights lost the opening match 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-9) to Elmhurst before dropping the second match 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-22) to UW-Oshkosh.

Elmhurst 3, MLC 0

MLC dropped the first match of the day on Saturday morning to Elmhurst in three sets.

The Knights fought to a close loss in the first set, but were unable to get any closer the rest of the way as Elmhurst finished off the sweep.

UW-Oshkosh 3, MLC 0

The Knights were unable to come away with a set in the tournament finale in a 3-0 defeat to host UW-Oshkosh.

After losing the first two sets, MLC fell behind 18-10 in the third set before battling back. The Knights fought to cut the deficit to two points at 22-20, but were unable to come away with the key points down the stretch.

Kati Aguilar and Ruth Buchholz each finished with seven kills to lead the team. Jewel St. Germaine recorded five kills to go with eight assists, while Katelyn Aswege paced the team with 15 digs. Camryn Biebert led the team with 11 assists.

MLC fell to 0-9 on the season following the two defeats.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday when they open UMAC play with a home triangular against Crown (12 p.m.) and St. Scholastica (4 p.m.).

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