Photo courtesy of MLC Athletics, Michael Wu MLC’s Erika Rosenbaum (21) kicks the ball past a BLC defender in the Knights’ home match with the Vikings on Wednesday evening in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — When Martin Luther College’s Mary Falck added her first goal of the season in the 24th minute of Wednesday’s nonconference women’s soccer match with Bethany Lutheran College, she likely didn’t expect to finish the day with her first career hat trick with the Knights.

But after the junior midfielder from Germantown, Wisconsin, added another goal in the 30th minute and a third goal in the 42nd minute of the Knights’ 4-0 win over the Vikings, that’s just what she did.

“It was pretty exciting,” Falck said of her hat trick. “My teammates are definitely the reason it happened. Without them, it wouldn’t have.”

While Falck’s first goal of the day was unassisted off of a deflection in the box, her second goal was assisted by Carissa Friebe and her third goal came off of an assist from Francis Santos Hernandez.

The Knights moved the ball well and dominated offensively for much of the game, especially in the first period. MLC outshot BLC 8-4 in the first period and finished the game outshooting the Vikings 16-11.

“When our team passes together and we control it, swing the ball and connect, that’s how goals are scored,” Falck said.

The Knights got their final goal of the day after a free kick from Lydia Bitter in the 66th minute. Bitter’s kick from 30 yards out found the upper-right corner of the net, leading to the final score.

Mollie Fischer ended the day with her third shutout of the season and eight saves for the Knights. BLC’s Leah Sonnenburg ended with six saves.

Falck said that the team has some tough matches coming up and she’s looking to play hard and learn from those games going forward.

“We have some really hard games coming up, so I think going out there, playing our best and learning a lot from those games is definitely a goal — and then to take what we learned from those and carry them into the end of the season,” Falck said.

The Knights (3-2) will next host Viterbo at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.