Courtesy of MLC Athletics

ST. BONIFACIUS — The Martin Luther College football team overcame a slow start to defeat Crown College 35-18 in Upper Midwest Athletic Action on Saturday.

The Storm had a dream start to the game, returning an interception for a touchdown on the Knights’ opening offensive possession, and then pushing their lead to 12-0 on their next offensive possession on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jared Gilmore to Ryan Swecker.

The Knights wrestled control away from that point, however, as Carson Oestreich put MLC on the board with a 54-yard run on the next possession, and Joshuah Kren opened the second quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Knights a 14-12 lead.

Oestreich closed the first half with a 1-yard scoring run to push the MLC advantage to 21-12 at the break, and then added a fourth-quarter touchdown run of 6 yards to cap a 35-0 scoring run for the Knights. Prior to Oestreich’s fourth quarter score, Zach Arndt caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Max Nordlie near the end of the third quarter.

The teams could not have been much different in how they went about their offensive game plans. MLC ran 65 times for 272 yards and four scores, while the Storm attempted only nine rushes (for 33 yards) on the day.

Crown did all of its damage through the air, throwing for 306 yards but needing 60 attempts to do so. The Knights completed four of 14 passes for 88 yards. Mason Cox led the receivers with 44 yards on one reception.

Oestreich finished the day with 180 yards and three scores on 26 carries.

MLC improved to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in UMAC play with the win. The Knights will return to action next week when they travel to Finlandia on Saturday.

Volleyball

NEW ULM — The MLC volleyball team closed the first half of the UMAC season with a thrilling 3-1 win over the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) Cougars by the scores of 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21.

The Cougars entered the day with a 16-match win streak against MLC, dating back to September 21, 2012, but the Knights showed no sign of backing down from the start. UMM held a 20-17 lead late in the first set, but Kelsey Birschbach and Lauren Paulsen capped an MLC comeback with emphatic kills to give the Knights a 1-0 lead in the match.

MLC rode that momentum in the second game as Kate Aswege served nine straight early points to help the Knights push their lead in the match to 2-0.

UMM fought back to win the third set 25-23, but the Knights would not be denied in the fourth, building an early lead and holding off the charging Cougars at the end to secure the win.

Birschbach led all players with a season-best 16 kills to go with 15 digs. Paulsen added 10 kills, while Rhianna Hunter set a career high with 11 kills.

Kylie Wolf recorded her fourth double-double of the conference season with 24 assists and 10 digs. Aswege finished with a team-best 21 digs, while Naomi Bridgemen chipped in with 15 digs.

MLC improved to 7-10 on the season and 6-1 in UMAC play with the win.

MLC will return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Bethany Lutheran College.

Men’s soccer

MORRIS — The MLC men’s soccer team lost 3-1 at Minnesota Morris on Saturday.

The Knights took the early lead in the 23rd minute on Lucas Martin’s team-leading eighth goal of the season off a pass from Jed Mittelstadt, but the Cougars answered later in the half with a goal by Tristan Cruz in the 36th minute to tie the game 1-1 going into halftime.

The teams remained tied until the 74th minute, when Mayson Palen put the Cougars ahead. With the Knights searching for the equalizer late in the half, Carter Watkinson put the game to bed with an insurance tally in the 84th minute to give UMM the final two-goal margin.

The two teams were relatively even on the stat sheet, with the Cougars holding a 17-14 edge in total shots, and both teams recording five shots on goal.

Isaias Santos took four of the Knights’ 14 shots, while Martin and Nathan Pausma each finished with two. Adam Rosenbaum stopped two of the five shots he faced in net for the Knights.

MLC fell to 2-8 on the season and 1-6 in UMAC play in defeat. UMM improved to 3-9-1 overall and 3-3-1 in league play with the win.

Women’s soccer

MORRIS — The MLC women’s soccer team finished the first half of UMAC play on a high note with a 2-0 win at UMM on Saturday.

The win was the Knights’ first ever over the Cougars in a series dating back to the 2003 season. MLC entered the game with a 0-33-1 record against UMM, with the lone tie coming during the 2010 season.

Hannah Schroeder opened the scoring in the 27th minute, finishing off a pass from Tabitha Vannieuwenhoven for her team-leading fourth tally of the season. Schroeder has now scored in each of the team’s last three games.

Schroeder’s goal was the only one on the scoreboard until the 55th minute, when Morgan Spoehr scored her second goal of the season to give the Knights the insurance tally they were looking for.

MLC keeper Grace Sievert stopped all seven shots in goal for her second straight shutout (and third this season).

MLC improved to 3-7-1 on the season and 2-4-1 in UMAC play with the win.

Both the men and women are at Bethany Lutheran College on Tuesday.

Women’s golf

BECKER — The MLC women’s golf team finished the fall season with a season-best round on the way to a sixth-place finish at the UMAC Golf Championships at Pebble Creek Golf Club on Saturday.

The Knights recorded a team score of 461 total strokes. MLC finished the three rounds with a total of 1,394 strokes.

Lexi Fischer was the Knights’ low scorer on the day and over the course of the three-day event, shooting a season-low 97 on Saturday to finish with a total of 300 strokes for the tournament. That was good for 18th place overall at the tournament.

Melina Satorius (103 on Saturday, 318 overall) finished in 24th place, while AnaCristina Iglesias (118, 354) and Julia Hallman (143, 422) finished 28th and 32nd, respectively.

Northwestern-St. Paul won the tournament with a total team score of 1,073.

Men’s golf

BECKER — The MLC men’s golf team closed the book on the 2021 fall season with the final round of the UMAC Golf Championships at Pebble Creek Golf Club on Saturday.

The Knights finished the day with a team score of 342 for round three, and 1,010 overall. That final score was good for eighth place at the event.

Kyle Lindemann could not overcome a slow start as he carded a final-round 85. His three-day score of 237 strokes tied him for 12th overall at the event.

John Fix (80) had the lowest round of the day for MLC and finished the tournament in a tie for 25th place with a total of 249 strokes. Benjamin Gensmer (89 on Saturday, 266) overall), Micah Otto (88, 267) and Paul Frick (89, 267) rounded out the MLC line-up.