Information courtesy of Adam Hussman/MLC SID
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Saturday
Concordia Wisc. 55, MLC 14
MEQUON, Wis. — The Martin Luther College football team fell to Concordia-Wisconsin in the opening game of the 2023 season by a final score of 55-14 on Saturday.
The Knights struggled to get the running game going from the early get go as running back Carson Oestreich was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on various runs. The senior was held to just 3 yards rushing on the day.
The Knights would find a little success in the air as quarterback Max Nordlie went 9-17 for 118 yards. Backup quarterback Jack Pittenger got a few reps in the game as well, including a 48 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jude Pederson. The freshman wide receiver had three receptions for 96 yards to lead the Knights, while Mason Cox also had three catches for 84 yards, including a 41-yard catch.
The Falcons found a balanced attack to lead themselves offensively over the Knights, rushing for 223 yards, while gaining 301 yards through the passing game. The MLC defense also struggled to get off of the field on third down and gave Concordia-Wisconsin multiple opportunities to sustain drives. The Falcons converted on 11 of 16 chances on third down and scored five touchdowns once they reached the red zone.
Despite the struggles, the defense was led in tackles by freshman, Ethan Melso, who recorded 14 tackles. Fellow linebacker, Tom Balge, was second on the Knights’ defense with 11 tackles.
MLC will look to tighten up their miscues on both sides of the ball and shake off the early season rust when they head back to New Ulm for their home opener Saturday against Macalester
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
Friday
Dubuque 3, MLC 2
MSOE 3, MLC 0
RIPON, Wis. — The Martin Luther College volleyball team opened up their 2023 season with a pair of contests at the Ripon College Classic on Friday.
The Knights dropped both neutral site matches, with a 3-2 loss to Dubuque that went to a fifth set and a 3-0 sweep in the later game to MSOE.
Dubuque 3, MLC 2
In the first set of the season, both teams were back and forth throughout, but the Knights found some separation edging the Spartans (25-19). Dubuque would counter back by taking the second set (25-20), leading to a third set win for MLC (26-24), where Paige Biesterfeld gave the Knights the advantage with consecutive kills. From there, the Spartans seemed to regain some stamina and decisively claimed the fourth set 25-16, which led to a fifth set to decide the match. The final set started off with a 4-4 tie, but then Dubuque rattled off six unanswered points which led to their victory in the match.
Biesterfeld and Lauren Paulsen led the way in kills, securing nine apiece, almost contributing to half of the 39 team kills. The Spartans would have 20 errors in the match, but had 55 kills in the match.
MSOE 3, MLC 0
In Match 2, the MSOE Raiders jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the first set, but the Knights found a way to chip back into the deficit and even took the lead 21-20, which was fueled by Paulsen. However, MSOE snuck out the opening set 25-22 after a couple of MLC errors towards the end. In set two, MSOE got a lift from Emma Braun, who helped her team to six consecutive points as the Raiders took a 25-11 win. MSOE would continue their strong play from the first two sets to complete the sweep, winning the third set (25-18).
Senior Naomi Bridgemen had a solid match for MLC, recording 16 digs to jumpstart some rallies for the Knights. Paulsen would have another nice match with six kills, while freshman Ella Walz established her setting game with seven assists.
Saturday
MLC 3, Mount Mary 1
MLC 3, Ripon 1
RIPON, Wis. — The Martin Luther College volleyball team concluded their weekend tournament with a pair of wins on Saturday over Mount Mary and Ripon by a final score of 3-1 in each match.
MLC 3, Mount Mary 1
The Knights started off the day in their 10 a.m. match with a comfortable cushion in the first set, taking it 25-20 against the Blue Angels. The second set proved to give the Knights a tougher test as the two squads battled back and forth over the net, ultimately leading to a 30-28 advantage for Mount Mary. The Knights took the third set after Grace Kieselhorst contributed seven kills in the set, leading to the 25-19 win. From there, MLC took care of business in the fourth set (25-20) to give them their first victory of the season.
As a team, the Knights overmatched the Blue Angels in the kills department, almost doubling them up in that area 62-30. MLC also took advantage of their serves, finishing with 15 aces for the match. Kieselhorst led the way with 17 kills, 29 assists, and six aces, while Abigail Winkel had 12 kills and was a presence at the net defensively coming up with four blocks.
MLC 3, Mount Mary 1
MLC wrapped up its stay at the Ripon College Classic with a win in its final match against the host school with the 3-1 win. The Redhawks put the Knights in tough situations on their volleys back, forcing MLC into multiple errors on their way to a 25-15 win in the first set.
However, the Knights returned the favor in the second set with the 25-15 result ending on their side to even up the match 1-1. MLC battled back in a critical third set after trailing 16-12 midway through it due to a couple of block from Lauren Paulsen and company. MLC then benefitted from a service and attack error to give them the final two points needed. Freshman Ella Walz would get a few service aces in the fourth set, as the Knights carried their momentum on to the match win for the sweep on day two of the tournament.
Kieselhorst once again led the way in kills with 13, as Winkel led in blocks again, recording six. Walz led the team in assists with 19 for the match.
MLC (2-2) now moves on to their home debut of the season when they play Macalester on Wednesday, September 6, at 7 p.m. in the LSC.
MEN’S SOCCER
Friday
Saint Mary’s 4, MLC 0
WINONA — The Martin Luther College men’s soccer team fell to the Saint Mary’s Cardinals 4-0 in the season opener on Friday.
Saint Mary’s did their damage early on in the first period scoring two goals within the 15 minute mark. Both goals were from their forward, Cohan Hare. The Cardinals found the net for another pair of goals shortly afterwards when Aidan Adamek scored at the 19:56 and 21:41 mark. This time around, Hare contributed with an assist on both goals scored by his teammate.
From there the Knights struggled to get much going offensively in the rest of the first period and the shutout continued into the second period. MLC would empty the bench in the second period, as 23 Knights gained minutes on the field.
Goalkeeper Adam Rosenbaum had two saves on the day, while freshman Zachary Pausma recorded four saves for MLC.
Saturday
MLC 5,
Maranatha Baptist 2
WATERTOWN, Wis. — The Martin Luther College men’s soccer team defeated Maranatha Baptist on Saturday in a road contest 5-2 for their first victory of the 2023 campaign.
The Knights bounced back from their season debut yesterday when they lost 9-0 to Saint Mary’s. On Saturday, the Knights struck the scoring column early on with a goal at the 2:09 mark from their leading goal scorer a season ago, Nathan Pausma. Maranatha would even score 1-1 at the 23 minute mark, but Isaias Santos broke that tie with his first goal of the season a few minutes later. MLC would have multiple shots attempted towards the goal for the remainder of the first half, but were unable to convert and went into intermission up 2-1 over the Sabercats.
The second period started with a costly yellow card from Maranatha’s Ian Balyo, resulting in a penalty goal kick by Josiah Wordell. The senior cashed in on the opportunity, putting the Knights up 3-1 in the opening minutes. The Sabercats would soon after get a penalty kick chance of their own after an MLC foul, but missed their shot wide of the net.
Both teams would go the next 20 minutes scoreless until Wordell hit his second penalty goal kick of the game to make it 4-1. The Knights scored their fifth goal of the game shortly after when midfielder Matthew Koelpin scored his first of the season.
The Knights showed much improvement from their first game of the season and had many more chances at the net with seven shots on goal. In addition to Wordell’s two goals, the senior also had three shots on goal.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Friday
Viterbo 9, MLC 0
LA CROSSE, Wis. — The Martin Luther College women’s soccer team began its 2023 season in a road loss at Viterbo by the final score of 9-0.
The Knights struggled to open the game, as the Hawks went up 2-0 from a pair of goals in the first 11 minutes of action. Viterbo found themselves scoring another five goals in the first period to go ahead 7-0 at the end of 45 minutes.
The MLC defense would buckle down to start the first 20 minutes or so of play in the second period, but Viterbo would eventually strike again for two more goals and carried their offensive firepower to the 9-0 defeat of the Knights.
Despite giving up nine goals allowed, Rebekah Schroeder recorded 19 saves for MLC, playing all 90 minutes on the field. Meanwhile, Madeline Walz would get the lone shot on goal for the Knights offensively.
Sunday
Wisc. Lutheran 3, MLC 0
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Martin Luther College women’s soccer team played their second game of the season on Sunday morning when they took on the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors. The two teams last met in August of 2014 with WLC defeating MLC 3-1. The Warriors came out on top again this time around, beating the Knights 3-0.
The Warriors didn’t have to wait long to score with Brooke Bluhm’s goal at the 2:25 mark. The Knights were able to settle into the game from that point on and prevented the Warriors from scoring again in the first period.
Bluhm managed to come out of the second period with another goal for WLC at the 49:03 mark and then completed the hat trick with her team’s third goal with about 37 minutes remaining in the game.
Hannah Schroeder and Rachel Schoeneck would take a few shots at the goal to try and make a late push in the game, but the Knights were shutout again.
MLC had four shot on goal against the Warriors and are in search of not only their first win, but also for their first goal of the season.
WOMEN’S
CROSS-COUNTRY
Friday
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Martin Luther College women’s cross country team competed in the Augustana Twilight on Friday evening around 8:30 p.m. The MLC women were one of 29 colleges represented at the meet spanning from all three divisions in the NCAA. The competition proved to be stiff as the reigning UMAC champions took 24th out of the 29 schools, with a 5K total team time of 1:50.55, with an average individual time of 22:11.12. The Nebraska Cornhuskers from the Big Ten in Division I claimed the top prize with their runners averaging a time of 17:53.99 to complete the race.
Maya Habben was the first MLC runner to complete the 5K coming in at a time of 20:35.08, which was good enough for 141st out of 358 participants. Kate Mensching was the next MLC runner to finish the race, taking 238th with a time of 22:09.76. Claire Tomhave shortly joined Mensching as the third Knight to cross the finish line, with a mark of 22:31.28 in the 258th slot.
MEN’S
CROSS-COUNTRY
Friday
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Martin Luther College men’s cross country squad began their 2023 season with the Augustana Twilight, where it’s runners competed in the 4-mile run.
MLC was one of 32 colleges represented in the meet and went up against the likes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and fellow D-I schools in South Dakota State and St. Thomas (MN). The Knights would finish as a team in the 28th spot with a total team time of 1:56.12 and an individual average of 23:14.41 to complete the run. South Dakota State took first place in the event with an average time of 19:43.00 for completion of the race.
Josh Zander was the first MLC runner to finish, coming in at a time of 22:18.93 in the 187th overall spot out of 358 runners. Camden Sulzle came in 217th overall, clocking in at 22:41.34, while Elijah Hutchinson (260th) had a time of 23:18.62.
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