ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's soccer team defeated Crown College 3-1 in Wednesday's UMAC opener.

The two teams were tied 1-1 after 80 minutes, but the Knights scored a pair of late goals to secure the important road win.

The Storm took an early 1-0 lead in the 26th minute, but the Knights responded with the equalizer from Joseph Graumann off an Elijah Kroll pass in the 42nd minute to send the game into halftime tied 1-1. The goal was Graumann's third of the season.

The score remained 1-1 until Joel Koelpin scored his second goal of the season off a pass from Luke Meihack in the 82nd minute to give MLC the 2-1 lead. Minutes later, Meihack added an insurance goal in the 87th minute off an assist from Ryan Plath to get the final 3-1 margin. Meihack's goal was his second of the season. 

The Knights controlled the game on the stat sheet, outshooting the Storm 22-15, including an 11-8 edge in shots on goal. Graumann and Josh Koelpin each recorded four shots for MLC.

Caleb King stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in goal for the Knights.

MLC improved to 2-3 on the season and 1-0 in UMAC play with the win. Crown fell to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in UMAC play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, September 16, when they host Northland in a UMAC contest scheduled to start at 2 p.m.