NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's soccer team lost its home opener 3-0 to Saint Mary's (Minn.) on Saturday.

The two teams battled to a scoreless draw after the first 45 minutes. The Cardinals outshot the Knights, but MLC keeper Gabriel Plocher made seven first-half stops to keep the game scoreless heading into the second half.

The Cardinals began to assert themselves early in the second half, scoring off an own goal in the 50th minute to start the scoring, and then adding insurance tallies in the 57th and 68th minutes to secure the shutout win.

Plocher finished the match with 10 saves on 13 SMU shots on goal. The Knights recorded nine total shots, three of which were on target. 

Joe Graumann led MLC with four total shots and one shot on goal. Hugo Ugalde-Bemer and Luke Meihack recorded the other two shots on goal for MLC.

The Knights fell to 0-2 on the season in defeat. SMU improved to 2-0 following the win.

MLC will return to action on Wednesday, September 5, when it travels to Gustavus Adolphus for a game scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.