St. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's soccer team could not overcome a slow start in a 5-3 loss at Crown College on Wednesday.

The Storm started strong, scoring in the 11th and 14th minutes to take a 2-0 lead, and then adding a third goal in the 37th minute to push the lead to 3-0.

MLC started to crawl back into the game on a Lucas Martin goal right before the half, and then cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 51st minute on a goal from Xander Heiman. 

Crown would not give in, however, and answered with two goals in a two-minute stretch in the 68th and 70th minutes, respectively. Martin added his second goal of the game in the 87th minute, but the Storm held on down the stretch for the win.

The Knights out-shot the Storm 24-8 overall, but Crown made the most of its chances by scoring on five of its seven shots on goal.

Martin's two goals gave him a team-high seven on the season. Heiman's goal was his second of the year. 

MLC dropped to 2-7-0 on the season and 1-5-0 in UMAC play in defeat. Crown improved to 1-9-0 overall and 1-5-0 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, October 9, when they travel to Minnesota Morris for a game scheduled to start at 2 p.m.