Yellowjackets 3, Martin Luther 1

SUPERIOR, Wis.: It's safe to say there's something special brewing this season for the Yellowjacket men's soccer team. Fresh off the heels of the program's first-ever trip to the N.C.A.A. tournament, the Yellowjackets look to be putting together a season even more remarkable than the last.

Saturday afternoon the Yellowjackets turned in a dominating performance on their home pitch, owning a major advantage in every category from time of possession to shots, and most importantly, on the scoreboard. The Yellowjackets scored once in the first half and twice in the second to defeat Martin Luther 3-1.

With the win the Yellowjackets have now won eight matches in a row and are unbeaten in their last 13 (12-0-1).

Saturday's match started slowly, with the bulk of the play taking part between the 30 yard lines on the field. Fighting against a heavy wind from the south, the Yellowjackets struggled to establish themselves on the offensive side of the field. They were finally able to break through in the 35th minute, when Felix Blick (Linkoping, Sweden/Katedralskolan) moved the ball to the middle of the box and Leonardo Paredes (Uberlandia, Brazil/Colegio Sao Paschoall) performed what is now termed a standing bicycle kick, launching the ball over his head and over the Martin Luther goalkeeper to give the Yellowjackets the 1-0 lead.

It stayed that way until well into the second half when Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), one of the frontrunners for the U.M.A.C. Rookie of the Year Award, worked himself free on the left side and sent the ball into the Knights' goal to extend the Yellowjacket lead to 2-0. Miguel Ocampo (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park) and Adrian Leal (Alicante, Spain/IES Cabo de la Huerta) assisted on Perry's eighth goal of the year.

Just over three minutes later the Yellowjackets added another goal. Mason Tynsky (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) started the play, moving the ball up the left side and then passing to Paredes, who juked a defender and put home his second goal of the match in the 78th minute to make it a 3-0 match.

Martin Luther got on the board and put an end to the shutout bid of Dalton VonKaenel (Eagan, Minn./Eagan H.S.) when Joe Graumann scored with 9:06 to play in regulation, to make the final score 3-1.

VonKaenel came up just short in his bid for a second shutout in 2018, but still got the win to improve his record to 10-1-1. He made three saves in the match.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (12-2-1, 7-0-1 U.M.A.C.) will hit the road to take on Northwestern Tuesday, October 16. The match will get underway at 5:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.