SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket men's soccer team has had a stranglehold on the top of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference standings, both in the regular season as well as the playoffs, for the past few seasons. And although there's no NCAA tournament on the line in 2021, the Yellowjackets are still approaching the campaign with their collective sights set on another successful season, which will hopefully culminate with a couple more conference trophies.
 
Saturday marked the opening of the UMAC regular season for the Yellowjackets, as they hosted Martin Luther College at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex. In this one, the 'Jackets rode a big second half, one where they scored five times, to a one-sided 8-0 win over the Knights on a picture-perfect spring afternoon.
 
The Yellowjackets (2-0, 1-0 UMAC) thought they opened the scoring in the first five minutes, but Blake Hanson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) had what would have been his first goal of the season disallowed, and things stayed scoreless.
 
In the 28^th minute the Yellowjackets broke through for real when Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) found the back of the net for his second of the season to make it 1-0. Blake Doyea (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) and Protus Babaya (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) assisted.

Later in the first half the Yellowjackets increased the lead when Nicolai Stokker (Klokkarstua, Norway/St. Hallvard) scored from the box to make it 2-0 at 39:52. Then, with just over a minute to play in the half Brandon Conklin (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) scored his first of the year and the Yellowjackets were up 3-0 at the break.
 
In the 57^th minute Hanson scored one that wasn't taken away, taking a great feed from Babaya to score his first of the season and give the 'Jackets a 4-0 edge. Just over a minute later the lead jumped again, with Perry scoring his second of the match and third of the year, putting the Yellowjackets in front 5-0.
 
The Yellowjackets were comfortably in front and on the way to conference win when head coach Joe Mooney subbed his starters out, but the depth shone through as the Yellowjackets would score three more times in the contests final five minutes.
 
Phillip Eriksen (Skjetten, Norway/Lorenskog) scored from the right side of the box, then punctuated the marker with an acrobatic backflip, making it a 6-0 contest at 85:09. It was the first collegiate goal for the native of Norway. Stokker added his second goal of the match at 86:02 to make it 7-0. Just 21 seconds later the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring, with Doyea scoring his first of the year, unassisted, to make the final score 8-0.
 
The Yellowjackets held a 29-2 edge in shots attempted and a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal. Ulrik Lager (Vollen, Norway/Asker VGS) go the win and the shutout in goal for the Yellowjackets, finishing the match with two saves. He is now 2-0 in goal on the season and has stopped every shot he has faced.
 
The Yellowjackets return to action on the road Wednesday, April 7 when they travel to North Central. The opening kick in Minneapolis is set for 3:30 p.m.