About Bonds

Men's soccer look to stay on top amidst challengers

Date 9/18/2003 12:00 AM | Topic: Sports

The Luther men's soccer team has been tough to beat in recent years, and this year could be the year where they are tested the most.

The Iowa Conference is going to be tough for Luther this year. "It is going to be a lot tougher than most years," said Tim Stork ('04), captain. "Everybody thinks they got a shot at us."

So far, the non-conference schedule has proven to be a good test for the new players and returnees to learn about each other. "We still have to sort things out as far as our personnel, our style, and building chemistry," Stork said.

The Norse opened the season with a scoreless tie with St. Olaf on August 29. They came back the next weekend and won the Classic Soccer Tournament at Luther by defeating Maryville Friday night 3-1 and crushing Waldorf 7-1 on Sunday to capture the title.

The Norse dropped one to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sept. 11. Last year it was the UW-Whitewater who knocked Luther out of the national tournament here in Decorah. Luther held the Warhawks scoreless until the 87th minute, when UW-Whitewater's Dan Zwerling scored the only goal in the game, driving the ball past Norse goalkeeper Craig Birkholz ('06).

Luther came back and capped off the weekend with a 4-2 win over Iowa Wesleyan Sunday afternoon. Steve Kain ('07) and Josh Wrolstad ('04) put the Norse on the board in the first half. Kain, with help from Eric Henderson ('05) and Stork, scored in the 18th minute. Wrolstad scored in the 42nd minute off the assist from Tim Elgin ('05). In the second half, Quinn Fitzsimmons ('07) scored just 25 seconds in, with an assist from Henderson. Henderson, with help from Stork, iced the victory scoring the fourth and final goal for the Norse in the 54th minute. With more players seeing action, the Norse were able to hold off Iowa Wesleyan.

It's been up and down for the Norse, but they are heading strong into their four-match road trip starting Wednesday at Augustana-Rock Island.

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Mark Guy
Sports Reporter

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