St. Bonifacius, Minn. — Crown hosted their conference opener on Wednesday evening, facing the team they lost to in the UMAC Playoffs in overtime the year before, Martin Luther. 

The Storm struck first, with a goal by Ger Jones after a penalty kick by Jones bounced off the goal. Jones recovered the ball himself and launched it into the back of the net to put the Storm up 1-0 in the 25th minute. The MLC Knights matched that goal with a score of their own in the 41st minute, and the game remained tied up until the final ten minutes. 

With just under nine minutes left in the second half, the Knights took the lead and as Crown scrambled to match that goal, got an insurance goal with three minutes left. Jones and Mason Shrewsbury both led Crown with two shots on goal, and Josiah Steinkamp, Caleb Baumann, and Igor Shevchenko all had one shot on goal. 

In goal, senior keeper Eli Etzel had his third straight loss, with eight saves and three goals allowed. Etzel holds a .827 save percentage so far this year. 

The men have a short break before heading to their next conference game on Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.