STORM LAKE, Iowa - Wartburg men's soccer returned to the pitch for the first time in 510 days on Saturday, March 27 and came away with an 8-0 victory over Buena Vista University in its season opener. Freshman Kyle Tremelling started his collegiate career with a hat trick to lead the Knights. 

The Orange & Black (1-0 A-R-C) will continue their conference only schedule on Tuesday, March 30 when they travel to Dubuque, Iowa for a contest against the University of Dubuque with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

Hear Coach Madigan's and junior Kevin Duque's (2 goals) thoughts as we opened conference play with a win. @WartburgKnights @WartburgKnights @AmerRiversConf pic.twitter.com/7DChv6xNb7

— Wartburg M. Soccer (@WartburgMSoccer) March 28, 2021

The Knights and Beavers battled to a stalemate in the opening moments of the match before junior Kevin Duque tallied two goals in just as many minutes to begin the scoring. Wartburg continued to control the run of play and made it a three-goal contest in the 38th minute when junior Ben Frazee tapped in a short-range shot.

The Knights began the second half with a comfortable 3-0 advantage and were awarded a penalty kick during the 56th minute. Senior Jack Palen calmly stepped up to the spot and converted to push the lead to four. Wartburg kept the foot on the pedal when senior Sam Thomann made it a five-goal game a hour into the match. Freshman Tremelling recorded the final three tallies for the Knights, including one from the penalty spot, to secure the shut out victory. 

Wartburg posted 22 shots in the contest and held the Beavers to just two attempts. Sophomore Payton Chapman (1), senior Palen (1) and freshman Yushin Gossin (2) all recorded assists in the match. Bo McMahon, Brennon Woody and Patrick McMahon all received time in net for the Knights but none had to make a save.