Holland, Mich. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned a 9-7 victory at Hope College (Mich.) Saturday afternoon in the second round of the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.
 
The Eagles, ranked 13th on the D3football.com Top 25 Poll, improve to 8-2 on the season and advances to play at top-ranked North Central College (Ill.) in the NCAA Division III Third Round on Saturday, December 6. North Central (Ill.) earned a 38-6 win over Hanover College (Ind.) on Saturday.

 
The Flying Dutchmen, ranked 18th on D3football.com, end their season at 9-2.
 
In the first meeting between the teams in series history, UWL and Hope (Mich.) combined for nine punts in the first half on Saturday.
 
After the teams traded punts on the first five possessions, Hope (Mich.) drove to UWL's 32-yard line, but on fourth-and-five, Alex Thole's pass was broken up by Christian Powell.
 
The Eagles drove to the Flying Dutchmen's 27-yard line in the second quarter, but a Kyle Haas fourth-and-three pass at Hope's (Mich.) 27-yard line was broken up by Bryce Debri.
 
The game remained scoreless at halftime.
 
Hope (Mich.) punted on its first drive of the third quarter with UWL taking over at its own 35-yard line. The Eagles used nine plays to go 65 yards in 4:57 to take a 6-0 lead with Gabe Lynch scoring on a four-yard run with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter. Haas converted a fourth-and-two on the drive with a nine-yard completion to Keaton Arndt. Michael Stack's extra-point was blocked, his first miss of his career. Stack entered the game 131-of-131 in extra-points.
 
UWL forced another Hope (Mich.) punt and extended its lead to 9-0 on Stack's 25-yard field goal with 1:13 left in the third quarter. The Eagles went 38 yards in nine plays and 4:21. Lynch converted a third-and-two with a six-yard run on the drive while Braedon Ott added a 14-yard run.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Flying Dutchmen drove to the Eagles' 19-yard line, but a mishandled snap on a field goal attempt turned the ball over to UWL.
 
Stack's 33-yard field goal was no good with 6:49 remaining on UWL's next possession. Hope (Mich.) cut the lead to 9-7 with 3:49 left as Thole threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Skye VanderKuyl. Thole was seven-of-eight passing on the drive as the Flying Dutchmen went 80 yards in eight plays and 3:00. Caden Balkon converted the extra-point.

 

UWL was forced to punt with Hope (Mich.) taking over at its own 40-yard line with 2:43 left. The Flying Dutchmen drove to the Eagles' 31-yard line, but on fourth-and-three, Thole's pass was incomplete. He was called for intentional grounding on the play and UWL ran out the final :57.
 
UWL finished with 210 yards, including 101 rushing and 109 passing. The Eagles totaled 10 first downs while going three-of-14 on third-down and one-of-two on fourth-down. UWL won the time of possession, 30:30 to 29:57.
 
Haas went 18-of-25 for 109 yards while Lynch finished with 93 yards rushing and one touchdown on 16 carries. Braedon Ott had 35 yards on 10 attempts. Arendt (21 yards), Jack Janke (27) and Tyler Bowman (16) each had four receptions for the Eagles.
 
Ethan Tranel averaged 42.0 yards on seven punts with two inside the 20-yard line.
 
Hope (Mich.) totaled 250 yards with 65 rushing and 185 passing. The Flying Dutchmen finished with 16 first downs and were five-of-15 on third-down. Hope (Mich.) missed all three of its fourth-down attempts.
 
Thole finished 22-of-36 for 185 yards with one touchdown. Kal Motter had 42 yards rushing on 10 attempts while Thole totaled 23 yards on 12 carries. Jonny Rohen-Blanton led the Flying Dutchmen with seven catches for 66 yards.
 
Noah Dunckel averaged 31.0 yards on seven punts with one inside the 20-yard line.
 
Tyler Shaver led the Eagles' defense with seven tackles, including five unassisted. Grant Achterkirch and Aaron Winters each had six tackles in the game. Powell recorded a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
 

Colton Schreur led Hope (Mich.) with 15 tackles, including seven unassisted, and 2.0 tackles for loss. Liam Danitz had a team-leading 2.0 quarterback sacks.
 
Making its 16th appearance (1983, 1991-93, 1995-96, 1999, 2002-04, 2006, 2021-25) in school history in the NCAA III Championships, including fifth straight, UWL is now 21-13 all-time in NCAA playoff history with two (1992, 1995) national titles.
 
The five consecutive national championship berths are the first time UWL has accomplished the feat since six straight trips from 1988-93 .
 
UWL and North Central (Ill.) are meeting for the second time in the last three years in the national playoffs. The Cardinals earned a 55-42 victory over the Eagles at UWL in the 2023 quarterfinals.