APPLETON, Wis. — Mike Szkodzinski is pulling a Marty McFly and heading back to the future.
The Lawrence University hockey coach and his team open the season this weekend, and for the Vikings to find success in the coming months, Szkodzinski has to reach back into the past.
Szkodzinski built the Lawrence program on defense, and a return to that emphasis is vital. The Vikings have junior Mattias Soderqvist back in goal, and the blue line is secured by senior captain Brandon Boelter and sophomore assistant captain Brendan Vetter.
“Mattias has absolutely established himself as a leader on and off the ice,” Szkodzinski said. “He works as hard as anyone and looks poised to have a breakout season. We expect him to be our rock this year.”
Soderqvist has been absolutely spectacular at times in the past, but he is looking to improve on his 4.21 goals against average and .895 save percentage from a season ago. A big, athletic goaltender, Soderqvist picked up some signature wins a season ago, including Lawrence’s first victory ever at MSOE’s Kern Center and a playoff-clinching triumph over Finlandia.
The Vikings have three outstanding pairs of defensemen, led by Boelter and Vetter. In addition to being the defensive leaders, Boelter and Vetter are big contributors on offense. Vetter actually led the team with seven goals a season ago, and Boelter tied for second on the team with eight assists.
“We have veterans on the blue line led by Brendan Vetter and Brandon Boelter,” Szkodzinski said. “We expect them to be steady and reliable. If we use the lessons learned over the past few seasons, we should have a very solid defensive corps.”
While the defense is strong and deep, offense might be tougher to come by for the Vikings. Lawrence scored only 53 goals a season ago, and the Vikings will need contributions from many sources to light the lamp.
“We will definitely need to score by committee,” Szkodzinski said. “We will need to create second chances and be hounds at the net front. We expect all of our forward lines to contribute on the scoresheet at different points this season.”
Junior Blake Roubos and sophomore Jake Kreutzer are the top returning scorers. Roubos had six goals and eight assists a season ago, and Kreutzer was at five goals and a team-best nine assists. Senior Renato Engler (4-8-12), Matt Moore (5-6-11) and Ryan Rumble (5-5-10) all figure to play critical roles.
“While we may not have a standout scorer at this point, we are confident we have the depth to put the puck in the net,” Szkodzinski said.
Playing in the rugged Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, the Vikings are now part of the North Division in the reorganized league. Joining Lawrence in the North are St. Norbert, St. Scholastica, Northland, Finlandia and MSOE. The South Division is Adrian, Lake Forest, Concordia (Wis.), Marian and Aurora.
The top three teams in each division will make the playoffs.
“The NCHA is arguably the best conference in the nation,” Szkodzinski said. “We feel we have a great opportunity to play against the best teams in the nation. Our goal is to get into the Harris Cup playoffs and make some noise.”