APPLETON, Wis. — When it comes to success on the ice, several things always come up as keys to victory, and the Lawrence University hockey team look to have these areas covered this season.
Quality goaltending. Check. Good special teams play. Check. Playing hard every night. Check.
“To be successful this year, we will have to be more tenacious on the puck all over the ice,” said Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski, who enters his 11th season at the helm of the Vikings. “We want to push the pace and force our opponents to have to make plays rather than give them time and space. If we can eliminate unnecessary turnovers, we will be a much better team all around.”
The Vikings will be tested immediately as they open the season Friday at No. 9 UW-Eau Claire and then head to defending NCAA Division III champion and No. 1-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.
Szkodzinski’s endless energy, his passion for the game and the respect he commands from the hockey community have made the Vikings a good team in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, arguably the toughest conference in the country. The Vikings have made the league playoffs in all 10 of Szkodzinski’s seasons, and the Vikings are looking for another trip to the postseason.
“We are very pleased with the fitness level of our team and the depth of our forwards,” Szkodzinski said. “We feel like we have the ability to play all four lines this year consistently, and that should help us late in games. Having a senior between the pipes who has played nearly 3,500 minutes in his career and four upperclass defensemen certainly helps as well.”
The defense revolves around senior netminder Mattias Soderqvist, who picked up nine wins a season ago while compiling an .899 save percentage and 3.59 goals against average.
“Mattias is as determined as we have seen him at any point in his career,” Szkodzinski said. “We expect big things from him. We need him to be our best player day in and day out. He knows that and has embraced it. We are confident he is up to the challenge.”
Soderqvist will get help from an experienced group of defensemen, led by senior captain Brad Mueller, senior Felix Henriksson and juniors Austin Frank and Matt Montemurro. Look for rookies Daniel Gysi and Tomas Vesely to make an impact among the defensemen as well.
The Vikings continually improved on the penalty kill last season after getting off to a rough start and finished the season at 78.1 percent.
On the flip side, it’s been scoring by committee the last few seasons, but the Vikings return a talented group of young forwards. Lawrence also gets a boost from the return of junior forward Blake Roubos, who piled up 40 points in his first two seasons before missing last season due to injury.
“Having Blake Roubos back this year is a big boost for our offense,” Szkodzinski said. “Josh Koepplinger, Lane King and Nick Felan have come back in tremendous shape and should also add more punch to our lineup after strong freshman seasons. There are others who will cause trouble at the net front for our opponents.”
Koepplinger led the team with 10 goals last season, Felan was second on the team with 20 points and King was tied for fourth on the squad with 15 points.
“We think we are as deep up front as we have been in a long time,” Szkodzinski said. “Hopefully that will translate into more pucks in the net.”
Add newcomers like Matt Beranek, Carson Knop, Evan Ketner and brothers Justin and Reed Gregory, and the Vikings have some real firepower.
As good as the Vikings think they could be, they face a murder’s row of a schedule where more than half of the opponents are ranked or got votes in the preseason poll to start the season.
“It sounds cliché, but anyone in the NCHA can win on any night,” Szkodzinski said. “We are excited to face the best teams in the country again this year. Our players thrive on the challenge of being in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.”