APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team heads back to Iowa to start play this week before returning home. The Vikings, just back from a game at Grinnell College, heads back to the Hawkeye State to play at Cornell College on Tuesday. Lawrence then hosts Beloit College on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Author: Joseph Vanden Acker
Men’s basketball preview: Lawrence at Cornell, vs. Beloit
APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team has a pair of Midwest Conference contests this week. The Vikings are back on the road to Iowa on Tuesday just two days after returning home from Iowa. Lawrence plays at Cornell College at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Vikings are then back in Alexander Gymnasium for a 4 p.m. game vs. Beloit College on Saturday.
Vikings pick up five wins at DiCicco Duals
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Lawrence University fencing teams picked up five victories this weekend at the DiCicco Duals at the University of Notre Dame.
The Lawrence women posted a 3-2 mark, and the Lawrence men went 2-2.
The women defeated Wayne State 16-11, topped Detroit Mercy 21-3 and downed Florida 17-10. Lawrence fell to Notre Dame 24-3 and lost 23-4 to Northwestern.
Lawrence dominated Detroit Mercy, including a 9-0 sweep in epee. It was the foil contingent that delivered against Wayne State by winning eight matches while dropping just one.
On the men’s side, Lawrence defeated Wayne State 16-11 and topped Florida 18-9. The Vikings fell 15-12 to Detroit Mercy and dropped a 25-2 decision to Notre Dame.
The foil and epee contingent both posted 6-3 margins to deliver the win against Wayne State, and it was foil who led the way against Florida by winning eight of nine matches.
DiCicco Duals, at University of Notre Dame
Men
Notre Dame 25, Lawrence 2 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 9-0, Epee 8-1)
Lawrence 18, Florida 9 (Sabre 4-5, Foil 8-1, Epee 6-3)
Lawrence 16, Wayne State 11 (Sabre 4-5, Foil 6-3, Epee 6-3)
Detroit Mercy 15, Lawrence 12 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 4-5, Epee 4-5)
Women
Notre Dame 24, Lawrence 3 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 8-1, Epee 8-1)
Lawrence 17, Florida 10 (Sabre 6-3, Foil 6-3, Epee 5-4)
Lawrence 16, Wayne State 11 (Sabre 4-5, Foil 8-1, Epee 4-5)
Lawrence 21, Detroit Mercy 3 (Sabre 5-1, Foil 7-2, Epee 9-0)
Northwestern 23, Lawrence 4 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 8-1, Epee 8-1)
Janusiak takes title in 5,000 at Pioneer Open
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Lawrence University track standout Josh Janusiak raced to victory in the 5,000 meters Saturday at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Open.
Janusiak blew away the field in the 5,000 with a winning time of 15:34.23 and posted a winning margin of more than 17 seconds.
Rookie Noah Shea posted a second-place finish in the triple jump as leaped 42 feet, 7.5 inches. Fellow freshman Will Nichols was eighth with a distance of 39-11.25. Shea and Nichols teamed with Terrell Myers and Dan Sandacz to take third in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:36.09.
Wes Hetcher grabbed seventh in the pole vault with a height of 11-8, and Myers took eighth in the long jump with a leap of 19-5.5.
On the women’s side, Hannah Kinzer raced to second in the 5,000 in 19:32.02. The 4×200 relay team of Mikaela Hintz, Hallie Sogin, Fanita Robins and Janey Degnan took second in 1:57.35.
Millin, Witter takes titles at Private College Championships
KENOSHA, Wis. — Lawrence University swimming standouts Paige Witter and Danielle Millin both captured titles Saturday at the Wisconsin Private College Championships at Carthage College.
Millin won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:18.72, and Witter grabbed first in the 500 freestyle in 5:27.05.
Witter led the Vikings’ contingent in that event as the Vikings grabbed four of the top six places. Elise Riggle was third in 5:32.02. Riggle also took second in the 400 individual medley in 4:56.52.
Emmi Zheng grabbed a pair of second-place finishes and a third. Zheng was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.46 and was second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:36.17. Sarah Schweickart was second in the 200 individual medley in 2:21.87, and Zheng was third in 2:22.23.
The 400 medley relay team grabbed second in 4:12.12, and the 400 freestyle relay team was third in 3:52.08.
On the men’s side, Max Stahl led the Vikings by taking third in the 200 backstroke in 2:06.20. Stahl also took fifth in the 100 backstroke in 57.96 seconds. Travis Charlow posted a fourth-place finish in the 500 freestyle in 5:20.80.
Lawrence took third in the combined team standings with 206 points. Carthage took the title with 641.
The Lawrence women were third with 143, and the men were fourth with 63 points.
Big first half propels Grinnell over Vikings
GRINNELL, Iowa — The Grinnell College men’s basketball team dominated the final 10 minutes of the first half Saturday and rode that to a 129-91 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Darby Gymnasium.
Grinnell led 27-21 with 10:21 left in the opening half, but the Pioneers outscored Lawrence 43-25 to build a 70-46 lead at the break. The Vikings never threatened a comeback in the second half.
Sean Cullinane led seven Grinnell players in double figures with 23 points. The Pioneers (11-6, 8-4 MWC) also went 38-for-43 from the foul line as Lawrence was whistled for 34 fouls and committed 38 turnovers.
Mitch Willer had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds to pace Lawrence (7-9, 7-5). Jeremy Stephani, Pete Winslow, Ben Peterson and Abhishek Venkatesh had 13 points apiece for the Vikings.
After a pair of Venkatesh free throws cut the lead to 27-21, Grinnell hit five of its next six shots from the floor to stretch the margin to 41-25. The Pioneers then went on a 13-4 run to push the lead to 54-29 and would maintain that margin to the break.
Slow start dooms Vikings in loss at Grinnell
GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team got off to a frigid start on Saturday, and that allowed Grinnell College to pull away to a 74-51 Midwest Conference victory at Darby Gymnasium.
Lawrence went 1-for-18 from the floor in the opening quarter as the Pioneers build a 16-3 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Vikings warmed up a bit in the second period, but Grinnell (9-8, 7-5 MWC) stretched the lead to 39-17 at the half.
The Vikings shot just 14.3 percent from the floor in the first half.
Olivia Hoesley just missed a double-double for the Vikings (2-15, 0-12) as she scored a career-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds. Aubrey Scott added 16 points and eight rebounds for Lawrence, and Natalie Kramer chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Kayla Morrissey went 7-for-11 from the floor on her way to 17 points for Grinnell.
The Vikings trailed by as many as 32 points early in the third quarter as Grinnell opened the second half on a 10-0 run. Lawrence managed to trim the lead to 20 with seven minutes remaining in the game but could pull no closer.
Short-handed goal lifts Bulldogs over Vikings
APPLETON, Wis. — A short-handed goal early in the third period Saturday proved to be the difference as No. 8 Adrian College held on for 2-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
The Bulldogs broke a 1-1 tie with Taylor McCloy’s short-hander just 4:30 into the final period.
The Vikings went on the power play 1:45 into the third period when Vincent Paquette was sent off for cross-checking. Adrian’s Austin Rust was whistled for holding 44 seconds later, and the Vikings had a two-man advantage for the next 1:16.
Lawrence (5-12-2, 4-8-2 NCHA) couldn’t cash in on the two-man advantage, and the Bulldogs were still down a man when McCloy eased toward the Vikings’ blue line just as Adrian got control of the puck. He skated in alone on Lawrence goaltender Evan Cline and scored on a back-hander at the 4:30 mark.
Lawrence had a final opportunity when Adrian’s Matt McNair was whistled for slashing with 39 seconds left. The Vikings then pulled Cline and had a pair of good scoring chances. The final opportunity came on a scrum in front of the net as time expired, but Adrian goaltender Kevin Entmaa jumped on the puck seconds before the buzzer sounded.
Lawrence went 0-for-6 on the power play, and Adrian (14-5-2, 13-3-0) finished 1-for-5.
Entmaa made 21 saves to pick up the win for Adrian, and Cline was superb in net for the Vikings as he stopped 46 of 48 shots.
Cory Dunn put Adrian on top when scored on the power play with just 1:08 left in the opening period. Lawrence tied the game at 1-1 six minutes into the second period when Josh Koepplinger beat Entmaa off assists from Carson Knop and Lane King.
Third-period surge pushes Bulldogs past Lawrence
APPLETON, Wis. — Eighth-ranked Adrian College scored two goals in a span of 2:51 in the third period Friday to seal a 5-3 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
Adrian (13-5-2, 12-3-0 NCHA) was hanging onto a 3-2 edge when Michael Hoy scored at the 7:56 mark to build the lead to two. Cory Dunn then scored on a scramble near the net at the 10:47 mark for a 5-2 edge.
Lawrence (5-11-2, 4-7-2) battled back with the help of a pair of Adrian penalties. The Vikings got a two-man advantage for more than a minute when Adrian took two penalties within 34 seconds. Sean Reynolds cashed in for the Vikings when his shot from the high slot got past Dillon Kelley to cut the lead to 5-3 with 4:13 left.
Lawrence went 1-for-6 on the power play, and Adrian was 0-for-4.
The Vikings weren’t able to pull goaltender Greg Procopio until the final 30 seconds and couldn’t get any closer. Kelley made 16 saves to pick up the win, and Procopio stopped 21 shots in the loss.
Adrian grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the strength of first-period goals from Mat Thompson and Austin Rust.
Lawrence surged to life in the opening seconds of the second period. Matt Beranek took a pass from the corner and stuffed the puck past Kelley just 22 seconds into the second to trim the lead to 2-1.
Beranek got his second goal of the night with some help from Kelley later in the second period. The Bulldogs were on the power play when the puck was played to their end of the ice. Kelley came out of the net and misplayed the puck, which was picked up by Beranek. He found the back of the open net for his first career short-handed goal to tie the game at 2-2 at the 12:50 mark.
Adrian took the lead back with 2:02 left in the period when Taylor McCloy scored on a scrum in front of the net, and that gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead heading to the third period.
The teams wrap up the series Saturday afternoon.
Greer chosen to lead Lawrence men’s soccer program
APPLETON, Wis. — Will Greer has been chosen to lead the Lawrence University men’s soccer program, Director of Athletics Christyn Abaray announced today.
Greer, who served as the interim head coach for the Vikings in 2016, brings a wealth of coaching experience at multiple levels and a diverse network of soccer connections.
“I am excited to have Will officially join Lawrence University Athletics,” Abaray said. “Will stepped in and up to coach our men’s team in the midst of this past season, connected with various offices and individuals across campus to better understand Lawrence and how we operate. He has hit the recruiting trail hard and is working to establish a new sense of the men’s soccer program.”
Greer was serving as the youth coaching director at Rush Wisconsin Soccer Club in Middleton, Wis., and as a head coach in the Olympic Development Program at the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association.
“It’s just really exciting to be back here in Appleton, to be part of the program, part of the school, part of the community,” Greer said. “This is just a great place.”
Greer was named interim head coach in September but was a familiar face to the upperclassmen on the team. Greer served as an assistant coach with the Vikings for six seasons from 2007-12. The Vikings made three Midwest Conference Tournament appearances during that stretch.
“I felt and feel confident in Will, knowing how he intends to make the appropriate changes to our culture, moving us in the direction of sustained success both on and off of the field,” Abaray said. “With his soccer knowledge, experience and widespread connections, his demonstrated abilities to jump into an unlikely situation and make positive change and progress, his enthusiasm about the future of the program, and his dedication, familiarity and affinity for the program, we are encouraged about what is in store for Lawrence men’s soccer.”
Greer, a 2003 Marian University graduate, led Lawrence to a 5-7-1 record in games he coached in 2016, and the Vikings finished with a 6-10-1 overall mark.
“Changing the way we played on the field was priority No. 1, and changing the culture off the field is important as well,” Greer said. “The guys have a lot of passion, a lot of heart, and that’s pretty contagious when you’re around them. Being around our guys re-energized me in terms of looking for a college coaching job. Coaching at a higher level like this has been exciting. It has really lit a spark inside me.”
The Vikings have 11 seniors on the 2016 team so Greer began recruiting immediately back in September. He believes the hard work will pay off with an influx of talent for 2017.
“We want to get the roster to 28 to 30 players and we’re on track to do that,” Greer said. “When prospective student-athletes come up to see the school and meet the guys, they’re very impressed.”