Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Witter collects another MWC Swimmer of the Week honor

Paige Witter

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University standout Paige Witter has been named the Midwest Conference Swimmer of the Week for the second time this season.

Witter (Denver, Colo./Washington), a senior, picked up the honor after winning a pair of events in a dual meet at UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 7. Witter also was chosen as Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 25.

Witter showed her versatility in capturing her two wins against UW-Oshkosh. Witter grabbed first in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.28 and grabbed the top spot in the 500 freestyle in 5:28.33.

Led by Witter, Lawrence forged a 115-115 tie with the Titans.

This is the third time this season a Lawrence swimmer has won the conference’s weekly award. In addition to Witter’s two wins, Danielle Millin was the MWC Swimmer of the Week on Dec. 20.

The Vikings return to action on Saturday when Lawrence hosts Illinois Tech at Boldt Natatorium.

The Week Ahead: January 9-15

APPLETON, Wis. — It is a big weekend at Alexander Gymnasium as the Lawrence University basketball teams play four games in the historic venue. Lawrence takes on Cornell College on Friday night, and the Vikings face Illinois College on Saturday afternoon. Lawrence track also opens its season on Friday as the Vikings travel to UW-Oshkosh for a meet at Kolf Sports Center.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Opponent: Lawrence at UW-Oshkosh

When and Where: Friday, Jan. 13, 4 p.m., Kolf Sports Center, Oshkosh, Wis.

Webcast: None.

Fast Fact: Lawrence opens its season at the alma mater of its coach, Jason Fast. Fast was a member of UW-Oshkosh’s 2002 NCAA Division III national championship cross country team. He later served as an assistant coach at Oshkosh before taking over the cross country and track programs at Lawrence.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (2-9, 0-6 MWC)

Opponent: Lawrence vs. Cornell (8-3, 6-0 MWC)

When and Where: Friday, Jan. 13, 5:30 p.m., Alexander Gymnasium.

Webcast: Lawrence vs. Cornell

The Series: The series, which started in the 1988-89 season, is tied 7-7. Lawrence put together a seven-game win streak against the Rams from 1989-06, and Cornell has won the last six meetings.

Opponent: Lawrence vs. Illinois College (8-3, 5-1 MWC)

When and Where: Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 p.m., Alexander Gymnasium.

Webcast: Lawrence vs. Illinois College

The Series: Illinois College has a 21-18 lead in a series that started in the 1991-92 season. The Lady Blues have won the last seven meetings.

Fast Fact: Lawrence played one its best road games of the season this past Saturday at Monmouth. The Vikings trailed by just six points with less than five minutes remaining before the Scots pulled away. A big stat for the Vikings was a 38-29 edge on the glass, and that’s the first time Lawrence has out-rebounded an opponent this season.

MEN’S BASKETBALL (4-6, 4-2 MWC)

Opponent: Lawrence vs. Cornell (5-6, 3-3 MWC)

When and Where: Friday, Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m., Alexander Gymnasium.

Webcast: Lawrence vs. Cornell

The Series: Cornell holds a commanding 61-29 lead in a series that goes back to 1924. The Vikings are 3-3 against the Rams since Cornell rejoined the Midwest Conference.

Opponent: Lawrence vs. Illinois College (3-8, 0-6 MWC)

When and Where: Saturday, Jan. 14, 3 p.m., Alexander Gymnasium

Webcast: Lawrence vs. Illinois College

The Series: In a series that started in 1985-86, Lawrence holds a 35-10 advantage over the Blueboys. Lawrence has won 11 straight and 23 of the last 25 against Illinois College.

Fast Fact: Junior forward Ben Peterson continues to be hot from beyond the 3-point line. Peterson went 7-for-13 from 3-point range in two games this last week for a 53.8 percent clip. On the season, Peterson ranks eighth in all of NCAA Division III in 3-point shooting at 52.9 percent.

HOCKEY (4-8-1, 3-4-1 NCHA)

Opponent: Lawrence at Aurora (3-10-0, 3-5-0 NCHA)

When and Where: Friday, Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 14, 3 p.m., Fox Valley Ice Arena, Geneva, Ill.

Webcast/Live Stats: Lawrence at Aurora

The Series: Lawrence holds a 2-0 edge in a series that started last season. The Vikings defeated Aurora 7-0 and 6-4 in the 2015-16 season.

Fast Fact: Lawrence is coming off a pair of tight losses to Concordia (Wis.), the second-place team in the NCHA South Division. Lawrence rookies Carson Knop and Matt Beranek both scored their first collegiate goals in last Friday’s 4-3 loss at Concordia.

SWIMMING

Opponent: Lawrence vs. Illinois Tech

When and Where: Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 p.m., Boldt Natatorium.

Webcast: None.

Fast Fact: This is the final home meet of the season for the Vikings, who are facing former Lawrence star Kyle Griffin, now in his third season as the coach at Illinois Tech.

Witter, Charlow both win twice as Lawrence women tie, men fall to UW-Oshkosh

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Paige Witter and Travis Charlow both won a pair of individual events Saturday as the Vikings tied and lost at UW-Oshkosh.

Witter won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.28 and took the top spot in the 500 freestyle in 5:28.33. The Lawrence women tied UW-Oshkosh 115-115.

Charlow won the 100 freestyle in 51:35 and grabbed first in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.07. Oshkosh edged the Lawrence men 99-83.

Charlow also teamed with Max Stahl, Christian Bell and Tom Goldberg to win the 200 medley relay in 1:43.95. Stahl also won the 100 backstroke in 59.25 seconds. Liam Wulfman was the other winner for the Vikings as he took first in the 200 individual medley in 2:10.43.

Sarah Schweickart and Elise Riggle both won events and swam on a winning relay for the women. Schweickart took first in the 200 IM in 2:23.81, and Riggle won the 1,000 freestyle in 11:35.18. Schweickart and Riggle teamed with Emei Thompson and Bridget Duero to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:49.64.

Eryn Blagg and Emmi Zheng also picked up wins for the Vikings. Blagg won the 100 freestyle in 56.97 seconds, and Zheng took the top spot in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.92.

Results

Roubos scores twice but Concordia holds off Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — Concordia University Wisconsin got a pair of third-period goals Saturday to hold off Lawrence University 4-3 in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Blake Roubos scored twice in the third period for the Vikings (4-8-1, 3-4-1 NCHA), who nearly got the equalizer in the final minute.

Concordia (9-4-1, 6-3-1) led 2-1 entering the third period, but Roubos fired a wrist shot past Jack Romanuik just 1:56 into the period to tie it.

The Falcons surged ahead with an extra attacker on the ice due to a delayed penalty as Connor Hogg scored at the 7:10 mark to put Concordia up 3-2. Three minutes later, Jon Brumwell intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and skated in to score against Mattias Soderqvist for a 4-2 lead with 9:43 remaining.

Roubos struck back for the Vikings just over a minute later when he scored off a face-off in the Concordia end. Roubos’ went top shelf to cut the lead to 4-3 with 8:32 remaining.

Lawrence pulled Soderqvist with 1:32 left and had a great chance to score the equalizer. After Romanuik made an initial save, a pair of Vikings couldn’t get a stick on the bouncing puck and Concordia dodged the bullet.

Romanuik made 37 saves to pick up the win. Soderqvist stopped 31 shots for the Vikings.

Concordia jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, and Lawrence trimmed the lead in half in Josh Koepplinger’s goal at the 6:27 mark of the second.

Box score

Vikings turn back Monmouth

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team turned back Monmouth College Saturday and scored a 66-62 Midwest Conference victory at Glennie Gymnasium.

Ben Peterson led three Vikings in double figures with 14 points and hit 5-of-7 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Jeremy Stephani added 12 points and Eric Weiss had 10 for the Vikings (4-6, 4-2 MWC). Mitch Willer chipped in with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for Lawrence.

Lamont Mitchell led Monmouth (2-9, 2-4) with 18 points and added eight rebounds but committed a key turnover in the final seconds.

Lawrence built its biggest lead at 58-47 on Stephani’s 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining, but the Scots kept chipping away at the lead.

Justin Aluya’s two free throws cut Lawrence’s lead to 61-58 with 2:50 remaining, but Weiss answered with a short jumper for Lawrence. Aluya added another free throw to cut the lead to 63-59 with 1:24 left.

Thanks to a missed shot and a turnover from both teams, the score stayed the same until Mitchell made two free throws with 34 seconds left to cut the lead to 63-61.

Lawrence’s Quinn Fisher was fouled but missed the front end of a bonus. The Vikings forced a Monmouth turnover, and Fisher was fouled again. He made one free throw with 14 seconds remaining to push the lead to 64-61.

Mitchell was fouled with eight seconds left but made just one free throw to cut the margin to 64-62. Peterson grabbed Mitchell’s miss and was fouled but missed the front end of the bonus to give Monmouth another chance.

Lawrence’s defense stymied Mitchell, who was called for a travel with four seconds remaining. Weiss then made a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Lawrence led from the opening minute, and the Vikings were up by as many as seven points in the first half. The Scots rallied and tied the game at 31-31 at the half.

The Vikings scored the first five points of the second half and led by as many as seven points before Monmouth rallied. The Scots went on a 9-0 run to take their only lead of the game at 45-43. Lawrence responded with a 12-0 as Peterson hit two 3-pointers and Weiss and Stephani each added a triple to give the Vikings a 55-45 advantage.

Box score

Scots pull away late to top Lawrence

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Monmouth College women’s basketball team pulled away in the final five minutes Saturday and went on to a 72-57 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Glennie Gymnasium.

Leah Reeves scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds to pace Lawrence (2-9, 0-6 MWC). Olivia Hoesley added 13 points, and Lauren Deveikis had nine points and a team-best four assists for the Vikings.

Maddie Dohleman scored 16 points to lead three Monmouth players in double figures.

Lawrence trailed by double digits at 53-42 with two minutes left in the third quarter but the Vikings rallied. Lawrence went on an 8-2 run, capped by Deveikis’ layup, to trim the margin to 55-50 with 7:09 remaining.

The teams traded baskets before Izy Todd hit her second consecutive 3-pointer to trigger a 9-0 outburst that gave Monmouth (2-9, 2-4) a 67-52 advantage with 1:58 remaining.

Aubrey Scott, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds, then hit a 3-pointer for Lawrence to finally stop the run. Hoesley followed with a jumper to cut the lead to 67-57 but that’s as close as the Vikings would get.

Monmouth went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute to seal the victory.

The Scots led the entire game but didn’t pull away from Lawrence until the final minutes. Monmouth led by as many as six points in the opening quarter but back-to-back 3-pointers from Scott and Deveikis helped cut the margin to 18-16 after one quarter.

Monmouth went up 24-16 early in the second quarter, but the Vikings scored seven consecutive points, including five from Hoesley, to cut the lead to 24-23. The Scots went back up by six, but Shonell Benajmin’s jumper in the final seconds of the second quarter trimmed Monmouth’s lead to 35-33 at the half.

Box score

Goal in final seconds pushes Concordia past Vikings

MEQUON, Wis. — Jake Switzer scored with 20 seconds remaining Friday to give Concordia University Wisconsin a 4-3 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association win over Lawrence University at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

The game looked like it was headed to overtime before Switzer scored off assists from Tanner Bull and Jim Pearson at the 19:40 mark.

Lawrence (4-7-1, 3-3-1 NCHA) tied the game at 3-3 on Carson Knop’s first collegiate goal with 7:12 remaining in the third period. Blake Roubos and Jake Drinkard picked up assists on the goal.

Lawrence jumped on top on Matt Beranek’s first collegiate goal at the 8:04 mark of the first period. The Falcons (8-4-1, 5-3-1) tied it on Pearson’s goal with 3:51 remaining in the opening period.

Sean Reynolds, who had assisted on Beranek’s goal, put Lawrence up 2-1 with a goal at the 13:28 mark of the second with Knop picking up the helper.

Concordia got a goal from Jon Brumwell at the 6:14 mark and another from Josh Adkins at 12:14 to take a 3-2 advantage.

Jack Romanuik made 28 saves to get the win for Concordia. Evan Cline stopped 37 shots for the Vikings.