APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University football team hits the road this weekend as the Vikings travel to Galesburg, Ill., to face Knox College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday. The Vikings are coming off a 53-7 win over Grinnell, and Knox looks to rebound from a 55-17 loss to Lake Forest.
Author: Joseph Vanden Acker
The Week Ahead: October 31-November 6
APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team gears up for the Midwest Conference Tournament this week, and hockey looks to win the Battle of Highway 41 trophy in a busy week for the Vikings.
HOCKEY (0-2-0, 0-0-0 NCHA)
Opponent: Lawrence vs. Marian (0-2-0, 0-2-0 NCHA)
When and Where: Friday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Blue Line Ice Center, Fond du Lac, Wis., and Saturday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m., Appleton Family Ice Center.
Webcast: Lawrence at Marian (Friday); Marian at Lawrence (Saturday)
Series: Marian holds a 52-16-6 lead in the series, which started in the 1992-93 season. Lawrence has fared better against the Sabres in the last three seasons with a 2-4-0 mark.
Fast Fact: Lawrence took No. 1 UW-Stevens Point to overtime before falling 3-2 this past Saturday. The Vikings’ win over No. 2 St. Norbert in the 2013-14 season remains the highest-ranked opponent the Vikings have defeated. The Vikings are playing for the Battle of Highway 41 trophy this weekend with the Sabres. Marian has a 6-1 edge in the series and currently has possession of the trophy after winning in a shootout after the teams split the games in 2015-16.
VOLLEYBALL (11-15)
Opponent: Lawrence at Midwest Conference Tournament
When and Where: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5, Small Center, Mount Vernon, Iowa. Semifinals Friday, Lawrence at Cornell (21-6), 7 p.m., St. Norbert (14-14) vs. Grinnell (14-10), 4:30 p.m. Championship Saturday, 1 p.m.
Webcast: Midwest Conference Tournament
Series: Cornell holds a 5-2 edge in a series that started during the 2000 season.
Fast Fact: This is Lawrence’s first trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament since it went to its current four-team format for the 2008 season. The Vikings finished in a tie for fourth place in the standings but won a tiebreaker with Ripon to knock the Red Hawks out. An automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament goes to the tournament winner this weekend.
FENCING
Opponent: Lawrence at Badger Open
When and Where: Saturday, Nov. 5, 8 a.m., UW Natatorium, Madison, Wis.
Webcast: None.
Fast Fact: This is the season opener for the Lawrence fencing team, and it’s the debut for new head coach Michael Hall. Hall was hired as the team’s full-time head coach recently and replaces Steve Amich, who had served as the team’s coach for most of the past two decades.
FOOTBALL (3-5, 2-4 MWC)
Opponent: Lawrence at Knox (1-7, 1-5 MWC)
When and Where: Saturday, Nov. 5, 1 p.m., The Knox Bowl, Galesburg, Ill.
Webcast: Lawrence at Knox
Series: In a series that goes back to 1935, Lawrence holds a 36-23-2 advantage over the Prairie Fire. The Vikings hold an 8-5 edge in the series since the 2003 season, but Knox has won the last two meetings. Lawrence has scored more than 60 points twice against Knox. The Vikings posted a school-record 67 points against Knox back in 1981 and scored 62 at Knox in 2011 in a game that featured a Lawrence record 573 passing yards.
Fast Fact: Lawrence put up some big numbers against Grinnell this past Saturday as the Vikings rolled up 622 yards on offense, just 47 shy of the school record of 669. Lawrence also had 442 rushing yards, just 46 yards away from the record of 488. Rookie quarterback Philip Santiago and rookie running back Wasonu Allen both went over 100 rushing yards. Allen had a team-high 146 on just eight carries, and Santiago had 140 on six attempts. Three of Santiago’s seven pass completions went for touchdowns.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Event: Lawrence vs. Beloit
When and Where: Saturday, Nov. 5, 1 p.m., Boldt Natatorium.
Webcast: None.
Fast Fact: Lawrence split its first dual meet of the season this past weekend against Ripon. The Lawrence women rolled to an impressive victory, and the Viking men were edged by the Red Hawks. Danielle Millin led the Vikings by winning a pair of events and swimming on a winning relay.
Top-ranked Pointers edge Lawrence in OT
STEVENS POINT, Wis. — The No. 1-ranked UW-Stevens Point hockey team got a goal with 1:18 left in overtime Saturday to tip Lawrence University 3-2 in a nonconference game at Willett Arena.
Stephan Beauvais scored off a pass from Tanner Karty 3:42 into the overtime to lift the Pointers (2-0-0), the defending NCAA Division III champions.
Lawrence (0-2-0) battled back twice to tie the game to force the OT.
Jacob Barber scored just 3:43 into the game to give the Pointers the early 1-0 lead. Sean Reynolds took a pass from Mikkel Joehnk and scored at the 14:06 mark of the second to tie it at 1-1.
That didn’t last long as Beauvais scored for Stevens Point scored just 17 seconds later for a 2-1 advantage. With just 5:33 left in the third period, Matt Montemurro scored on the power play for the Vikings to tie it at 2-2.
Jesse Gordichuk made 12 saves to get the win for Stevens Point. Greg Procopio stopped 40 shots for the Vikings.
Experience, depth should make Vikings strong in tough NCHA
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.”
Defense leads Vikings to straight-sets victory over Lakeland
PLYMOUTH, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team played some stingy defense Saturday and rode that to a 3-0 nonconference win over Lakeland University at Woltzen Gymnasium.
Lawrence won the match 25-21, 25-22, 25-21 as part of the Lakeland Quadrangular.
Lawrence (11-15) limited Lakeland (15-16) to a .055 hitting percentage for the match and piled up 55 digs. Cyra Bammer and Katie Kumbalek had 14 digs apiece to pace the Vikings.
Arianna Neumeyer led Lawrence with nine kills and picked up 10 digs. Rachael Wuensch added eight kills for the Vikings, and Lauren Ray posted 17 assists. Bammer had a team-best three aces, and Ray picked up a pair.
Edgewood downs Vikings in straight sets
PLYMOUTH, Wis. — The Edgewood College volleyball team downed Lawrence University 3-0 in a nonconference match on Saturday at Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Eagles won 25-17, 29-27, 25-15 as part of the Lakeland College Quadrangular.
Emily Chaussee led Edgewood (17-13) with 10 kills.
Arianna Neumeyer paced the Vikings (10-15) with nine kills and 11 digs, and Rachel Barthel added eight kills. Lauren Ray picked up 10 assists for the Vikings.
Berkley scores twice as Vikings, Bucs battle to double-overtime tie
BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s soccer team battled to a 2-2 double-overtime tie with Beloit College in Saturday’s Midwest Conference match at the Strong Stadium Complex.
Ryan Berkley scored a pair of goals for Lawrence (1-14-1, 0-8-1 MWC), but Beloit (4-9-1, 2-6-1) scored two goals in a three-minute span late in the second half to force overtime.
Berkley got the Vikings on the board just 3:23 into the second half with her fourth goal of the season. Berkley then made it 2-0 with a goal at the 52:05 mark.
Beloit cut the lead in half on Courtney Ceurvorst’s goal at the 75:12 mark. The Bucs tied it when Ceurvorst fed Mikino Kumagai, who scored at the 77:58 mark.
Kori Looker made seven saves for Lawrence, which had a 19-15 edge in shots. Tegan Rock made 11 saves for Beloit.
Second-half goal lets Beloit edge Vikings
BELOIT, Wis. — A goal 10 minutes into the second half Saturday was the only scoring as the Beloit College men’s soccer team edged Lawrence University 1-0 in a Midwest Conference game at the Strong Stadium Complex.
Beloit’s Martin Garrett-Curie scored at the 55:52 mark the game’s only goal.
Jere Bauer made 10 saves to earn the shutout for Beloit (7-8-1, 2-6-1 MWC). Joe Krivit stopped five shots for the Vikings (6-10-1, 2-6-1).
Lawrence had a 16-11 edge in shots for the game.
Lawrence swimmers split with Red Hawks
APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University swim teams split a dual match with Ripon College on Saturday at Boldt Natatorium.
The Lawrence women posted a 137-67 win over the Red Hawks, and Ripon edged the Lawrence men 96-78.
Danielle Millin paced the Vikings with a pair of individual wins. She won the 50-yard freestyle in 26.76 seconds and took the top spot in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.08. Millin also swam on the winning 200 medley relay team with Emmi Zheng, Paige Witter and Eryn Blagg.
Witter also grabbed first in the 200 freestyle in 2:05.56, and Blagg was the winner in the 100 freestyle in 58.01 seconds. Zheng led a Lawrence 1-2-3 finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:12.91.
Lawrence’s Emei Thompson swam to first in the 500 freestyle in 5:38.54, and Elise Riggle took the 1,000 freestyle in 11:34.27.
The 200 freestyle relay of Thompson, Lizzy Garcia, Sarah Schweickart and Bridget Duero took first in 1:47.41.
On the men’s side, Jordan Spalding grabbed a pair of first-place finishes for the Vikings. Spalding won the 1,000 freestyle in 11:26.74 and took the top spot in the 500 freestyle in 5:31.79.
Max Stahl was also a winner for the Vikings as he took first in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.03. The 200 medley relay team of Stahl, Tom Goldberg, Liam Wulfman and Christian Bell took grabbed first in 1:46.27.
Janusiak dominates on way to winning MWC title
BELOIT, Wis. — Lawrence University cross country standout Josh Janusiak put on a dominating performance Saturday on his way to winning the individual title at the Midwest Conference Championships.
Janusiak, a sophomore from South Milwaukee, Wis., covered the 8,000-meter course at the Beloit Club in 25:42 to win by a whopping 27 seconds over second-place finisher John Lennon of Grinnell College. Janusiak’s time was the eighth-fastest in Lawrence history, one tick faster than Peter Levi.
Janusiak is Lawrence’s first individual champion in cross country since Sam Stevens won the title in 2011 and is the ninth runner in Lawrence history to win the crown.
Led by Janusiak and rookie Joe Kortenhof, the Vikings finished fourth in the team standings with 95 points. Kortenhof placed sixth in 26:36 to earn MWC Freshman of the Year honors and a place on the all-conference team, which is made up of the top-20 finishers. Grinnell won the team title with 33 points.
Sophomore Ben Schaefer took 21st for the Vikings in 27:17, senior Max Edwards was 33rd in 28:05 and Ethan Gniot was 34th in 28:05 to round out the scoring for Lawrence.
On the women’s side, the Vikings finished seventh with 179 points. St. Norbert took the team title with 43 points.
The top finisher for the Vikings was Christina Sedall, who was 25th and covered the 6,000 meters in 24:38. Erin Schrobilgen placed 30th in 24:59, Hannah Kinzer was 34th in 25:08, Amy Hutchings was 43rd in 26:03 and Margaret Huck took 47th in 26:30 to complete the scoring.