Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Soderqvist nabs NCHA Defensive Player of the Week

Mattias Soderqvist
Mattias Soderqvist

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Mattias Soderqvist was simply spectacular last weekend and earned the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week award.

Soderqvist (Stockholm, Sweden), a junior goaltender, picked up the honor after earning a win and a tie in a critical NCHA series with MSOE. Soderqvist posted a .968 save percentage and 1.44 goals against average for the two games.

In last Friday’s 2-2 overtime tie at MSOE, Soderqvist stopped a season-high 44 shots. He followed that with another season high, this time making 46 saves, in a 2-1 victory over the Raiders at the Appleton Family Ice Center on Saturday.

The Vikings picked up three points and closed to within one point of MSOE for the third and final playoff spot from the NCHA North Division with four games left in the regular season.

Soderqvist improved to 7-9-2 on the season with an .894 save percentage and 3.79 goals against average. This is the second time in less than a month that Soderqvist has won Defensive Player of the Week and the fourth time in his career.

The Vikings head to Northland College this weekend for a pair of league games before finishing up the regular season with a home-and-home series with Lake Forest College on Feb. 19-20.

Vikings open season by doubling up MSOE

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team opened its season with a 6-3 non-conference win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Sunday.

The match also featured a pair of first collegiate victories for the Vikings. Sophomore Bill Schuman-Kline teamed with rookie David Brooker as they earned their first ever doubles win, an 8-2 victory at No. 3. Schuman-Kline also got his first singles victory when he knocked off Kyle Fassbender in straight sets at No. 5.

David Jumes and Brian DeCorte were winners at No. 1 doubles for the Vikings, and Jumes also won impressively at No. 1 singles. Adam Busch won a super-tiebreaker to take his No. 4 singles matches, and Izaya Turenne did the same for the Vikings at No. 6.

Lawrence University 6, MSOE 3

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. David Gorodetsky (MSOE) 6-2, 6-0
2. John Price (MSOE) def. Brian DeCorte (LU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
3. Tom Smith (MSOE) def. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Adam Busch (LU) def. Mason Sauder (MSOE) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
5. Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) def. Kyle Fassbender (MSOE) 6-0, 6-4
6. Izaya Turenne (LU) def. Ryan Runke (MSOE) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4)

Doubles competition
1. David Jumes/Brian DeCorte (LU) def. David Gorodetsky/Mason Sauder (MSOE) 8-6
2. John Price/Tom Smith (MSOE) def. Mitch Kasprzyk/Adam Busch (LU) 8-5
3. Bill Schuman-Kline/David Brooker (LU) def. Ryan Runke/Austin Fite (MSOE) 8-2

Felan’s goal, Soderqvist’s heroics lift Vikings over MSOE

APPLETON, Wis. — Nick Felan’s third-period goal and the superb goaltending of Mattias Soderqvist lifted Lawrence University to a 2-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over MSOE on Saturday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Felan scored 3:34 into the third period to give the Vikings the 2-1 advantage and Soderqvist made it stand up. Soderqvist made 17 saves in the third period on his way to a season-best 46 saves for the game.

The win moves Lawrence (7-12-2, 6-8-2 NCHA) to within one point of MSOE (12-8-1, 7-8-1) for the final playoff spot in the NCHA’s North Division.

The Vikings grabbed a 1-0 lead on Matt Moore’s power-play goal with 7:23 left in the second period off assists from Brandon Boelter and Ryan Rumble. It was the second power-play of the weekend for the Vikings, and MSOE entered play this weekend having allowed just seven power-play goals on the season.

Lawrence finished 1-for-6 on the power play, and the Raiders were 0-for-5.

The Raiders tied the game on Chris Hinrichs’ goal with 4:58 left in the second period.

Felan put the Vikings ahead for good when he took the pass from Renato Engler and beat MSOE goaltender Nick Kohn with 16:26 left. Lane King also picked up an assist on that goal for the Vikings.

The Raiders pulled Kohn for the final 51 seconds but managed just one shot on goal during the final minute.

Kohn finished with 29 saves for the Raiders.

Box score

Bell, Stahl, Charlow pace Vikings at Ripon Double Dual

RIPON, Wis. — Christian Bell, Max Stahl and Travis Charlow all posted top-three finishes to pace the Lawrence University men’s swimming team at the Ripon College Double Dual on Saturday at the Storzer Center.

Bell grabbed second in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.41 seconds, and he also took fifth in the 100 butterfly in 59.18 seconds. Stahl posted a pair of third-place finishes, taking third in the 200 individual medley in 2:13.27 and in the 100 backstroke in 59.17. Charlow raced to second in the 100 freestyle in 50.36 seconds.

UW-Oshkosh topped Lawrence 122-53, and Ripon downed the Vikings 134-43.

Results

Polzin, Bruning race to wins at Pointer Invitational

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Sierra Polzin and Clare Bruning both posted victories for the Lawrence University track team Saturday at the Pointer Open at UW-Stevens Point.

Polzin won the 800 meters in 2:29.83, and teammate Sammi Jo Nixon grabbed fourth place in 2:33.34. Bruning grabbed first in the 5,000 in 19:41.63, and Lawrence’s Liz Landes was second in 20:45.58.

Erin Schrobilgen also posted a top-five finish for the Vikings when she raced to fourth place in the mile in 5:38.52.

The Lawrence men were led by Cam Davies and Josh Janusiak in the 3,000. Davies grabbed second in 9:07.86, and Janusiak was right on his heels in third in 9:11.77.

Both teams finished fifth in the team standings.

Results

Lawrence edged by Lady Blues

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — The Illinois College women’s basketball team turned away a strong challenge from Lawrence University on Saturday and posted a 58-44 Midwest Conference victory at Sherman Gymnasium.

Brielle Greenleaf and Sydney Lett scored 12 points apiece to pace Illinois College (10-10, 7-8 MWC), and Shannen Quehl grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Liz Arco posted a double-double for the Vikings (0-20, 0-15) with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Patsy Kealey had 11 points for Lawrence, and Olivia Hoesley came off the bench to add 10 points.

The Lady Blues had a four-point edge at the half, but Lawrence trimmed the margin to 30-28 following Arco’s layup and Hoesley’s 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter. The Lady Blues scored the final four points of the period to push the lead back to 24-28.

Illinois College led by seven early in the fourth quarter, but Hoesley hit another 3-pointer and Kealey added a jumper to help cut the margin to 37-33 with 7:47 left.

Illinois College responded with a 9-4 run, capped by Greenleaf’s 3-pointer, to finally take control. The 14-point margin of victory was the largest lead of the game for the Lady Blues.

Box score

Second-half surge pushes Vikings past Illinois College

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — A surge midway through the second half Saturday led the Lawrence University men’s basketball team to an 88-76 Midwest Conference victory over Illinois College at Sherman Gymnasium.

The Vikings went on an 11-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a nine-point lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Illinois College didn’t get closer than six points after that.

Jamie Nikitas led Lawrence (9-11, 6-9 MWC) with 20 points and seven rebounds. He also picked up three assists and three steals. Jeremy Stephani added 16 points and Connor Weas matched his career high with 15 points for the Vikings. Troy Miller added 11 points and a game-high five assists for Lawrence.

Nikitas passed Lawrence Hall of Famer Doug Fyfe (1,342) for fifth place on the career scoring list with 1,353 points. Nikitas is just eight points away from surpassing Chris Siebert (1,360) for fourth place.

Mitchell Patterson led the Blueboys (7-13, 4-11) with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Illinois College led 63-61 when Weas buried a 3-pointer with 10:18 remaining in the game as part of a four-point play. Following an Illinois College miss, Weas followed with another 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 68-63. Weas scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, going 4-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, in the final 20 minutes.

After the Blueboys had a turnover and another miss, Mitch Willer picked up a layup for a 70-63 lead. Illinois College then turned it over, and Nikitas hit a jumper for a 72-63 lead with 7:38 left.

Patterson scored to stop the run, and Illinois College trimmed the lead to 75-69 on a pair of Max Stutsman free throws with 6:28 remaining. The Vikings pushed the lead back to 81-71 on a pair of Nikitas free throws with 3:43 left, and Lawrence hit its next three shots from the floor to seal the victory.

Lawrence opened the game by scoring the first seven points, and the opening 20 minutes was marked by runs from both teams. Illinois College immediately rallied and trimmed the lead to 17-16.

The Vikings came right back on a 12-2 run to go up 29-19, but Illinois College scored the game’s next nine points to trim the lead to one. The Blueboys grabbed their first lead at 39-38 and the teams went into the half knotted at 46-46.

Box score

Vikings skate to OT tie at MSOE

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Lawrence University skated to a 2-2 overtime tie with the Milwaukee School of Engineering Friday night in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Kern Center.

The Vikings took the lead twice, but MSOE (12-7-1, 7-7-1 NCHA) rallied to force the overtime. Lawrence (5-8-2, 6-12-2) had the better of the play in the five-minute OT, out-shooting the Raiders 6-3, but neither team was able to score.

Lawrence goaltender Mattias Soderqvist made 44 saves for the Vikings, and Nick Kohn stopped 34 shots for the Raiders. MSOE had a 46-36 edge in shots on goal.

Senior captain Brandon Boelter got the Vikings on the board 4:51 into the second period when he scored off assists from Renato Engler and Lane King.

The Vikings held the 1-0 lead into the third, but Evan Wilson tied it for MSOE 5:55 into the final period.

After MSOE’s Dylan Dailey got sent off for hooking at 8:19 of the third, the Vikings converted on the power play. Josh Koepplinger scored at the 9:49 mark off assists from Austin Frank and Ryan Eardley for a 2-1 advantage.

MSOE countered with a power-play goal of its own when Jordan Guth scored with just 3:42 left to tie the game at 2-2. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.

The teams wrap up the series on Saturday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Box score