Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Vikings roll to shutout win over Aurora

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University put together a dominating performance on Friday night en route to a 7-0 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Aurora University at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Playing in front of a near-capacity crowd for the Body Check Cancer Game, the Vikings (5-8-1, 4-4-1 NCHA) got two goals apiece from Renato Engler, Josh Koepplinger and Felix Henriksson. Mattias Soderqvist stopped 27 shots to earn his second shutout in the last three games.

The Vikings went 3-for-5 on the power play and fired 55 shots on goal.

Henriksson scored his first career goal midway through the first period off an assist from Ryan Eardley and the Vikings led 1-0 at the 10:34 mark. Renato Engler made it 2-0 with just 58 seconds left in the first when he passed the puck to himself off the boards and beat Aurora goaltender Jared Rutledge.

Koepplinger made it 3-0 just 2:40 into the second period with assists from Sean Reynolds and Ryan Robertson.

The score stayed that way until the Vikings scored three consecutive power-play goals in the third. Koepplinger scored on the man-advantage at 7:46 of the third with assists coming again from Robertson and Reynolds. Engler then scored on the power play just 1:13 later with Nick Felan and Brandon Boelter picking up assists. Lane King fired in another power-play goal at 11:39 with Felan and Boelter assisting again.

That was the end of the night for Rutledge, who finished with 44 saves for the Spartans (1-12-1, 1-7-1).

The Vikings finished the scoring on Henriksson’s second goal of the night at the 15:13 mark.

The teams wrap up the series on Saturday afternoon.

Box score

 

Shutout helps Soderqvist nab NCHA Defensive Player of the Week honor

Mattias Soderqvist
Mattias Soderqvist

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Mattias Soderqvist was named the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week after a pair of fine performances last weekend.

Soderqvist (Stockholm, Sweden), a junior goaltender, earned the honor after picking up his first career shutout last Friday and leading the Vikings to a series victory against Concordia (Wis.) University.

Soderqvist stopped 26 shots in Lawrence’s 2-0 victory over Concordia at the Appleton Family Ice Center. He then stopped 40 shots in a 2-2 overtime tie with the Falcons on the road the following night.

For the weekend, Soderqvist posted a .971 save percentage and 0.96 goals against average.

This is the third time Soderqvist has won the NCHA Defensive Player of the Week award. He took it twice during the 2014-15 season.

Lawrence is now 4-8-1 and 3-4-1 in the NCHA North Division. The Vikings host Aurora University in a league series this weekend at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Steady Pioneers pull away from Lawrence

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carroll University women’s basketball team steadily pulled away Tuesday night and posted a 56-33 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University at Van Male Field House.

Brittany Groer paced Carroll with a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Malory Christenson added 14 points for the Pioneers (5-8, 4-4 MWC).

Patsy Kealey paced Lawrence (0-13, 0-8) with eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Freshman Leah Reeves added seven points, and Andrea Wilkinson had a team-best five assists for the Vikings.

Carroll scored eight of the final nine points in the first quarter and led 15-6 after the opening period. Lawrence closed to within eight points on Nicole Cummins’ layup with 6:52 left in the second quarter, but the Pioneers finished the half on a 12-2 run and led 32-14 at the break.

The Pioneers inched out to a 43-22 lead after three quarters and would lead by as many as 28 points in the fourth.

Box score

Vikings lose OT heartbreaker at Carroll despite 40 points by Nikitas

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carroll University men’s basketball team rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 20 seconds of regulation Tuesday and then defeated Lawrence University 84-83 in overtime in a Midwest Conference game at Van Male Field House.

Jamie Nikitas had a monster night for Lawrence as he posted the eighth-best game point total in school history. Nikitas scored a career-high 40 points as he hit 12-of-22 shots from the floor and went 14-for-16 from the foul line. Nikitas also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to go along with two assists and two steals.

Connor Weas added a career-high 12 points for the Vikings (5-8, 2-6 MWC), and Ben Peterson and Mitch Willer had 10 points apiece before both players fouled out.

Kyle Keranen and Marcus Johnson scored 22 points apiece to pace Carroll (12-1, 8-0).

Weas and Nikitas both hit a pair of foul shots, sandwiched around a Keranen layup, to give Lawrence a 72-67 lead with 21 seconds left in regulation.

After Keranen’s layup was blocked out of bounds, Keranen hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to 72-70. Nikitas was then bumped out of bounds and the Pioneers got the ball back. Johnson got free inside and his layup tied the game at 72-72. Lawrence’s Jeremy Stephani missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it.

Carroll raced to a 78-72 lead in the first 1:20 of the overtime, but Lawrence stormed back. Nikitas scored the next seven points for the Vikings as Lawrence trimmed the margin to 80-79 with 1:47 left.

A three-point play by Carroll’s Tanner Zaeske pushed the lead to 83-79, and Nikitas countered with a driving layup to cut the margin to 83-81. After Keranen made one free throw, Nikitas was fouled and hit two foul shots to trim the lead to 84-83.

Carroll’s Troy Howat was fouled and missed both free throws, but a desperation 3-pointer missed at the buzzer to give Carroll the victory.

Carroll led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Lawrence went on a 10-0 run, capped by Stephani’s 3-pointer, over the final 4:07 of the first half to lead 37-30 at the break.

Lawrence pushed the lead to 12 to start the second half as Stephani hit another 3-pointer and Nikitas followed with a layup to make it 42-30. Carroll came back to tie the game at 45-45, but the Pioneers didn’t take the lead until the overtime.

Box score

Hockey series preview: Lawrence vs. Aurora

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University welcomes Aurora University to the Appleton Family Ice Center for the first time when the teams meet this weekend in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series. This is Aurora’s first season of competition in the NCHA.

Friday’s opening game of the series is the Body Check Cancer Game. Lawrence will wear customized orange jerseys, which will be sold at a silent auction conducted for the rest of the season. Orange symbolizes kidney cancer, which has hit the family of Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski. Other donation opportunities include Chuck-A-Puck, which will be done between the second and third period, a gift basket raffle and a donation box.

Preview

Vikings skate to OT tie at Concordia

MEQUON, Wis. — Lawrence University skated to a 2-2 overtime tie Saturday in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game with Concordia (Wis.) University at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

Both teams scored once apiece in the first and third periods, and both teams had good scoring chances in the overtime.

Lawrence goaltender Mattias Soderqvist made three outstanding saves in the overtime and finished with 40 saves for the game. Andy Munroe stopped 39 shots for Concordia (8-4-2, 5-3-2 NCHA).

Lawrence (4-8-1, 3-4-1) got on the board first when Luke McDiarmid scored just 1:20 into the first period. McDiarmid took a pass from Austin Frank and tallied his first goal of the season. The Falcons bounced back and tied it exactly five minutes later on Nick Erb’s goal.

The score stayed that way until early in the third period when Steve Hughes put the Vikings ahead 2-1 at the 5:17 mark. Hughes picked up his third goal of the season off assists from Ryan Rumble and Matt Montemurro.

Concordia finally tied the score at 2-2 with just 4:03 left in the third on Adam Fauchoux’s goal.

The Falcons fired six shots in the overtime, and Lawrence had four. Concordia finished with 42 shots for the game, and Lawrence had 41.

Neither team was able to score on the power play as Lawrence went 0-for-5 and Concordia was 0-for-4.

Box score

Big fourth quarter pushes Scots past Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The Monmouth College women’s basketball team used a huge fourth quarter Saturday to pull away and post a 68-49 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University at Alexander Gymnasium.

Monmouth led by seven points entering the fourth quarter when the Scots exploded for 23 points and rolled to the 19-point win.

Tia Robertson came off the bench for Monmouth (2-11, 1-7 MWC) to record a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Robertson went 10-for-13 from the floor and was 6-for-6 from the foul line. Katie Houston also had a double-double for the Scots with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Keri Dodson finished with 12 points.

Patsy Kealey came off the bench to lead the Vikings (0-12, 0-7) with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Liz Arco added 12 points for Lawrence.

The big trio of Dodson, Robertson and Houston did most of the damage for the Scots in the second half. Dodson scored 10 of her 12 points after the break, Robertson picked up nine points and Houston had seven.

Monmouth really beat the Vikings up at the foul line, especially in the second half. The Scots hit 15-of-18 free throws in the second half and finished 21-of-28 from the line for the game. Lawrence attempted half as many free throws and went 10-for-14 for the game.

After enjoying a solid first half shooting the ball, Lawrence went cold in the second half. The Vikings went 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) from the floor in the second half and that included 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Lawrence came out strong and built a 10-2 lead after Andrea Wilkinson’s jumper with 5:45 left in the first quarter. The Scots finished the first quarter on a 12-2 run and led 14-12 after one period. Monmouth would lead by as many as eight points in the second quarter, but Lawrence managed to trim the margin to 32-26 at the half.

Box score

Lawrence rally comes up short against Scots

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team rallied from seven points down in the final minutes Saturday, but Monmouth College recovered to post a 68-63 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.

Will Jones scored 21 points and picked up four rebounds and four steals for Monmouth (8-4, 5-3 MWC). Reed Goodbred added 14 points and six rebounds for the Scots.

Jamie Nikitas, one of the nation’s leading scorers, was limited to 17 points and added a game-high eight rebounds to go with four assists to pace Lawrence (5-7, 2-5). Jeremy Stephani added 13 points for the Vikings, and Ben Peterson had 10 points, all in the first half.

Monmouth matched its biggest lead of the half when it went up 63-56 with 2:30 remaining. The Scots then let Lawrence back in the game with turnovers by Jones on two of their next three possessions. Lawrence converted that into four consecutive free throws, sandwiched around a foul shot by Paul Engo, to trim the margin to 64-60 with 1:06 remaining.

After a turnover by Engo on the next possession, Connor Weas buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the lead to 64-63 with 50 seconds left. It was the only shot from outside the arc that Lawrence made in the second half as the Vikings went 1-for-10 from long distance after the break. Lawrence was 6-for-14 on 3-pointers in the first half.

Jones answered for Monmouth with a driving layup with 22 ticks left to push the lead back to 66-63. Nikitas then missed a layup and the offensive rebound popped out of his hands. Jones was there to grab it, and he then made two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the victory.

In a see-saw first half, Monmouth built a 16-9 lead before the Vikings got hot from long range. Peterson hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Stephani drained another trey to give Lawrence a 20-18 edge. The Vikings kept pouring it on with layups from Nikitas and Stephani and another 3-pointer from Stephani to grab a 27-19 lead. Overall, Lawrence put together a 18-3 run during a stretch of 4:44.

Monmouth answered right back with a 20-3 run of its own, capped by Matt Juhola’s layup with 3:31 left, to grab a 39-30 lead. Lawrence finished the half with a pair of Nikitas layups, sandwiched around a Weas 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 39-37 at the half.

Box score