Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Soderqvist earns shutout as Vikings top Concordia

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University goaltender Mattias Soderqvist earned his first career shutout as the Vikings topped Concordia (Wis.) University 2-0 Friday night in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Soderqvist, a junior from Stockholm, Sweden, stopped 26 shots to post the first shutout for the Vikings (4-8-0, 3-4-0 NCHA) since a 3-0 win over Northland College on Feb. 22, 2013.

In a game filled with spectacular goaltending from both teams, Jack Romanuik made 21 saves for the Falcons (8-4-1, 5-3-1). Lawrence finished with 23 shots on goal.

Lawrence grabbed the lead on its first shot on goal for the game. Mikkel Joehnk took a pass from Brad Mueller and his shot from above the right face-off circle went over Romanuik’s shoulder for a 1-0 lead at 4:20 of the first period.

Despite great chances for both teams, the score stayed that way until the third period. Lawrence’s Renato Engler raced in down the right side and fired a hard shot that was saved by Romanuik. The rebound bounced to Romanuik’s left and freshman Nick Felan stuffed in the rebound to put the Vikings up 2-0 at the 8:45 mark of the third.

Lawrence killed off a Concordia power play later in the period, and the Falcons pulled Romanuik with 1:35 left for an extra attacker. The Vikings stymied the Falcons for the final minute to preserve the shutout.

The teams wrap up the series Saturday night at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

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Green Knights top Lawrence

DE PERE, Wis. — Five St. Norbert College women’s basketball players scored in double figures Wednesday as the Green Knights topped Lawrence 85-29 in a Midwest Conference game at Schuldes Sports Center.

Jill Kleiman finished with 13 points to lead the Green Knights (8-4, 7-0 MWC) and all scorers. Brianna Byrne added 12 points and Regan Carmichael and Stephanie Wiegman had 11 points apiece.

Natalie Kramer led Lawrence (0-11, 0-7) with seven points, and Liz Arco and Patsy Kealey had six points apiece. Kealey also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

After St. Norbert scored the game’s first eight points, the Vikings bounced right back. Lawrence went on a 9-2 run, capped by Kramer’s 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 10-9 with 2:28 left in the opening period. St. Norbert would go on to lead 15-11 after one quarter.

The Green Knights then blew the game open in the second quarter by outscoring the Vikings 27-6 and pushed the lead to 42-17 at the half.

St. Norbert continued to pull away and would lead by as many as 58 points.

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Second-half burst pushes St. Norbert past Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College men’s basketball team used a 9-0 run in the second half Wednesday to pull away and went on to an 82-62 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Schuldes Sports Center.

Jamie Nikitas and Mitch Willer both recorded double-doubles for the Vikings (5-6, 2-4 MWC). Nikitas, one of the nation’s scoring leaders, poured in a game-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. Willer added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

D.J. DeValk paced St. Norbert (10-2, 7-0) with 17 points, and Ben Bobinski added 14 points and eight rebounds.

St. Norbert led by as many as 14 points in the first half, and Willer’s layup at the buzzer cut the margin to 41-29 at the half.

The Vikings continued to eat into that lead to start the second half. Nikitas started the half with a three-point play and then drained back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 9-2 run to trim the margin to 43-38. The teams traded baskets with Willer’s layup cutting the lead to 45-40 with 16:37 left.

The Green Knights then scored the game’s next nine points with DeValk sandwiching a pair of 3-pointers around one from Bobinski to give St. Norbert a 54-40 edge.

The Vikings got the lead down to 11 points twice after that, the last time on a 3-pointer from Troy Miller with 10:36 left, but could get no closer.

St. Norbert would lead by as many as 23 points before settling for the final margin of 20.

The Vikings played without starter Pete Winslow, who was injured this past Saturday against Grinnell College.

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Short-handed goals lift Augsburg over Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Two short-handed goals propelled Augsburg College to a 6-3 non-conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Saugestad Rink.

Short-handed goals from Max Pernhem in the second period and Mack Ohnsted in the third broke a 3-3 tie.

Lawrence’s Brandon Boelter scored the second of his two goals to tie it at 3-3 with 4:01 left in the second period. Sean Reynolds and Lane King picked up assists for the Vikings.

The Auggies then got a short-handed goal from Pernhem with 2:58 left in the period to take a 4-3 lead after two periods. Ohnsted then picked up another short-hander with 7:06 left in the third to put Augsburg up 5-3.

Ohnsted then added a power-play goal on a two-man advantage with 1:38 left to seal the victory.

Jordyn Kaufer stopped 31 shots to pick up the win for Augsburg (7-4-0). Mattias Soderqvist stopped 30 shots for the Vikings (3-8-0).

Lawrence grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Steve Hughes scored just 2:36 into the first period off a feed from Renato Engler.

That lead didn’t last as Drew Anderson scored just over four minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. The Auggies took a 2-1 lead on Eli May’s power-play goal at the 10:26 mark.

Boelter tied the game at 2-2 for the Vikings less than three minutes later when he scored off assists from Brad Mueller and Matt Moore.

Anderson grabbed the lead right back for Augsburg when he scored with 3:09 left in the first. The Auggies took that 3-2 advantage into the first intermission, and the scored stayed that way deep into the second period.

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Grinnell topples Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — The Grinnell College women’s basketball team held off a stubborn Lawrence University squad on Saturday to post a 50-37 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.

Sophia Gatton led three Grinnell players in double figures with 14 points. Kayla Morrissey added 13 points and Anne Boldt had 11 for the Pioneers (6-5, 3-3 MWC).

Liz Arco paced Lawrence (0-10, 0-5) with 11 points. She also added five rebounds, five blocks, four assists and four steals. Andrea Wilkinson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Lawrence to go along with eight points.

Grinnell scored the game’s first seven points and seemed to maintain that advantage throughout but had trouble putting away the Vikings.

Lawrence’s Olivia Hoesley hit a 3-pointer to trim Grinnell’s lead to 14-8 after the first quarter. The Vikings cut the lead to four twice early in the second quarter on baskets by Aubrey Scott and Arco, but Grinnell finally pushed the lead to 29-18 in the final minute of the period.

Grinnell started to pull away by scoring the first seven points of the third quarter, capped by Boldt’s 3-pointer, for a 36-20 lead. The Vikings responded as Wilkinson and Arco picked up two baskets apiece to cut the margin back to 39-28 late in the third.

The Pioneers finally sealed the win by scoring six consecutive points midway through the fourth quarter to grab a 47-30 lead. Lawrence didn’t get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

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Second-half surge lifts Grinnell past Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — A scoring outburst midway through the second half Saturday put the Grinnell College men’s basketball team ahead, and the Pioneers pulled away for a 109-89 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University at Alexander Gymnasium.

Kyle Parker paced Grinnell (5-6, 2-4 MWC) with 23 points, and Julian Marx added 21.

Jamie Nikitas poured in 34 points, his fourth 30-plus point game of the season, to lead Lawrence (5-5, 2-3). Nikitas went 12-of-17 from the floor and added six rebounds and a pair of steals.

Jeremy Stephani added 20 points for the Vikings, and Mitch Willer had 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor. Willer and Stephani added five assists apiece.

Lawrence’s Pete Winslow added nine points and seven rebounds in the first half, but he didn’t play in the second half due to injury.

Lawrence led by as many as nine points in the first half, and the Vikings held a 49-46 advantage at the half. The Vikings shot 61.3 percent (19-31) from the floor in the first half and held Grinnell’s attack from beyond the arc to just 29 percent (9-31).

The Vikings broke the sixth tie of the game with layups from Willer and Nikitas to take a 73-69 advantage with 12:38 left in the game. Grinnell then scored the game’s next 11 points, as Marx, Parker and Jacob Ekstrand all hit 3-pointers, to take an 80-73 lead with 10:16 left.

Nikitas stopped the run with a layup, but that’s as close as Lawrence would get. Matt Jasaitis countered with a 3-pointer for Grinnell for an 83-75 edge. The Pioneers would push the lead to as many as 13 points in the next few minutes.

Grinnell went 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from beyond the arc in the second half. Lawrence shot just 44.1 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Lawrence did trim the lead 98-89 on Stephani’s layup with 2:37 left, but Parker hit another 3-pointer for Grinnell. The Pioneers then went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 1:43 to seal the victory.

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