Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Zheng, Wulfman pace Vikings on second day of MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — Lawrence University swimming stars Emmi Zheng and Liam Wulfman led the Vikings Saturday on the second day of the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

Zheng posted a runner-up finish in the 100-yard breaststroke to pace all Lawrence finishers on the day. Zheng finished second in 1:07.49, less than a second behind top finisher Lauren Dalecky of Lake Forest College, who won in 1:06.53.

Danielle Millin and Paige Witter both captured third-place finishes. Millin was third in the 100 backstroke in 59.48 seconds, and Witter grabbed third in the 100 butterfly in 59.50 seconds. Elise Riggle swam to fourth in the 400 individual medley in 4:44.99.

Lawrence also got a pair of third-place finishes from its two relays. The 800 freestyle relay of Witter, Eryn Blagg, Bridget Duero and Emei Thompson took third in 8:00.47. The 200 medley relay team of Miller, Zheng, Witter and Blagg were third in 1:50.77.

Lawrence is in third place in the team standings with 379 points. Grinnell leads at 672.5.

Wulfman led the men by taking fourth in the 100 backstroke in 53.69 seconds and seventh in the 100 butterfly in 53.78 seconds.

Tom Goldberg grabbed fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 59.97 seconds, and Travis Charlow was eighth in the 200 freestyle in 1:49.69.

The 200 medley relay team of Wulfman, Goldberg, Charlow and Christian Bell took third in 1:38.57. The 800 freestyle relay team of Charlow, Wulfman, Max Stahl and Jordan Spalding was third in 7:23.38.

Lawrence moved up to third place in the team standings with 236.5 points, and Grinnell is first with 636.

The meet concludes on Sunday.

Results

Foresters jump on Vikings early

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Lake Forest College scored three times in the first period Saturday and went on to a 6-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

Bron Loiselle scored twice for Lake Forest, and Billy Cooper made 19 saves to pick up the win.

The Foresters (16-9-0, 12-8-0 NCHA) scored twice in a span of 1:03 early in the game to take control. Jimmy Cusan scored at the 4:48 mark, and Loiselle got his first goal of the game at 5:51 for a 2-0 edge.

Jack Lewis made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at the 16:22 mark of the first, and Vito Aluia made it 4-0 early in the second.

Lawrence (6-16-3, 5-12-3) got its lone score on Blake Roubos’ power-play goal at the 5:11 mark of the second. Loiselle got his second goal of the game on the power play at 16:39 to give Lake Forest a 5-1 lead after two periods.

The Foresters were 2-for-10 on the power play, and Lawrence finished 1-for-6.

Senior Mattias Soderqvist made 28 saves and took the loss in his final game for the Vikings.

The game ended on an ugly note as 18 penalties were whistled against the teams in the final nine minutes.

Box score

Nichols shatters Lawrence record in 200

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Lawrence University rookie Will Nichols shattered the school record in the 200 meters on Saturday at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Challenge at Kolf Sports Center.

Nichols, a freshman from Virginia, raced to third place in a time of 22.81 seconds, cruising past the 13-year-old school record of 23.06. The mark was set by Adrell Bullock back in 2004.

Led by Nichols, the Vikings finished seventh with 13 points.

Another freshman, Noah Shea, grabbed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 11.5 inches. Ben Schaefer ran to eighth place in the 5,000 in 16:40.23, and the 4×400 relay team was eighth in 3:34.45.

On the women’s side, Hannah Kinzer paced the Vikings by taking third place in the 3,000 in 11:03.69. The 4×400 relay team raced to sixth place in 4:25.79.

The women were 10th in the team standings with 12 points.

Results

Lake Forest pulls away late to top Vikings

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lake Forest College men’s basketball team pulled away in the final eight minutes Saturday and topped Lawrence University 79-55 in the Midwest Conference regular-season finale.

The win pushed Lake Forest into the four-team MWC Tournament and eliminated the Vikings.

Mike Rueffer paced Lake Forest (13-10, 11-7 MWC) with 16 points, and Jordan Moran added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Ben Peterson came off the bench to lead Lawrence (9-13, 10-8) with 13 points, and Connor Weas added nine points. Jeremy Stephani, Evan McLaughlin and Mitch Willer chipped in with seven points apiece for the Vikings.

Lake Forest led by nine when the Foresters scored 19 consecutive points to bury the Vikings. Rueffer scored nine points during the outburst that pushed Lake Forest’s lead to 79-51 with 1:14 remaining. Lawrence went 0-for-9 from the floor during that stretch.

Box score

Foresters run away from Vikings

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lake Forest College women’s basketball team pulled away early Saturday and rolled to a 90-32 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University in the season finale.

Lake Forest scored the first 16 points of the game and led 29-5 after the first quarter. The Foresters (6-17, 5-13 MWC) stretched that margin to 51-14 at the half.

Brittany Avonts led Lake Forest with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Bridget Bilek paced the Foresters and all scorers with 22 points.

Nicole Cummins and Lauren Deveikis led Lawrence (2-21, 0-18) with eight points apiece, and Cummins picked up three assists. Leah Reeves chipped in with seven points for the Vikings, and Shonell Benjamin pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Box score

Vikings fall to Concordia

APPLETON, Wis. — Connor Maloney was perfect on the day for the Lawrence University men’s tennis team, but the Vikings fell 6-3 to Concordia Wisconsin in a nonconference match Friday at Fox Cities Racquet Club.

Maloney started his day by teaming with fellow freshman Cade Francour for an 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles. Maloney then posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Christian Docter at No. 3 singles.

Bill Schuman-Kline was the other winner for the Vikings as he posted an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Ceejay Schaffner at No. 2 singles.

Concordia Wisconsin 6, Lawrence University 3

Singles competition
1. Forster, James (CUW) def. David Jumes (LU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) def. Schaffner, Ceejay (CUW) 6-0, 6-3
3. Connor Maloney (LU) def. Docter, Christian (CUW) 6-3, 6-3
4. Guendel, Brad (CUW) def. Izaya Turenne (LU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Binversie, Gabe (CUW) def. Cade Francour (LU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Budewitz, Trevor (CUW) def. David Brooker (LU) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles competition
1. Forster, James/Guendel, Brad (CUW) def. David Jumes/Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) 8-6
2. Schaffner, Ceejay/Docter, Christian (CUW) def. Izaya Turenne/David Brooker (LU) 8-4
3. Connor Maloney/Cade Francour (LU) def. Binversie, Gabe/Budewitz, Trevor (CUW) 8-4

Vikings break school record on opening day of MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University women’s swim team broke a school record Friday as part of a good opening day at the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

The women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team broke the 20-year-old school record and took third with a time of 1:40.06. The team of Paige Witter, Danielle Millin, Eryn Blagg and Bridget Duero topped the old mark of 1:41.10 set in 1997.

The 400 medley relay team of Millin, Duero, Witter and Emmi Zheng also grabbed third in 4:01.90.

The top finisher on the day was Millin, who took second in the 50 freestyle in 24.60 seconds. She was edged by Ripon College’s Lateesha Hiser, who won the event in 24.39 seconds.

Witter grabbed a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle in 5:11.73, and Zheng and Sarah Schweickart finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200 individual medley.

The Lawrence women are in third place in the team standings with 168 points. Grinnell leads with 278.5.

The Lawrence men are in sixth place with 89 points, and Grinnell is first with 261.

The top finishes for the men came with a pair of relay teams. The 200 freestyle relay of Tom Goldberg, Max Stahl, Travis Charlow and Christian Bell was fifth in 1:28.91. The 400 medley relay of Stahl, Goldberg, Bell and Liam Wulfman was fifth in 3:37.60.

Wulfman was the top individual finisher on the day as he took seventh in the 200 IM in 2:01.69.

Results

Foresters edge Lawrence on goal as time expires

APPLETON, Wis. — Charlie Izaguirre’s empty-net goal as time expired in overtime Friday lifted Lake Forest College to a 3-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence, needing a win to keep its NCHA playoff hopes alive, pulled goaltender Evan Cline with 30 seconds left, and Izaguirre managed to push the puck across the goal line as the buzzer sounded to give Lake Forest the victory.

It didn’t matter for Lawrence, which needed Concordia (Wis.) to defeat Northland College as well. Northland topped the Falcons 6-4.

The loss ruined a great effort from rookie goaltender Evan Cline, who stopped 44 of 46 shots for the Vikings (6-15-3, 5-11-3 NCHA). Billy Cooper made 38 saves to pick up the win for Lake Forest (15-9-0, 11-8-0).

Lawrence grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals from Josh Koepplinger and Carson Knop.

Koepplinger scored off assists from Blake Roubos and Lane King at the 14:08 mark of the first period. Knop made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at the 10:01 mark of the second.

Lawrence finished 1-for-5 on the power play, and Lake Forest was 0-for-6.

Jack Lewis got Lake Forest on the board with an unassisted goal at the 15:16 mark of the second, and the Foresters tied it at 2-2 just 3:32 later on Jimmy Cusan’s goal.

The teams wrap up the series and the regular season Saturday night at Lake Forest.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings, DePagter keep riding the roller coaster

Ben Peterson (32) and his Lawrence teammates need to win Saturday at Lake Forest to earn a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament.

APPLETON, Wis. — Joel DePagter’s professional and personal life over the past month has been filled with as many twists, turns and loops as a good roller coaster ride.

The Lawrence University men’s basketball coach has seen his team’s postseason hopes seemingly dashed and then revived. While that was going on, DePagter’s wife went into premature labor with their third child, followed by several tense weeks before a baby girl was born.

While much has transpired since January, the Vikings find themselves needing a win Saturday at Lake Forest in the regular-season finale to earn a berth in the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009. Lawrence (9-12, 10-7 MWC) finds itself in a three-way tie with Lake Forest (12-10, 10-7) and Cornell (11-11, 10-7) and two of those teams will join St. Norbert and Ripon in the tournament.

“We knew it would come down to the game on Saturday,” said DePagter, whose Vikings lost 83-67 to Ripon on Tuesday. “I told the guys, we’re in the conference tournament, it just starts Saturday. Our postseason play starts now. If we win, we keep playing. If not, we’re done. I just tried to take the focus off the loss and move on.”

It looked like the Vikings’ chances of a tourney berth were gone when Lawrence lost at Cornell back on Jan. 31 but then came Grinnell’s announcement on Feb. 7. Grinnell announced it was forfeiting four victories after self-reporting a secondary NCAA rules violation. That moved the Vikings from fifth place in the conference to fourth.

“With my personal life, it’s been kind of a wacky month. The Grinnell thing shook up the conference and injected new hope for us,” DePagter said.

The DePagter family was on edge over the past month as they waited for Alicia to give birth. DePagter didn’t travel with the team for several games because he didn’t want to be a four- or six-hour drive from his wife should the baby call come.

“Every day was a little bit of am I going to be at practice tonight, am i going to be at the game? Of course, the baby comes on the night of a game,” said DePagter, whose daughter, Amaya, was born on Feb. 8 as the Vikings played at Ripon.

Both mother and baby are doing well, and DePagter can finally focus more fully on his team.

“The guys are proud that we are playing a game that matters this much late in the season,” DePagter said. “Hopefully they embrace that.”

Being on the road shouldn’t hamper the Vikings either. During DePagter’s tenure as head coach, Lawrence is 49-37 in Midwest Conference road games and 51-36 at home. The Vikings won at Lake Forest last season and are 4-4 in league road games this season.

“I think getting on the bus, getting off campus and getting away from school gets you focused,” DePagter said. “It’s difficult if you go to class all day and then have to try and shift gears to play a home game.”

Lake Forest has lost three straight, including two to MWC champion St. Norbert, but the Foresters are big, physical and have several stellar shooters.

“It’s the season for both teams. It should be a good atmosphere,” DePagter said.

“We need to have a good shooting night and have a little more balance, not so many threes. You can throw out all the Xs and Os. At least I know I won’t have another child on Saturday.”

Hockey series preview: Lawrence vs. Lake Forest

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University takes on Lake Forest College in a critical home-and-home Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series this weekend. The Vikings need to win both games and need Northland College to lose its two games this weekend to make the league playoffs.

Lawrence hosts Lake Forest at 7 p.m. Friday at the Appleton Family Ice Center, and the Vikings travel to Lake Forest for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday.

Preview