Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Big third period leads ninth-ranked Blugolds past Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The No. 9 UW-Eau Claire hockey team scored three third-period goals to break open a close game and defeated Lawrence University 5-1 Friday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

The Blugolds led 2-1 after the second period in the season opener for both teams, but Eau Claire scored twice in the first 9:20 of the final period to break it open.

Preston Hodge’s goal to make it 3-1 came on a strange play. Lawrence was on the power play when the Vikings were called for a delayed penalty. Eau Claire goaltender Tyler Green was pulled and Hodge scored at the 5:16 mark on a short-handed goal.

Eau Claire’s Garrett Clemment then scored on the power play at 9:20 to make it 4-1.

The game got a little chippy in the final minutes, and Eau Claire finished with 11 penalties for 33 minutes. The Vikings had 10 penalties for 20 minutes. The Blugolds added an empty-netter with 53 seconds left to complete the scoring.

After a scoreless opening period, Eau Claire scored twice in a span of 2:08 in the middle of the second. Ethan Nauman and Preston Hodge scored to stake the Blugolds to a 2-0 advantage.

Ryan Eardley got Lawrence on the board at the 13:18 mark of the second when he took a long pass from Brendan Vetter and rifled it past Green into the upper left corner of the net.

Mattias Soderqvist stopped 26 shots for Lawrence, and Green made 23 saves for Eau Claire.

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Inside LU Athletics: Vikings’ hockey hopes hinge on defense

APPLETON, Wis. — Mike Szkodzinski is pulling a Marty McFly and heading back to the future.

The Lawrence University hockey coach and his team open the season this weekend, and for the Vikings to find success in the coming months, Szkodzinski has to reach back into the past.

Szkodzinski built the Lawrence program on defense, and a return to that emphasis is vital. The Vikings have junior Mattias Soderqvist back in goal, and the blue line is secured by senior captain Brandon Boelter and sophomore assistant captain Brendan Vetter.

“Mattias has absolutely established himself as a leader on and off the ice,” Szkodzinski said. “He works as hard as anyone and looks poised to have a breakout season. We expect him to be our rock this year.”

Soderqvist has been absolutely spectacular at times in the past, but he is looking to improve on his 4.21 goals against average and .895 save percentage from a season ago. A big, athletic goaltender, Soderqvist picked up some signature wins a season ago, including Lawrence’s first victory ever at MSOE’s Kern Center and a playoff-clinching triumph over Finlandia.

The Vikings have three outstanding pairs of defensemen, led by Boelter and Vetter. In addition to being the defensive leaders, Boelter and Vetter are big contributors on offense. Vetter actually led the team with seven goals a season ago, and Boelter tied for second on the team with eight assists.

“We have veterans on the blue line led by Brendan Vetter and Brandon Boelter,” Szkodzinski said. “We expect them to be steady and reliable. If we use the lessons learned over the past few seasons, we should have a very solid defensive corps.”

While the defense is strong and deep, offense might be tougher to come by for the Vikings. Lawrence scored only 53 goals a season ago, and the Vikings will need contributions from many sources to light the lamp.

“We will definitely need to score by committee,” Szkodzinski said. “We will need to create second chances and be hounds at the net front. We expect all of our forward lines to contribute on the scoresheet at different points this season.”

Junior Blake Roubos and sophomore Jake Kreutzer are the top returning scorers. Roubos had six goals and eight assists a season ago, and Kreutzer was at five goals and a team-best nine assists. Senior Renato Engler (4-8-12), Matt Moore (5-6-11) and Ryan Rumble (5-5-10) all figure to play critical roles.

“While we may not have a standout scorer at this point, we are confident we have the depth to put the puck in the net,” Szkodzinski said.

Playing in the rugged Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, the Vikings are now part of the North Division in the reorganized league. Joining Lawrence in the North are St. Norbert, St. Scholastica, Northland, Finlandia and MSOE. The South Division is Adrian, Lake Forest, Concordia (Wis.), Marian and Aurora.

The top three teams in each division will make the playoffs.

“The NCHA is arguably the best conference in the nation,” Szkodzinski said. “We feel we have a great opportunity to play against the best teams in the nation. Our goal is to get into the Harris Cup playoffs and make some noise.”

Stewart to serve as hockey assistant, head golf coach

Matt Stewart
Matt Stewart

APPLETON, Wis. — Matt Stewart has joined the Lawrence University coaching staff and will serve in two roles, Director of Athletics Mike Szkodzinski announced today.

Stewart will be the assistant hockey coach and head golf coach, Szkodzinski said.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Matt to our hockey family and to the department,” said Szkodzinski, who also serves as Lawrence’s head hockey coach. “During his interview, it became very clear that Matt is a driven young man who has the passion to be a coach for a long time. His experience as a Division I athlete as well as his network of coaches will serve our players and our program well.”

Stewart is a 2015 graduate of Western Michigan University, where he played hockey for the Broncos and earned a bachelor’s degree in business.

“I am extremely proud and excited to be joining Lawrence University,” Stewart said. “The way the entire athletic staff  and the players have welcomed me with open arms has been truly humbling. I look forward to developing Lawrence student-athletes both on and off the ice and can’t wait to get to work.”

Stewart is a native of Brighton, Mich., and played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League before attending Western Michigan. The Gamblers won the Clark Cup during Stewart’s tenure with the team.

A defenseman, Stewart was a contributor during all four seasons at Western Michigan. He helped the Broncos to 73 wins over four seasons and a .545 winning percentage during that stretch.

Stewart replaces Jon Sheridan, who took a position with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Sheridan is the latest Lawrence assistant coach to make a move up in the hockey world. Former associate head coach Kalle Larsson worked at Lawrence for four season and is now the assistant general manager for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Former assistant coach Ryan Petersen worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater, St. Norbert College, and now serves as an assistant for the USHL’s Madison Capitols.

“Having all three of our former full-time assistants in great positions within the hockey world is very rewarding,” Szkodzinski said. “It shows that Lawrence is a great place to grow as a coach.”

The Vikings open their season on Friday when they host UW-Eau Claire in a non-conference game at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence falls to Green Knights in straight sets

DE PERE, Wis. — A balanced attack and good defense led the St. Norbert College volleyball team to a 3-0 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University on Wednesday at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights won 25-22, 25-15, 25-14.

Kristina Herman paced St. Norbert with nine kills, Halie Ferry added eight and Erin Lang had seven. The Green Knights also limited Lawrence to a .043 hitting percentage for the match.

Megan Conley led Lawrence with eight kills, and Arianna Neumeyer added seven. Sydney Nelson picked up 11 assists and a pair of aces for the Vikings. Cyra Bammer had a team-high 11 digs to go with four kills.

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Inside LU Athletics: Vikings set sights high for MWC Championships

Lawrence freshman Josh Janusiak is among the top cross country runners in the Midwest Conference this season.
Lawrence freshman Josh Janusiak is among the top cross country runners in the Midwest Conference this season.

APPLETON, Wis. — Saturday’s Midwest Conference Championships are likely to be the cross country equivalent of a free-for-all because multiple teams in both races are ready to come out swinging.

At the end of the day, the teams celebrating with the trophy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will be the ones that withstood a bevy of haymakers.

“I would argue it’s as good as it’s ever been,” Lawrence University coach Jason Fast said of the women’s field. “Looking back at the history, there couldn’t have been a lot of times there have been teams ranked regionally or with the number of quality individuals there are. There’s a lot more parity among the top five teams.”

Lawrence is among four teams, the others being Cornell College, Grinnell College and St. Norbert College, that have been regionally and/or nationally ranked this season. The Vikings won the team titles at their own Gene Davis Invitational and at the Concordia (Wis.) Ken Weidt Classic this season.

The Vikings were ranked in the brutally tough Midwest Region and return five all-conference runners, seniors Clare Bruning, Liz Landes and Cora Williams, junior Amy Hutchings and sophomore Erin Schrobilgen.

“I expect them all to have their sights set on accomplishing that again,” Fast said. “Erin and Clare have been leading for us all season. They both have their sights set on a top-10 finish.”

Even with that kind of depth, nothing is guaranteed for the Vikings because of the other stars in the league.

“Our goal is to be a top-two team. It has been all season,” Fast said. “That’s still what we would like to do. It’s definitely not a foregone conclusion. We are going to get a good fight from four other teams that think they’re good enough to be a top-two team.”

On the men’s side, Lawrence has two of the premier runners in the league in Max Edwards and Josh Janusiak, but there is a strong group of title contenders. Edwards finished 10th a season ago, but Fast believes both Edwards and Janusiak can finish right up front.

“Max was all-conference last year and he was a conference champion in track. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in a conference-style setting in cross country,” Fast said.

“Josh has been really good, and he’s taking it all in stride. He sees the writing on the wall of how good he can be and the opportunity he has at the conference meet.”

With seniors Jordan Atkins and Cam Davies and freshmen Ben Schaefer and Mayan Essek in the mix, the Vikings are also looking for a finish in the top two. Grinnell, Lake Forest College and St. Norbert are also strong contenders for the title so the championship will likely be decided by someone who steps up a few places at the finish.

“We’re much better than we were last year, and we’re much deeper than we were last year, which is nice,” Fast said.

“For our three through seven runners, it’s how well can they perform because they are the ones that can make up the most points on the field. I don’t necessarily think it will take five all-conference runners to win, but if we do that, we will be really hard to beat.”

 

Cardinal garners MWC Swimmer of the Week honors

Hayley Cardinal
Hayley Cardinal

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University star Hayley Cardinal was named the Midwest Conference Swimmer of the Week after her performance on the opening weekend of the season.

Swimming against an elite field that included several NCAA Division I schools, Cardinal (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) paced Lawrence at the massive All-Wisconsin Showcase in Brown Deer, Wis., this past Saturday. Cardinal finished in the top 15 in four events and posted a pair of top-10 finishes.

Cardinal took eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.70 and only one Division III competitor finished ahead of her. She was the top Division III finisher in the 200 breaststroke as she took 10th in 2:33.71. She also grabbed 14th in the 200 individual medley in 2:20.48 and was the second Division III finisher in the event. All of Cardinal’s times were the best in the conference during the first weekend of competition.

Cardinal also swam on the 200 medley relay team, which took 14th in 1:56.56.

This is the second time Cardinal has been named Swimmer of the Week. She took the honor for the first time in December 2014.

Cardinals and her Lawrence teammates return to action on Saturday when the Vikings travel to Ripon College for a dual meet with the Red Hawks.

Second-half surge lifts Lake Forest over Vikings

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lake Forest College men’s soccer team scored two second-half goals Sunday and went on to a 2-0 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Farwell Field.

Jeremiah Erzen scored just 4:34 into the second half to break a scoreless tie, and Dylan Hartman scored with just over 10 minutes remaining to seal the victory for the Foresters.

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