Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Schrobilgen breaks school record in mile at UWSP

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Lawrence University freshman Erin Schrobilgen broke her own school record in the mile on Saturday at the Big Dog Invitational at UW-Stevens Point.

Schrobilgen raced to third place in the event with a record time of 5:21.84. That broke the mark of 5:22.01 set by Sue Schneider way back in 1978.

Freshman Hannah Kinzer also grabbed a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters in a time of 19:49.63. Teammate Margaret Huck raced to fifth in the same event in 20:01.39.

The 800-meter relay team of Kendra Thomas, Anna Bolgrien, Janey Degnan and Marisa Morrison took fourth in 1:58.53.

On the men’s side, Cam Davies was the top finisher for the Vikings. He took fifth in the 3,000 meters in 9:18.22. The 800 relay team of JP Ranumas, Cole Erickson, Dalton Sendelbach and Trevor Spina grabbed fifth in 1:40.11.

Results

Lawrence grabs fourth at MFC Championships; Vikings take gold in sabre

EVANSTON, Ill. — Lawrence University grabbed fourth place in the combined team standings at Saturday’s Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at Northwestern University.

Lawrence finished the day with 1,350 points, and Ohio State took the title with 1,580. The Lawrence men were second with 750 points, trailing first-place Ohio State by just 35 points. The Lawrence women were fifth with 600 points. Ohio State won the women’s title with 795.

The men’s sabre contingent of Graham Jones, Joe Davis and Ian Pelton took the title with a 5-3 win over Michigan. The match was tied 3-3 when Davis and Pelton both posted 5-3 wins to give the Vikings the championship. Drew Doares and Alex Krzoska also picked up wins for the Vikings in earlier matches. Sabre reached the title match with a 5-4 upset win over the Buckeyes.

The men’s foil group of Alden Grasse, Jacob Hodges and Erik Paulson reached the title match but dropped a 5-0 decision to Ohio State. Foil picked up a 5-3 win over Cleveland State in the semifinals. Men’s epee placed placed fifth.

On the women’s side, epee led the way by placing fifth. Women’s foil took seventh place, the sabre was ninth.

Midwest Fencing Conference Championships

Combined Team Standings

Ohio State 1580, Northwestern 1435, Michigan 1355, Lawrence 1350, Purdue 1225, Michigan State 1110, Chicago 1055, Case Western Reserve 1015, Wayne State 975, Cleveland State 930, Oberlin 855, Wisconsin 770, Indiana 730, Oakland 680, Xavier 680, Detroit Mercy 645, Illinois 530, Iowa 520, McKendree 475, Minnesota 350, Bradley 345, Bowling Green 215.

Men’s Epee

Purdue def. Lawrence 5-3 (quarterfinals), Lawrence def. Wayne State 5-4.

Men’s Foil

Ohio State def. Lawrence 5-0 (final), Lawrence def. Cleveland State 5-3 (semifinal), Lawrence def. Northwestern 5-3, Lawrence def. Wayne State 5-3.

Men’s Sabre

Lawrence def. Michigan 5-3 (final), Lawrence def. Ohio State 5-4 (semifinal), Lawrence def. Purdue 5-1, Lawrence def. Wayne State 5-0.

Women’s Epee

Purdue def. Lawrence 5-2 (quarterfinals), Lawrence def. Iowa 5-1.

Women’s Foil

Northwestern def. Lawrence 5-0 (quarterfinals), Lawrence def. Wisconsin 5-0.

Women’s Sabre

Cleveland State def. Lawrence 5-3.

Monmouth tops Vikings in regular-season finale

APPLETON, Wis. — Andrew Mathison scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Monmouth College men’s basketball team to a 73-59 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday in the season finale at Alexander Gymnasium.

Mathison hit 9-of-15 shots from the floor, including a 25-foot 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring, as the Scots pulled away in the final 10 minutes. Will Jones went 6-for-9 from the floor on his way to 17 points for the Scots (16-7, 13-5 MWC).

Jamie Nikitas scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Vikings (10-13, 8-10). Ryan DePouw added 10 points and finished his career 21st in scoring in Lawrence history with 1,028 points.

Mathison’s alley-oop dunk gave Monmouth a 38-28 lead at the half, but the Vikings rallied midway through the second half.

Lawrence was down 52-39 but got a layup from Mitch Willer and Jeremy Stephani knocked down three consecutive free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt. DePouw then buried a 3-pointer to complete an 8-0 run and trim the Monmouth lead to 52-47 with 10:05 remaining.

Will Jones countered with a 3-pointer for the Scots, and Mathison hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 57-47 with 9:08 left. Lawrence was able to cut the lead back to 62-55 after DePouw hit a 3-pointer with 5:20 remaining, but that’s as close as the Vikings would get.

The Scots responded with an 8-2 scoring run to push the lead to 70-57 and seal the victory.

Box score

Second-half surge pushes Scots past Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The Monmouth College women’s basketball team pulled away midway through the second half and went on to a 48-36 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University in the season finale at Alexander Gymnasium.

Kathleen Forrest led Monmouth (10-13, 9-9 MWC) with 15 points, and Tiffany Churchill added 11.

Danelle Buck and Natalie Kramer had nine points apiece to pace Lawrence (1-22, 0-18), and Elizabeth Arco and Olivia Hoesley added eight points apiece. Buck and Kassidy Rinehart both grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Vikings.

The Scots led 23-16 at the half, but Lawrence rallied in the early minutes of the second half. Buck ripped off the first seven points after the break on two layups and capped by a 3-pointer that tied the game at 23-23 with 16:13 left.

Hoesley later hit a 3-pointer to cut Monmouth’s lead to 30-28, but that’s when the Scots took control. Monmouth scored the game’s next eight points, capped by Churchill’s 3-pointer, to take a 38-28 lead with 9:45 remaining.

Lawrence cut the lead to seven points on two occasions after that but could get no closer.

The Vikings led by as many as three points in the first half, and the score was tied five times before the break. Monmouth grabbed the lead on Forrest’s 3-pointer with 3:25 left in the first half, and that spurred the Scots to take a 23-16 lead at halftime.

Box score

Vikings double up Concordia

MEQUON, Wis. — David Jumes, Brian DeCorte and Adam Busch all won twice on Friday to lead the Lawrence University men’s tennis team to a 6-3 nonconference victory over Concordia (Wis.) University.

Jumes teamed with Sotaro Kurahashi for an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles to start the day. Jumes then downed Trevor Budewitz 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1 singles.

DeCorte and Busch teamed up for an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles. DeCorte then defeated Ben Nommensen 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4) for a win at No. 3 singles. Busch topped Brad Guendel 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) at No. 4 singles. Busch’s singles victory also clinched the match for the Vikings.

Izaya Turenne also posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles for the Vikings.

Lawrence University 6, Concordia Wisconsin 3

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. Budewitz, Trevor (CUW) 6-1, 7-5
2. Schaffner, Ceejay (CUW) def. Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Nommensen, Benjamin (CUW) 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4)
4. Adam Busch (LU) def. Guendel, Brad (CUW) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
5. Fritz, Steven (CUW) def. Ethan Perushek (LU) 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
6. Izaya Turenne (LU) def. Schotte, Jonathan (CUW) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. David Jumes/Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) def. Schaffner, Ceejay/Nommensen, Benjamin (CUW) 8-1
2. Brian DeCorte/Adam Busch (LU) def. Guendel, Brad/Fritz, Steven (CUW) 8-5
3. Budewitz, Trevor/Gold, Nick (CUW) def. Ethan Perushek/Izaya Turenne (LU) 8-4

St. Norbert takes playoff series opener from Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — St. Norbert College put together a dominating defensive performance and posted a 5-0 win over Lawrence University in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinal series playoff opener on Friday night.

The Green Knights (18-5-2) allowed just 11 shots on goal and scored twice in each of the first two periods to take command of the game.

St. Norbert only needs a tie in Saturday’s series finale to advance to the NCHA Harris Cup semifinals. Lawrence (7-18-1) needs to win Saturday’s game to force a decisive mini-game.

Five different players scored for the Green Knights, who snapped off 50 shots on goal. Cullen Bradshaw got the scoring started with a power-play goal at 11:45 of the first, and Blake Thompson added another power-play goal at 16:53 for a 2-0 lead.

St. Norbert went 2-for-8 on the power play, and the Vikings were 0-for-6.

The Green Knights pulled away with second-period goals from Tanner Froese and Kyle Lee, and Chris Rial scored early in the third period to complete the scoring.

Tony Kujava made 11 saves to pick up the shutout for St. Norbert, and Mattias Soderqvist stopped 45 shots for the Vikings.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Lawrence skaters face tough challenge in NCHA playoffs

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team doesn’t have a philosophy major on the squad, but it’s a good bet the Vikings are thinking about Friedrich Nietzsche.

It was the German philosopher, not Kelly Clarkson, who said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. After enduring a rough second half of the season, the Vikings have emerged with a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association playoff berth in hand.

Lawrence opens the Harris Cup playoffs with a quarterfinal series at No. 7 St. Norbert College (17-5-2) Friday and Saturday at the Cornerstone Community Center.

“This is one of the most resilient groups we have had at Lawrence,” Lawrence head coach Mike Szkodzinski said. “They continue to put forth tremendous work ethic every single day despite the less-than-ideal results. It would be very easy to pack it in, but this group just keeps bouncing back.”

The Vikings (7-17-1) have won just twice since coming back from the holiday break, but Lawrence has played a murderer row’s schedule in the last two months. Five of the last 12 games have been against ranked opponents (not including MSOE, who is 16th in the latest poll) and eight of those 12 were on the road.

“The NCHA is a great conference. Every single night is a challenge,” Szkodzinski said. “We have played hard nearly every game and simply need to stay the course. It is a hard thing to do, but if we stick to our plan and continue to be tenacious on the puck, we can stick with just about anyone.”

Lawrence did exactly what it needed to do last weekend when it won the series opener at Finlandia University. That victory clinched the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, and the Vikings did it against a team that had a win over league champion, No. 2 Adrian College, on its resume. The key was early scoring and a great effort from goaltender Mattias Soderqvist.

“Mattias has been our leader on the ice,” Szkodzinski said. “The team is very confident in his ability as is the coaching staff.  He needs to be on top of his game and he know it and enjoys the challenge.”

Soderqvist improved to an .897 save percentage and 4.08 goals against average on the season. The goaltender also got a boost from a defense that forced Finlandia into an 0-for-10 on the power play last weekend. Continuing that trend will be critical since St. Norbert has scored on 28.1 percent of its chances on the man-advantage this season.

“Sound team defense is a must heading into Friday night,” Szkodzinski said. “That includes our forwards coming back hard, our defensemen taking away their time and space and our goaltender making the saves he is supposed to make. It will take all 20 guys suited up to commit to playing with a defense-first mentality.”

On the flip side, St. Norbert is without All-American and national player of the year David Jacobson in net. He was injured at the end of January in a pre-game warmup and was lost for the season.

The Green Knights were in the midst of a four-game losing streak when Jacobson got hurt, but St. Norbert won three straight to finish the regular season with sophomore goalie Tony Kujava stepping into the breach.

“They have a strong next-man-up mentality, and Kujava is a very, very good goaltender,” Szkodzinski said. “Sure, it’s a loss, but that team has proven in the past that they win as a team. We will have to test him and get to the net consistently.”

The Vikings are averaging just 2.12 goals per game so scoring has been at a premium. The Vikings’ leading goal scorer is freshman defenseman Brendan Vetter with seven, and the team’s top point-getters, forwards Blake Roubos and Jake Kreutzer, haven’t scored in their last six and five games, respectively. To compound the problem, St. Norbert leads the league in scoring defense at 1.83 goals per game.

“We have got to get to the paint this weekend,” Szkodzinski said. “St. Norbert does not give up many opportunities, so we have to bury our chances when they come.”

Hot start leads Vikings to victory over Carroll

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team hit its first seven shots from the floor Wednesday and turned that hot start into a 61-49 Midwest Conference win over Carroll University at Van Male Fieldhouse.

Jamie Nikitas scored a game-high 26 points for the Vikings (10-12, 8-9 MWC) and turned in a great all-around game. Nikitas, who hit 11-of-17 shots from the floor, picked up eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Trace Sonnleitner added eight points, four rebounds and three blocks for the Vikings.

Marcus Johnson scored 19 points, and Bryan Nagy had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Pioneers (8-14, 5-12), losers of eight straight.

Sonnleitner started the game by hitting a 3-pointer and the Vikings were off and running. Nikitas hit a jumper and Sonnleitner, Nikitas and Troy Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers, and the Vikings led 14-2.

Nikitas scored the next three baskets, a pair of layups sandwiched around a 3-pointer, and Lawrence led 21-6 with 12:02 left in the first half.

The Vikings would stretch the advantage to as many as 19 points in the first half before settling for a 38-21 lead at the break.

Lawrence went 15-for-24 (62.5 percent), including 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from 3-point range, from the floor in the opening half.

Carroll trimmed the lead to 38-27 on Johnson’s layup with 16:03 left in the game, but the Vikings rallied. Nikitas scored the next eight points for the Vikings, and Ryan DePouw’s layup capped a 10-3 run that gave Lawrence a 48-30 lead with 13:30 left.

Carroll never got closer than 13 points until the final seconds of the game.

Box score

Carroll starts fast, runs past Vikings

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carroll University women’s basketball team pulled away midway through the first half and went on to a 68-38 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Wednesday at Van Male Fieldhouse.

Breann Maryanski led Carroll (15-7, 12-5 MWC) with 13 points and six rebounds. Julia Piech added 11 points for the Pioneers.

Elizabeth Arco paced Lawrence (1-21, 0-17) with 12 points and three blocks, and Danelle Buck and Katie Schumacher chipped in with six points apiece.

Carroll led 10-6 after Lawrence’s Olivia Hoesley scored on a layup with 13:17 left in the first half. Lawrence went 2-for-10 from the floor and turned the ball over 11 times in the remainder of the first half.

Carroll shot 59.3 percent (16-27) from the floor in the first half and raced out to a 40-10 lead at the break. Lawrence went 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from the floor in the first half.

The Vikings were much better after the break, hitting 13-of-30 shots from the floor as they matched Carroll’s 28 second-half points.

Box score

NCHA Quarterfinal Series Preview: Lawrence at No. 7/8 St. Norbert

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University opens the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs this weekend with a quarterfinal series at No. 7/8 St. Norbert College. The teams meet Friday and Saturday at the Cornerstone Community Center, and both games are set for 7 p.m. Lawrence enters the weekend fresh off a split of the final series of the regular season, and St. Norbert is riding a three-game win streak.

Preview