Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Perushek picks up MWC Player of the Week honor

Ethan Perushek
Ethan Perushek

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University men’s tennis player Ethan Perushek has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.

Perushek (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret’s) picked up the honor in the wake of Lawrence’s 9-0 victory over Lakeland College on Feb. 13.

Perushek dropped just one game in his season debut as he swept his singles and doubles matches against the Muskies. Perushek teamed with Mitch Kasprzyk (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) for an 8-0 victory at No. 3 doubles to start the day. Perushek then posted a 6-1, 6-0 over Carlos Rodriguez at No. 6 singles.

Lawrence improved to 1-1 on the season, and the Vikings are back in action on Friday when they travel to Concordia (Wis.) University.

Men’s basketball preview: Lawrence at Carroll, vs. Monmouth

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team wraps up its season with two Midwest Conference games this week. The Vikings travel to Carroll University on Wednesday looking for a sweep of the season series against the Pioneers. Lawrence then bids farewell to seniors Ryan DePouw, Andrew Borresen and Shane Cullian with the season’s final home game on Saturday against Monmouth College.

Preview

Big second half helps Vikings roll past Maranatha Baptist

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team held Maranatha Baptist University to just 15 second-half points as the Vikings rolled to a 73-39 nonconference victory Monday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Andrea Wilkinson scored 14 points, and Danelle Buck added 13 for the Vikings (1-20), who snapped a 37-game losing streak. It was Lawrence’s first victory since a 93-92 win at Knox College on Dec. 14, 2013.

Lexi Johnson led Maranatha Baptist (2-17) with 16 points, and Emily Hinsenkamp pulled down 11 rebounds for the Sabercats. Maranatha shot just 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from the floor in the second half.

Lawrence led 32-24 at the half, but the Vikings stretched the advantage early in the second half. The Vikings got a spark from Kassidy Rinehart, Nicole Cummins and Fanita Robins off the bench, and Lawrence went on a 9-2 burst to start the half. Wilkinson’s layup with 14:39 left gave Lawrence a 41-27 edge.

Lawrence still up by 14 at 47-33 when the Vikings put the game away. Robins hit a 3-pointer to start a 10-1 run, capped by Lauren Deveikis’ short jumper, that gave Lawrence a 57-34 lead with 5:46 remaining.

The Vikings would pull away and led by as many as 34 points.

Lawrence employed a full-court press in the second half as Maranatha committed 36 turnovers, including 19 after the break. Patsy Kealey picked up a season-high seven steals for the Vikings, who had a season-low 13 turnovers.

The Vikings got off to a slow start and hit just three of their first 18 shots from the floor. Maranatha led 14-9 with 7:12 remaining, but Lawrence went 9-for-12 from the floor from that point in the opening half.

Lawrence finished the first half on a 23-10 scoring run to grab a 32-24 lead at the break. Wilkinson had 10 points during that stretch, and Rinehart scored six of her nine points in that run.

Box score

Lawrence fencers post five victories at Notre Dame Duals

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Lawrence University fencing teams picked up five victories at the University of Notre Dame Duals on Feb. 7.

The Lawrence men went 3-1, and the women posted a 2-2 mark at the Castellan Family Fencing Center.

On the men’s side, Lawrence defeated Detroit Mercy 19-8, topped Wayne State 19-8 and defeated Cleveland State 16-11. The lone loss for the Vikings was a 21-6 setback to Notre Dame.

The best records on the day went to Lawrence’s sabre contingent of Graham Jones, Drew Doares and Joe Davis. Jones went 10-2, Doares was 9-3 and Davis posted an 8-4 mark. Alden Grasse went 8-4 and Jake Hodges was 7-5 to compile winning marks in foil. Erik Paulson posted a 6-6 mark in foil as well.

The Lawrence women defeated Detroit Mercy 17-10 and topped Cleveland State 18-9. Notre Dame defeated Lawrence 25-2, and Wayne State posted an 18-9 win over the Vikings.

Nicole Mitchell posted an 8-4 mark in epee to pace the Vikings, and the foil contingent of Kali Thibault and Rebecca Albrecht both went 7-5. Shelby Guinn led sabre with a 6-6 mark.

Notre Dame Duals

Men

Lawrence 16, Cleveland State 11 (Sabre 6-3, Foil 5-4, Epee 5-4)

Lawrence 19, Wayne State (Sabre 9-0, Foil 7-2, Epee 3-6)

Lawrence 19, Detroit Mercy 8 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 8-1, Epee 3-6)

Notre Dame 21, Lawrence 6 (Sabre 5-4, Foil 8-1, Epee 8-1)

Women

Lawrence 17, Detroit Mercy 10 (Sabre 5-4, Foil 6-3, Epee 6-3)

Wayne State 18, Lawrence 9 (Sabre 9-0, Foil 5-4, Epee 4-5)

Lawrence 18, Cleveland State 9 (Sabre 6-3, Foil 4-5, Epee 8-1)

Notre Dame 25, Lawrence 2 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 9-0, Epee 8-1)

Winter takes title in 1,650 to lead Lawrence to fourth at MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — Senior Taylor Winter roared to a dominating victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle on Sunday to pace the Lawrence University swimmers at the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

Winter won the 1,650 freestyle for the second consecutive season and did so in impressive fashion in 17:32.68. Winter won by nearly 40 seconds over Lily McCarthy of Lake Forest College. Lawrence’s Emei Thompson grabbed sixth place in the event.

The Lawrence women finished fourth in the team standings with 474 points. Grinnell won the title with 1,074.

Other top finishers for the Lawrence women on Sunday were Paige Witter, who took fourth in the 200 butterfly, Emily Flack, who was fourth in the 200 backstroke and the fifth-place 400 freestyle relay team.

On the men’s side, the 400 freestyle relay team led the way by taking sixth in 3:26.11. Other top placers were Travis Charlow, who was eighth in the 200 backstroke, and Stephen Salansky, who was eighth in the 200 breaststroke.

The Lawrence men were eighth with 190 points. Lake Forest won the title with 1,072 points.

Sunday’s results

Complete results

Lawrence women climb to fourth after second day of MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University women’s swimming team climbed to fourth place in the team standings after Saturday’s second day of the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

Relays teams posted the best finish for the Lawrence women on Saturday. The 800-yard freestyle relay was third in 7:57.14, and the 200 medley relay team grabbed fourth place in 1:52.41.

Lawrence is fourth in the team standings with 318 points. Grinnell leads with 763.

Emily Flack was the top individual for the Vikings as she grabbed fourth place in the 200 freestyle in 1:57.69 and added a seventh-place finish in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.00.

On the men’s side, Travis Charlow led the Vikings with a pair of top-eight finishes. Charlow was seventh in the 200 freestyle in 1:47.79 and took eighth in the 100 backstroke in 56.04 seconds.

The Lawrence men are in ninth place with 120 points.

Results

Lions shut out Lawrence in series finale; Vikings to play SNC in NCHA quarters

HANCOCK, Mich. — Lane King scored a pair of goals to lead Finlandia University to a 4-0 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association win over Lawrence University on Saturday at Houghton County Arena.

Despite the loss, Lawrence (7-17-1, 6-12-0 NCHA) claimed the seventh seed in the NCHA playoffs. The Vikings, who beat Finlandia 2-1 on Friday night, will play at St. Norbert College in next weekend’s two-game quarterfinal series.

Finlandia (5-19-1, 4-14-0) scored twice in the opening period to take control. With both teams down a skater due to coincidental minors, Finlandia grabbed a 1-0 lead on Travis Armstrong’s goal at the 8:01 mark. The Lions made it 2-0 on King’s goal at 17:07 of the first.

After a scoreless second period, Skylar Harding made it 3-0 with 5:12 left in the game, and King scored again with 2:16 left for the final margin.

Jordan Marr made 24 saves to earn the shutout for Finlandia. Backup goalie Peter Emery made the start and stopped 19 shots.

Box score

Lawrence rolls to shutout of Muskies

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team picked up its first win of the young season in impressive fashion with a 9-0 nonconference victory over Lakeland College at Fox Cities Racquet Club.

The Vikings (1-1) did not drop a set en route to the shutout. Lawrence lost a mere 11 games in singles and dropped just two games in the three doubles matches.

Freshman Sotaro Kurashashi picked up his first collegiate victories in both singles and doubles. He teamed with David Jumes at No. 1 doubles for an 8-0 win and then downed Greg Boknevitz 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.

Mitch Kasprzyk and Ethan Perushek also posted an 8-0 win at No.  3 doubles. Adam Busch picked up a shutout win at No. 5 singles as he defeated Koki Saito 6-0, 6-0.

Lawrence University 9, Lakeland College 0

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. Paul Elzinga (LC) 6-1, 6-0
2. Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) def. Greg Boknevitz (LC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Quentin Barthe (LC) 6-1, 6-0
4. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) def. ShoSean Fujino (LC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Adam Busch (LU) def. Koki Saito (LC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Ethan Perushek (LU) def. Carlos Rodriguez (LC) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. David Jumes/Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) def. Greg Boknevitz/ShoSean Fujino (LC) 8-0
2. Brian DeCorte/Adam Busch (LU) def. Quentin Barthe/Paul Elzinga (LC) 8-2
3. Mitch Kasprzyk/Ethan Perushek (LU) def. Koki Saito/Carlos Rodriguez (LC) 8-0

Match Notes:
Lakeland College 0-1
Lawrence University 1-1
Order of finish: Doubles 3, 1, 2 … Singles, 6, 4, 5, 3, 1, 2
T-2:00 A-25

Vikings top Finlandia, clinch NCHA playoff berth

HANCOCK, Mich. — Ryan Eardley and Brendan Vetter each had a goal and an assist Friday night to lead Lawrence University to a 2-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Finlandia University at Houghton County Arena.

The win clinches a berth in the NCHA playoff for the Vikings, who are alone in seventh place with 12 points.

Lawrence (7-16-1, 6-11-0 NCHA) scored both of its goals in a stretch of just 1:19 in the opening period.

The Vikings jumped on the board first when Eardley scored his second goal of the year off assists from Vetter and Matt Moore at the 9:25 mark.

After coincidental minors to Lawrence’s Blake Roubos and the Lions’ Thomas Clayton, both teams were skating a man down when the Vikings scored again. Vetter picked up his seventh goal of the season off an assist from Eardley at the 10:44 mark for a 2-0 lead.

The score stayed that way until late in the  third period. Finlandia (4-19-1, 3-14-0) pulled goaltender Andrew Brownlee for an extra attacker and Chris Hoffman scored his first goal of the season with just 2:52 remaining in the contest.

Brownlee went back on the ice until the Lions gained control of the puck, and Finlandia had an extra attacker for the final 1:35 but could not get the equalizer.

Mattias Soderqvist stopped 29 shots to pick up the win for Lawrence. Brownlee made 14 saves for the Lions.

The teams wrap up the series and the regular season on Saturday afternoon.

Box score