Hockey

Category: Hockey

Concordia tips Vikings in OT

MEQUON, Wis. — Dylan Hutton scored 33 seconds into overtime to lift the Concordia (Wis.) University hockey team to a 3-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

Lawrence (0-2-0, 0-2-0 NCHA) fought back from a pair of deficits to force the extra period.

The Vikings trailed 1-0 after the first period, but Rudi Pino scored at 7:09 of the second to tie it. The Falcons (2-0-0, 2-0-0) grabbed the lead back when Chris Hughes scored at the 16:50 mark, and Concordia led 2-1 after two periods.

Patrick Coyne evened the score at 2-2 when he scored at the 9:04 mark of the third.

The game went to overtime with the Vikings finishing up a power play, but Concordia struck for the game-winner just 25 seconds after the penalty expired.

Hutton scored off a pass from Buster Hebda to give Concordia the win and a sweep of the weekend series.

Anton Olsson made 35 saves and took the loss for Lawrence. Jake Hebda made 34 saves to pick up the win.

Box score

Concordia pulls away with big third period

APPLETON, Wis. — The Concordia (Wis.) University hockey team scored three third-period goals to pull away for a 6-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association win over Lawrence University in the season opener Friday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence (0-1-0, 0-1-0 NCHA) trailed just 3-2 heading into the third, but the Falcons (1-0-0, 1-0-0) got a power-play goal midway through the period and then added two more in the final five minutes to seal the victory.

Eli Riddle, Devin Stuermer and Buster Hebda all had a goal and an assist for the Falcons. Jake Hebda made 26 saves to pick up the win in net.

Concordia led 2-0 after the first and pushed that lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal at the 9:19 mark of the second. Lawrence fought back with a pair of goals from Huck Saunders.

Saunders scored on a two-man advantage at the 15:16 mark off an assist from Blake Roubos to cut the lead to 3-1. Saunders then scored again just before the horn sounded at the end of the second period to trim the margin to 3-2.

The lone penalty of the third period resulted in Concordia’s second power-play goal of the night when Riddle scored at 11:13. The Falcons then got goals at 15:51 and 16:25 to complete the scoring.

Peter Emery stopped 25 shots and took the loss for Lawrence.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings embark on new era in revamped NCHA

This season will be like starting over for the Lawrence University hockey team, and that exactly what the Vikings needed.

Lawrence is now in the new-look Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and is attempting to rebound from a difficult 2012-13 campaign that saw the Vikings lose nine one-goal games.

“This group has a lot to prove,” said Lawrence coach Mike Szkdozinski, who enters his eighth season with the Vikings. “We simply let too many opportunities slip away last season. We need to take those experiences and learn from them. We return a lot of bodies, but that only matters if we apply the lessons we learned last year.”

The Vikings do return an impressive list of players, including seven of their top-10 scorers from a season ago and all six of the regular defensemen. While Lawrence was incredibly young last season, the Vikings are still young but vastly more experienced.

The offense lost all-conference forward Brad Scurfield to graduation, but the Vikings return leading scorer Logan Lemirande, who was named to the all-freshmen team last season. Lemriande had 27 points last season and is joined up front by sophomore forward Rudi Pino, who had 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points as a rookie.

“Logan Lemirande and Rudi Pino have a chance to be very, very good players at this level,” Szkodzinski said. “They both skate well and have good instincts. They will need to execute more consistently to reach their potential. As a whole, we feel we are as deep as we have been in our forward lines if everyone stays healthy.”

Throw in sophomores Renato Engler and Matt Moore to go with seniors like Paul Zuke and Huck Saunders and the Vikings have quality scorers on every line.

Sophomore Brandon Boelter, who was named captain this season, leads a talented group of defenseman. Boelter was named to both the all-conference and all-freshmen teams last season after scoring six goals and handing out 15 assists for 21 points. The Vikings also have former all-conference pick William Thoren back for his senior season and talented juniors Kevin Killian and Erik Soderlund.

“We didn’t lose anyone on the back end to graduation. That should help us,” Szkodzinski said. “William Thoren has something to prove after a below-average season last year. Brandon Boelter and Kevin Killian should be strong and physical. Again, if we can stay healthy, we like our group of 6 on the blue line.”

The big question mark comes in goal for the Vikings. Lawrence returns former starter Peter Emery, who had a spectacular rookie season in 2011-12, and fellow junior Anton Olsson. Szkodzinski said the competition for goaltending job is wide open.

“For the first time in several years, we have no idea who will be in the net on opening night,” Szkodzinski said. “That’s not a bad thing. It is a challenge for both Peter and Anton. We definitely need someone to step up and take control. To this point, the two are neck-and-neck. We need some one to prove that they want to be the guy. That is crucial to our success this year.”

The Vikings will need to step up their game if they want to have more success in the new NCHA, a product of the abandonment of the old league by the five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools. With the addition of national powerhouse St. Norbert College and perennial top-15 team St. Scholastica, the league is now arguably the best in all of Division III.

“Adding St. Scholastica and St. Norbert is tremendous for our conference,” Szkodzinski said. “It will raise the level of play just like Adrian did when they joined our conference. Our conference will feature great teams and each night will be a true battle. There will be zero gimmies in the NCHA.”

To have a successful season, Szkodzinski said his team will have to take care of the small things to create the bigger picture.

“We need to focus on details,” Szkodzinski said. “We need to finish every play. We need to be committed to doing things the right way on every single shift. We need to take the lessons learned and use them. We need to stop talking and prove that we are capable of finishing games this year.”

Brisbois honored

Cross country standout Jamie Brisbois has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Brisbois took the honor after a stellar performance at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational this past Saturday. Brisbois covered the 8,000-meter course at Lake Breeze Golf Club in 26:22.25, which was a personal record for the senior. Brisbois placed 102nd in a field of 566 runners and now owns the sixth-fastest time in the league this season.

Passing two grand

Libero Kathleen Rowland, already Lawrence’s career digs leader, recently passed 2,000 digs. Rowland, a senior from Champaign, Ill., now has 2,084 digs for her career. Rowland just moved ahead of former Lake Forest College standout Meghan Miller (2,083) for ninth place on the Midwest Conference’s career list.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

 

Lawrence tabbed for seventh in NCHA poll

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team has been picked for seventh place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association in a poll of league coaches.

The Vikings, who went 8-16-3 last season, finished with 34 points. St. Norbert College collected the maximum of nine first-place votes and topped the poll with 81 points. Adrian College was second with 73 and the College of St. Scholastica was third with 62.

The remainder of the teams were MSOE (54), Marian University (44), Lake Forest College (42), Lawrence (34), Concordia (Wis.) University (28), Northland College (13) and Finlandia University (13).

Lawrence opens its season on Nov. 1 when it hosts Concordia (Wis.).

Former Lawrence stars Sheridan, Raymond reunite to guide Ohio University hockey

Former Lawrence University hockey standout Jon Sheridan and Jameson Raymond have been reunited at Ohio University, where they are coaching the Bobcats. Ohio is one of the top ACHA Division I programs in the country, and Sheridan was promoted to head coach during the summer of 2013. He then hired his former teammate, Raymond, to become his assistant coach.

Read the story on the NCHA website

 

 

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings enter new football season with fresh approach

This is Mike Barthelmess’ second season as the Lawrence University football coach, but it probably feels a lot like starting over again.

The Vikings lost nearly 20 seniors, almost all of which were major contributors, and the coaching staff is almost entirely new as only secondary coach Jeff Jansen returns. The turnover in the coaching staff also hurt recruiting, and the Vikings have only 14 new faces for 2013.

Despite what might seem like long odds for success, Barthelmess has confidence in his players and the coaching staff.

“I know there are people who think we won’t win a game. My expectations are higher than that,” Barthelmess said with a grin.

The Vikings went 2-8 a season ago, but included in that record was a one-point loss, a two-point loss and a four-point loss to conference champion Lake Forest College. With key players back all over the field, the Vikings are being cautiously optimistic.

The offense begins with senior quarterback Luke Barthelmess, the eldest son of the head coach. Luke Barthelmess owns nearly every Lawrence passing record and completed 162 of 304 passes for 2,292 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season.

While Luke Barthelmess is an accomplished passer with a Lawrence record 6,057 passing yards to his credit, it’s his feet that may make just as big a difference this season.

“It falls on his shoulders,” Mike Barthelmess said of Luke. “We’re going to probably depend more on his legs this year than we have in the past. We’re going to try to make use of his speed.”

Luke Barthelmess ran 125 times for 423 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per carry last season. With running back Ben Hartman lost to graduation, the Vikings are going to lean on new faces in the backfield, including Isaac Barthelmess, the former Appleton North High School standout and Luke’s younger brother.

“We have three strong running backs (Isaac Barthelmess, Dalton Sendelbach and Corey Fischer),” Mike Barthelmess said. “If we can continue to run the football, if we can split the running between Luke and the backfield, that’s going to help our passing game.”

The passing game also took a hit with the graduation of record-setting receiver Tyler Mazur. Lawrence does have experienced receivers in seniors Taylor Mandich and Dan Dubnicka to soften the blow, and the offensive line has three starters returning in tackles Spencer Swick of Kimberly and Luke Zablocki of Pulaski and center Nic Bouressa of Denmark.

While the offense was solid in 2012, the defense struggled and allowed 45.4 points per game. Mike Barthelmess believes the Vikings will improve on defense this season with a new coaching approach and an influx of talented newcomers.

“Everyone is really trying to work together on the defensive staff. I’m certain that we are going to be better on defense this season. That was a main focus going into this season,” Mike Barthelmess said. “The staff is great. I love my staff. It’s really, really fun going to work every day.”

The defense has All-Midwest Conference defensive back Sam Wagner in the secondary and talented linebackers Andy Paider of Denmark and Brandon Taylor. The defensive line will rotate returners Gabor Bukszar and Brady Busha with newcomers Jackson Straughn and Terrence Huff.

“We have a lot of experience coming back on defense,” Mike Barthlemess said. “We’re hoping that is going to be enough to beef up our defense.”

The key for the Vikings may come down to health. With just 39 players on the roster, Lawrence needs to keep its starters and key reserves on the field all season.

“Our whole philosophy from the beginning is we are going to be grateful for who we have,” said Mike Barthelmess, who said he has told the players to be fearless. “We have to make the best of what we have.”

Bushbacher inks deal with Chill

Former Lawrence University hockey standout Phil Bushbacher has signed a contract to play with the St. Charles (Mo.) Chill.

Bushbacher, a forward who graduated in June with a degree in government, becomes the ninth Lawrence player in the last five years to sign a pro contract.

In two seasons at Lawrence, Bushbacher played in 55 games and piled up 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points. For his career, he played in 106 games with 42 goals and 33 assists for 75 points.

“He pretty much came into camp, and just dominated the camp,” Chill coach Jamie Rivers said. “He was physical, he put a lot of shots on goal, and he scored a lot of goals. He came in as an unknown, and he earned his spot in training camp.”

The Chill, which plays in the Central Hockey League, is one of 10 teams in that conference.

Laursen earns honor

Lawrence cross country standout Jonah Laursen has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Laursen (Traverse City, Mich./West), a sophomore, took second place at this past Saturday’s Tom Barry Invitational at St. Norbert College. Laursen covered the four-mile course at Colburn Park in Green Bay in 20:52.6. He ran nearly a minute faster than he did at the same meet as a freshman in 2012.

Led by Laursen, Lawrence finished fourth in the team standings with 111 points. This marks the first time in his career that Laursen has earned the conference’s weekly honor.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Bushbacher inks deal with Chill

APPLETON, Wis. — Former Lawrence University hockey standout Phil Bushbacher has signed a contract to play with the St. Charles Chill.

Bushbacher, a forward who graduated in June with a degree in government, becomes the ninth Lawrence player in the last five years to sign a pro contract.

“Phil is one of the hardest-working young men we’ve had in the past seven years,” Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski said. “He is extremely coachable and is always trying to find ways to get better. When you combine his physical attributes with his knack in tight around the net, it is easy to see why he is getting an opportunity at the next level. He will definitely represent himself and our program well.”

In two seasons at Lawrence, Bushbacher played in 55 games and piled up 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points. For his career, he played in 106 games with 42 goals and 33 assists for 75 points.

“He pretty much came into camp, and just dominated the camp,” Chill coach Jamie Rivers said. “He was physical, he put a lot of shots on goal, and he scored a lot of goals. He came in as an unknown, and he earned his spot in training camp.”

The Chill, which plays in the Central Hockey League, is one of 10 teams in that conference.

Lawrence student-athletes receive awards at Honors Celebration

APPLETON, Wis. — Nine Lawrence University student-athletes were recently honored at the 2013 Honors Celebration.

The awards and winners are as follows.

The Ruth Bateman Award is given for excellence in scholarship, athletic ability and leadership by a female athlete. Senior Rose Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) was honored after an outstanding career in track and field. A five-time all-conference honoree in the high jump, Tepper was 2010 Midwest Conference outdoor champion. Tepper, who holds the Lawrence record indoors in the high jump, was a qualifier for the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships.

The Iden Charles Champion Cup is given for excellence in scholarship, athletic ability, college spirit and loyalty. Senior Tyler Mazur (Reedsburg, Wis./Reedsburg) completed an outstanding football career at Lawrence and remains a key contributor to the men’s basketball squad. Mazur finished his football career ranked fourth in receiving yards (2,253), fifth in catches (130), fifth in touchdown catches (25), fourth in total touchdowns (37) and fifth in points (224). Mazur also was a key member of the men’s basketball team and broke the school record by making nine 3-pointers in a game this past season.

The Outstanding Freshman Athletic Award for Men is given the freshman man who has made the most outstanding contribution to Lawrence athletics. Brandon Boelter (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) earned the award after an outstanding rookie season with the Lawrence hockey team. Boelter was a first-team All-Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association selection and was named to the All-MCHA Freshmen Team. Boelter led all defensemen in the conference in scoring with six goals and 15 assists for 21 points.

The Outstanding Freshman Athletic Award for Women is given to the freshman woman who has made the most outstanding contribution to Lawrence athletics. Hayley Cardinal (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) won the award after a big impact on the swimming and track and field teams. Cardinal broke the Lawrence records in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200 breaststroke and placed second and third, respectively, in those events at the Midwest Conference Championships. Cardinal also was part of two record-setting relay teams. Cardinal also won a letter in track and field.

The Ralph V. Landis Award was established by the Lettermen of Lawrence in honor of Dr. Landis, physician to Lawrence students from 1926-78, and is awarded for outstanding contributions to Lawrence athletics by a senior male athlete. Senior hockey player Brad Scurfield (Midland, Mich./Midland) was an All-Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association selection and was the team’s Most Valuable Player each of the past two seasons. Scurfield finished his career ranked in the top eight in school history in points, goals, assists and power-play goals.

The Charles E. Pond Award for Men is given for all-around athletic ability by a senior man in two or more sports and for sportsmanship, school spirit and scholarship. Sam Stevens (Suamico, Wis./Bay Port) was a four-time Midwest Conference champion in track and field was a 15-time All-Midwest Conference performer. The 2011 Midwest Conference cross country champion, Stevens led the Vikings to the team title. Stevens, who holds Lawrence track records in the mile, 3,000 meters and distance medley relay, was a four-time all-conference honoree in cross country.

The Charles E. Pond Award for Women is given for all-around athletic ability by a senior woman in two or more sports and for sportsmanship, school spirit, and scholarship. Cathy Kaye (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sevastopol) was a four-year starter in both softball and basketball and also earned a letter in cross country. Kaye was a three-time All-Midwest Conference softball selection and also earned All-Great Lakes Region honors. The team’s center fielder, Kaye also served as team captain.

The Marion Read Award is given for outstanding contributions to Lawrence athletics. Shannon Murray (Lawrenceville, Ga./Dacula) earned the award for the second consecutive year. A four-year starter in softball, Murray was named to the All-Midwest Conference honors for the last two seasons and was the 2013 North Division Pitcher of the Year. A team captain, Murray also was a two-time All-Great Lakes Region softball selection. Murray also served as a student athletic trainer for both women’s tennis and basketball.

The Letterwinner Award is presented by the L Club to those outstanding seniors who have earned eight or more letters. The winners are:

Amanda Dwyer (Ralston, Neb./Ralston), cross country and track and field;

Cathy Kaye (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sevastopol), basketball, cross country, softball;

Sam Stevens (Suamico, Wis./Bay Port), cross country and track and field;

Rose Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon), indoor and outdoor track and field.

Vikings in fifth place after opening round of MWC Championships

ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Lawrence University golf team is in fifth place after the opening round of the Midwest Conference Championships at Aldeen Golf Club.

Lawrence finished the first round on Friday morning after they were stopped by darkness on Thursday evening.

The Vikings carded a team score of 333 0n the par-72 layout. St. Norbert College is in first place with a score of 311.

Lawrence’s top score on Thursday was an 81 by Anton Olsson, who is tied for 15th place. Rudi Pino shot an 82 and is tied for 17th place.

Michael Vaubel is tied for 23rd after shooting 84, Tyler Clark is in 27th after shooting an 85 and Fabian Sivnert is 29th after shooting 88.

The second round is scheduled to be completed on Friday, and the final round is set for Saturday.