Hockey

Category: Hockey

Cross country teams capture academic honor

The Lawrence University men’s and women’s cross country teams have been named a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Scholar Team.

This marks the third consecutive year both Lawrence teams have been honored for their academic achievement by the USTFCCA. To be eligible for the award, the team must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.10 through the fall term.

The Lawrence men had a grade point average of 3.38, and the Vikings were one of four men’s teams from the Midwest Conference to be honored.

The Lawrence women had a grade point average of 3.40 and were one of six teams from the Midwest Conference to make the grade.

The Lawrence men won the Midwest Conference championship and Sam Stevens was the league’s individual champion in 2011. The Lawrence women moved up to fifth place in the team standings in 2011.

MCHA Harris Cup preview

The Lawrence University hockey team travels to Adrian, Mich., for the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup this weekend. Lawrence takes on sixth-ranked Adrian College in one semifinal on Saturday, and No. 10 MSOE faces Marian University in the other semifinal. The semifinal winners meet Sunday for the championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Preview

Vikings tie Finlandia; Lawrence advances to Harris Cup semifinals

Is this case, a tie was just as good as a win.

Lawrence University forged a hard-fought 2-2 overtime tie on Saturday with Finlandia University, and that was enough to allow the Vikings to win this weekend’s Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinal playoff series at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence (13-10-4) beat Finlandia (7-18-1) 5-1 on Friday night and won the series with a 1-0-1 record. Lawrence advances to the Harris Cup semifinals next Saturday, March 3, at Adrian College.

The Vikings had to rally from a pair of deficits to earn the tie.

Alex Heinonen gave Finlandia a 1-0 lead just 3:23 into the game. Lawrence then tied the game at 1-1 on Matt Hughes’ goal at the 12:33 mark of the first.

Finlandia’s Clancy MacNeil got sent off for holding at 15:40 of the first, but it was Finlandia that took advantage. Dmitry Antipin scored a short-handed goal at 16:06 to give the Lions a 2-1 edge.

The score stayed that way until the 7:34 mark of the second period. Phil Bushbacher took a faceoff for Lawrence to the right of Finlandia goalkeeper Mike Wuthrich. The draw went toward the net, and Bushbacher battled to the puck and beat Wuthrich to tie the game at 2-2.

Finlandia thought it had tied the game late in the third period, but a Lions skater had kicked the puck into the net with his skate and the goal was waived off by the referee.

The Lions had a great chance in the final minute when a shot was redirected in front of the net by Travis Armstrong, but Lawrence goaltender Peter Emery made a spectacular save with 21 seconds left to preserve the tie.

Both teams had five shots in the overtime, and Lawrence did a nice job of keeping the puck in the Finlandia zone late. The Lions were looking to pull Wuthrich to get the game-winning goal because Finlandia needed a win to force a decisive mini-game to determine who would win the series. Lawrence kept the puck in the Finlandia zone in the final minute and ran out the clock.

Emery made 30 saves for the Vikings, and Wuthrich stopped 48 shots for Finlandia.

Box score

Big second period helps Lawrence roll past Finlandia

Lawrence University scored four times in the second period and rolled to a 5-1 victory over Finlandia University in Friday’s opening game of a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinal playoff series at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence (13-10-3) needs a win or tie in Saturday’s series finale to advance to the Harris Cup semifinals.

The Vikings were already up 1-0 thanks for Brad Scurfield’s first-period goal when they scored four times in a stretch of 11 minutes in the second period.

Patrick Coyne got things started for the Vikings when he scored on the power play at the 6:28 mark to give Lawrence a 2-0 edge. Lawrence went 1-for-4 on the power play on the evening. 

Phil Bushbacher made it 3-0 at the 9:56 mark, and the Vikings scored again on Huck Saunders’ goal just 25 seconds later to make it 4-0.

Coyne, a freshman forward, scored again at the 17:53 mark to give Lawrence a 5-0 lead. It was the first multi-goal game of Coyne’s career.

Alex Heinonen broke up the shutout for Finlandia (7-18-0) when he scored on the power play with just 17 seconds left in the second period to trim the lead to 5-1.

Peter Emery stopped 28 shots to earn the win for Lawrence. Cedrik LaFrance made the start and allowed four goals for Finlandia in taking the loss.

Box score

Pairings set for MCHA playoffs, Vikings to face Finlandia

The pairings are now set for the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, which begin Feb. 24.

Lawrence faces Finlandia in a two-game quarterfinal series on Feb. 24-25 at the Appleton Family Ice Center. Friday’s game begins at 7 p.m., and Saturday’s game is set for 4 p.m. Both games of the series will be webcast.

The other quarterfinal series has Lake Forest traveling to MSOE on Feb. 25-26.

Divisional champions Marian and Adrian await the quarterfinal series winners in the Harris Cup semifinals on March 3 at Adrian. The championship game is set for March 4.

Vikings edge Lake Forest 2-1

The Lawrence University hockey team dominated the play on Saturday night, but the Vikings battled to a 2-1 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lake Forest College.

Lawrence (12-10-3, 11-6-3 MCHA) enjoyed a 45-15 edge in shots but the outcome wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

Lawrence got on the board early when Brad Scurfield scored off a pass from Jon Bellotti just 5:37 into the contest.

The score stayed that way until Phil Bushbacher gave Lawrence a 2-0 lead when he scored on the power play with just 1:23 left in the game.

Lawrence was still on the power play when Mike Violette scored a short-handed goal for Lake Forest (4-21-0, 4-16-0) with just 25 seconds remaining.

The Foresters then pulled goaltender Brendan Sullivan and got a shot off against Lawrence goaltender Peter Emery. Lawrence was able to get control of the puck and run out the final seconds.

Emery stopped 14 shots to pick up the win. Sullivan made 43 saves in the loss.

Lawrence returns to action next weekend when it hosts a MCHA quarterfinal playoff series on Friday and Saturday.

Box score

Vikings fall to Foresters

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Lawrence University fell behind early and couldn’t fully recover in dropping a 5-2 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association game to Lake Forest College on Friday at Alumni Memorial Rink.

Lake Forest (4-21-0, 4-15-0 MCHA) built a pair of two-goal leads that the Vikings (11-10-3, 10-6-3) trimmed in half, but the Foresters finished with the game’s final two goals to seal the win.

The Foresters scored two goals midway through the second period before Phil Bushbacher scored at the 13:26 mark to trim the advantage to 2-1.

Jordan Bruce then scored just 1:17 later to push the lead back to 3-1. The Vikings battled back again when Sam Johnson scored with just 1:57  left in the second period to cut the lead to 3-2.

That’s as close as Lawrence would get as Curran Forgue scored twice in the third period, once early and once late, to secure the win for the Foresters.

Peter Emery stopped 41 shots for Lawrence and took the loss. Brendan Sullivan made 41 saves for Lake Forest to pick up the win.

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

Box score

Olsson collects Freshman of the Week honors

Lawrence University’s Anton Olsson has been named the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Freshman of the Week.

Olsson (Stromstad, Sweden), a rookie goaltender, won the award after picking up his first collegiate win in net this past weekend. Olsson stopped 38 shots in Lawrence’s 4-2 victory over Finlandia University this past Saturday.

Olsson recorded a .950 save percentage on the evening and upped his save percentage on the season to .897. Olsson now has a 3.82 goals against average for the season.

This is the first time this season Olsson has been honored by the MCHA, and it marks the sixth time this season a Lawrence player has won one of the league’s weekly awards.

Lawrence returns to action this weekend as it wraps up the regular season with a home-and-home series with Lake Forest College.