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Inside LU Athletics: Defense becomes calling card of Lawrence hockey

As much as fans love offense, coaches will tell you in virtually every sport that defense wins championships.

The Lawrence University hockey team is putting together that type of championship defense as it enters the final month of the season.

Lawrence has been outstanding over its past seven games against some quality competition, including four games against nationally ranked opponents.

“Since day one we’ve believed that senior leadership, team defense and chemistry are the keys to a successful season,” Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski said. “Right now, there‘s no doubt that our senior leadership has been outstanding and our defense has been steady.”

Over the past month, Lawrence has been outstanding in its own zone. The Vikings are allowing only 2.14 goals per game in the last seven contests and that includes shutouts over Augsburg and Northland.

“As a whole, we’re playing pretty well defensively in all three zones,” said senior defenseman Jameson Raymond. “Starting with our goalie to our (defensemen) to our forwards, we’re all playing pretty well.”

With four games against nationally-ranked Adrian and MSOE in that recent stretch, the Vikings endured three one-goal losses in those four.

“Even when we came out on the short end of the stick in the series vs. MSOE and Adrian, we strongly felt we’ve been playing some of the best hockey we’ve played in a long time,” Szkodzinski said.

“It’s a matter of scoring a big goal at the right time or making a save when we need it. The margin in our league has become so slim. That one play could be the difference in an entire series.”

Raymond is the type of player who gives the Vikings all those intangibles that make a difference in a tight game and is the leader of this group of young defensemen.

“Jameson takes away time and space from the opponents better than anyone in the league,” Szkodzinski said. “He’s able to see things three steps ahead of the other guys.”

The corps of defensemen includes only one other senior, Jesse Byam-Katzman, and All-Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association selection William Thoren, only a sophomore. New to the mix are freshmen Erik Soderlund, Kevin Killian, Cory Bastian and Kyle Forte, and all have all played key roles.

“The entire team fully embraced the fact that we were bringing in 17 new faces this season,” Szkodzinski said. “That allowed for our young men who are getting regular shifts to feel comfortable and confident.

“That closeness has shown itself over the past seven, eight games for us. The fact that our young men have not wavered from the system and completely embraced the way we have to play.”

Raymond said the upperclassmen knew they would need to play a role in incorporating the rookies in the mix.

“With only having two seniors, we took it upon ourselves to get the younger guys involved in the system, and how coach (Szkodzinski) wants us to play defense,” Raymond said. “They’ve taken to it well.”

The other big factor has been the play of freshman goaltender Peter Emery, who this week was named the MCHA Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.

“Peter has been very, very steady,” Szkodzinski said. “He has a lot of talent and is a big body who covers a lot of net. If he continues to keep his game simple, we will see good results.”

Emery has a 3-4-0 record in his last seven games, but he has a sparkling 2.15 goals against average and .932 save percentage in that stretch. On the season, he is 7-7-2 with a 2.46 GAA and .921 save percentage.

“There’s no doubt he’s a calming influence when he’s in the net. He has a demeanor that’s consistent and not a whole lot seems to rattle him. That’s a trait for a good goaltender,” said Szkodzinski, who heaped praise on goaltending coach Brian Garavaglia for Emery’s development.

Raymond said Emery has made the routine saves, and then he’s made a few that are simply spectacular.

“He (Emery) makes all the saves he should, and then he makes saves that he shouldn’t make,” Raymond said. “Those are the ones that matter.”

Record breaker

Junior Sam Stevens broke the Lawrence record in the 3,000 meters at the UW-Oshkosh Open last Friday. The Suamico, Wis., native won the event in 8:50.83, which broke the record of 8:53.58. The record was set way back in 1996 by Lawrence Hall of Famer Scott Sprtel.

Private champs

In the last tuneup before Lawrence hosts the Midwest Conference Championships on Feb. 17-19, the Vikings had three individual winners at the Wisconsin Private College Championships last Saturday at Carthage.

Peter Brengel and Cameron Gmehlin took titles in the 200-yard backstroke and 200 breaststroke, respectively. Brengel and Gmehlin teamed with Charlie Mann and Pat Vincent to win the 200 medley relay as well.

On the women’s side, freshman Taylor Winter won the 1,650 freestyle and took second in the 500 freestyle.

The Vikings were third in the team standings for both the men and women.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director 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 vs. Marian series preview

The Lawrence University hockey team takes on Marian University in a weekend home-and-home series. This Battle of Highway 41 series features a traveling trophy that goes to the series winner, and Marian has taken the each of the last two years. The series begins with a game at the Appleton Family Ice Center on Friday night, and then moves to the Blue Line Ice Center in Fond du Lac on Saturday afternoon.

Preview

Lawrence shoots down Red Hawks

The Lawrence University men’s basketball team used a balanced attack and good shooting to down Ripon College 85-81 in a Midwest Conference game on Tuesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Chris Siebert scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to pace five Lawrence players in double figures. Tyler Crisman added 16 points for the Vikings (7-10, 6-7 MWC), and Davis DeWolfe added 15. Conor Klusendorf and Ryan DePouw added 14 points apiece, and Klusendorf had a team-high nine rebounds.

Aris Wurtz and Taylor Koth did nearly all the damage for Ripon (12-6, 8-5). Wurtz had a double-double with 34 points and 11 rebounds, and Koth added 30 points and 13 rebounds.

Lawrence, which shot 54.7 percent for the game and 40.7 percent on 3-pointers, led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Ripon rallied to trim the margin to 37-32 at the half.

Ripon went on a 9-2 run midway through the second half to take a 60-57 lead with 11:51 left. Lawrence answered with a 3-pointer from Siebert, a layup from DeWolfe and 3-pointer from DePouw to grab a 65-60 lead with 10:04 remaining.

After a jumper from Koth, Lawrence got back-to-back 3-pointers from Siebert and a free throw from Tyler Mazur to take a 72-62 lead with 6:44 left.

Ripon slowly worked the lead down to only three points at 76-73 with 1:07 left, but the Vikings then sealed the victory at the foul line. Lawrence went 9-for-10 from the line in the final 38 seconds to seal the victory.

Siebert did see his streak of 42 consecutive made free throws snapped in the second half.

Lawrence returns to action on Friday when it hosts Lake Forest College.

Box score

Late heroics give Vikings weekend sweep of Northland

ASHLAND, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team scored two goals in the final 25 seconds to rally for a 3-2 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Northland College on Saturday at the Bay Area Civic Center.

The dramatic finish allowed Lawrence (7-9-3, 6-5-3 MCHA) to complete a weekend sweep of the Lumberjacks (6-10-3, 5-7-2). Lawrence beat Northland 3-0 on Friday night.

Lawrence trailed 2-1 and had pulled goaltender Peter Emery late in the game. Freshman Gustav Lindgren scored off an assist from Brad Scurfield with an extra attacker on the ice to tie the game at 2-2 with 25 seconds left.

The Vikings then scored the game-winning goal just nine seconds later as Sam Johnson found the back of the net with 16 seconds remaining. William Thoren and Matt Hughes both picked up assists on that goal.

Northland had taken a 1-0 at the 15:57 mark of the first, but the Vikings tied it when Nate Scurfield scored off an assist from his brother, Brad, at the 19:38 mark. The score stayed that way until Chad Liley gave Northland a 2-1 lead at the 1:25 mark of the third.

Emery stopped 29 shots to pick up the win. Ian Perrier made 28 saves and took the loss.

Box score

Big second half powers Vikings past Carroll

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and went on to a 98-88 Midwest Conference victory over Carroll University on Saturday at Van Male Field House.

Davis DeWolfe paced seven Vikings (6-10, 5-7 MWC) in double figures with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Siebert led Lawrence with 18 points, and Max Burgess added 15.

Alec Molter led Carroll (9-7, 5-6) with 21 points.

Carroll came out hot and shot 65.5 percent (19-29) from the floor in the first half to build a 48-38 lead at the break.

It took Lawrence only 3:20 into the second half to erase that deficit. The Vikings went on a 15-4 run to open the half and grabbed a 53-52 lead with 16:40 left. Siebert scored seven points during that outburst.

The Vikings kept the momentum going and pushed the lead to 64-54 on Burgess’ 3-pointer with 10:54 left. Lawrence built the lead to as many as 13 points and Carroll got as close as six points after that.

The Pioneers trimmed the edge to 91-84 with 57 seconds remaining, but Lawrence went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute and got a dunk from Conor Klusendorf to seal the victory.

Klusendorf finished with 11 points and Ryan DePouw, who hit three free throws down the stretch, had 13 points.

Lawrence returns home on Tuesday to face Ripon College at Alexander Gymnasium.

Box score

Brengel, Winter pace Vikings at Private College Championships

KENOSHA, Wis. — Peter Brengel and Taylor Winter paced the Lawrence University swim teams at the Wisconsin Private College Championships on Saturday at Carthage College.

Brengel won an individual event and swam on a winning relay team to lead the Vikings to a second-place finish in the team standings. Brengel won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:03.90, and he took second in the 100 backstroke.

Brengel also teamed with Cameron Gmehlin, Charlie Mann and Pat Vincent to win the 200 medley relay in 1:42.82. Gmehlin picked up the other title for the Vikings as he won the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.54.

Winter swam to victory in the 1,650 freestyle in 18:08.06, and she finished second in the 500 freestyle. Led by Winter, Lawrence finished third in the team standings.

Carthage won both the men’s and women’s team titles.

Results

Vikings shut out Northland in series opener

ASHLAND, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team put on an outstanding defensive performance and posted a 3-0 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Northland College Friday night at the Bay Area Civic Center.

Freshman goaltender Peter Emery made 29 saves to earn his second shutout of the season. Lawrence also limited the Lumberjacks to 0-for-7 on the power play.

Lawrence (6-9-3, 5-5-3 MCHA), which piled up a 45-29 edge in shots, got on the board late in the first period. Gustav Lindgren scored off assists from Austin Rohaly and Matt Hughes at the 15:14 mark.

Lawrence made it 2-0 with just 3:09 left in the second period when Phil Bushbacher scored his sixth goal of the season off assists from Brad Scurfield and William Thoren.

Lawrence then made it 3-0 just 2:05 into the third period when Scurfield scored on the power play off an assist from Thoren. The Vikings finished 1-for-3 on the power play.

Ian Perrier stopped 42 shots for Northland (6-9-3, 5-6-2) and took the loss.

The team wrap up the weekend series on Saturday afternoon. 

Box score

Stevens’ record-setting run paces Vikings at UW-Oshkosh Open

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Sam Stevens broke the Lawrence University record in the 3,000 meters on his way winning the event at the UW-Oshkosh Open on Friday at Kolf Sports Center.

Stevens won the event in 8:50.83, which broke the school record that had stood since 1996. Stevens broke the record of Lawrence Hall of Famer Scott Sprtel, who set the mark of 8:53.58. Kyle Dockery finished second in the event for the Vikings with a time of 8:58.16.

The other winner for the Vikings was Emily Muhs, who cruised to victory in the 5,000 meters. Muhs won the event with a time of 19:17.55, more than 90 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Mallory Koula posted top-four finishes in a pair of events for the Vikings. Koula grabbed third in the 200 meters in 28.06 and took third in the 60 meters in 8.46 seconds. Rose Tepper grabbed second in the high jump at 4 feet, 11.50 inches, and Sam Luebke was third in the long jump at 14-3.75. Anna Bolgrien ran to second in the 60 hurdles in 10.09 seconds, and she placed fifth in the 200 and sixth in the 60 meters.

On the men’s side, other top finishers were Tom Coben, who raced to second in the 5,000 in 16:50.43, and Sam Estrem, who grabbed fourth place in the mile.

Results

Inside LU Athletics: Siebert building impressive all-around game

Chris Siebert’s game is like that proverbial box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

The Lawrence University men’s basketball standout could score 25 points one night, hand out double-digit assists another night or lead the team in rebounds or steals another night.

“He’s a guy who has more than one dimension and that’s rare at this level,” Lawrence coach Joel DePagter said of Siebert. “That’s a huge need for a team that wants to do anything.

“There are days where he’s our best shooter. There are days when he’s been our best defender. He did a great job on a kid from Monmouth on a night when he shot the ball terribly. … Those are things that don’t show up in the box score.”

Siebert leads the Vikings in scoring at 17.4 points per game, and that ranks fifth in the Midwest Conference. The 6-foot-2 guard from Baraboo, Wis., also is among the league leaders in a number of other categories.

Siebert is first in free-throw percentage (87.7), fourth in assists (3.9 per game), eighth in steals (1.5 per game), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1), 15th in 3-point shooting (37.9 percent) and 20th in rebounding (4.8 per game).

“I’ve always kind of tried to hone my skills as an all-around player. I used to be way more of a shooter,” Siebert said. “I like to think of myself as an all-around player. I want to be a guy who can defend the other team’s best guys, distribute the ball, get to the rim and shoot it. You don’t want to have a glaring weakness. You want to be solid everywhere.”

Siebert has scored at least 20 points in a game six times in Lawrence’s first 14 games, and he’s done it in three of the last four contests. He also recorded 13 assists, the second-highest game total in school history, against Grinnell College on Jan. 13. Siebert, who enters Wednesday’s games at St. Norbert having made 34 consecutive free throws, also had a double-digit rebounding game with 10 at Illinois College on Dec. 2.

Siebert is the only player on the team to have recorded double-digits in three different categories this season.

“Chris could potentially get close (to a triple-double) every night. He doesn’t need to score 25 points for us to win,” DePagter said.

“Chris is a guy who has all the ability in the world. For him, it’s just a matter of not trying to do too much too often.”

With the dynamic nature of his game, Siebert could certainly be considered for all-conference honors and maybe even a look as the conference Player of the Year. Win, said Siebert, and accolades will come your way.

“Winning is the most important thing. If you team doesn’t make the conference tournament or isn’t in contention to make the conference tournament, you might be overlooked,” Siebert said.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it, but it’s all about winning. If we made the conference tournament and have a good finish here, everything will take care of itself.”

DePagter believes Siebert is already at the level that makes him one of the Midwest Conference’s premier players.

“No matter how we do this year as a team, he should be in the discussion,” DePagter said. “He’s in the top five in so many categories in the league. He should be in that conversation or he hasn’t worked hard enough or I haven’t pushed him hard enough. (Player of the Year) should be his goal. That’s a very attainable goal for him.”

Critical hockey series

The Lawrence hockey team faces a critical series when it comes to positioning for the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. The Vikings go to Northland College this weekend trailing the Lumberjacks by one point in the standings.

Lawrence swept the Lumberjacks in a series in Appleton back in November, and the Vikings have an impressive recent record against Northland. Lawrence has won six straight and 32 of the last 35 against Northland, which is dramatically improved over the past three seasons.

Voice of the Vikings too

Legendary Wisconsin broadcaster Jim Irwin passed away on Sunday at age 77 after a battle with metastatic cancer. While Irwin was known as the voice of Green Bay Packers football, he also broadcast Lawrence football in the mid-1960s.

Irwin began broadcasting Packers football in 1969 and did so until retiring after calling Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. Irwin, who also called University of Wisconsin football for 22 years and Milwaukee Bucks basketball for 16 years, took a job as the sports director at WLUK-TV in Green Bay in 1964.

During his time in Green Bay, Irwin called Lawrence football games on an Appleton radio station, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Beloit trims sports

Beloit College announced this week that it would be dropping men’s tennis and men’s golf due to a lack of participation. Men’s tennis is done effective immediately, and men’s golf will end after the spring season is completed in May.

The Bucs have had trouble fielding full teams in those sports in recent years. Beloit hasn’t won a Midwest Conference title in men’s tennis since 1951 and hasn’t won a title in men’s golf since 1962.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director 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.