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Lawrence battles to 1-1 overtime tie with MSOE

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s soccer team battled to a 1-1 double-overtime tie with the Milwaukee School of Engineering in a nonconference game on Wednesday.

Lawrence (1-1-1) got on the board first courtesy of hustle play by forward Erich Lohrmann. He scrambled to get to a poor goal kick by MSOE keeper Garrett Farin and took the ball back toward the goal. Lohrmann was tripped up in the penalty box, and the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick. Dan O’Mahoney converted for the Vikings at the 61:27 mark for a 1-0 lead.

MSOE tied the game at 1-1 when Logan Andryk scored off a pass from Alex Spasic at the 71:26 mark.

Both teams had chances later in regulation and overtime but that was it for the scoring. The Vikings had one ball hit off the post and another off the crossbar.

Joe Krivit made nine saves for the Vikings, and Farin stopped six shots for the Raiders (1-0-2).

Box score

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.

Laursen takes MWC Performer of the Week honors

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University 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.

Lawrence returns to action on Sept. 14 when it travels to the Concordia (Wis.) University Falcon Invitational.

Lawrence shuts out Wisconsin Lutheran; Francour picks up first win

WAUWATOSA, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team shut out Wisconsin Lutheran College 9-0 in a nonconference match on Monday at Hart Park.

It also marked the first win for new Lawrence head coach Steve Francour.

Lawrence (1-1) rolled through the doubles competition, dropping only six games total in the three matches. Hannah Geoffrey and Ali Heiring won at No. 1, with Gayatri Malhotra and Polly Dalton winning at No. 2 and Cathryn Wood and Elana Lambert winning at No. 3. It was the first collegiate wins for Wood and Lambert, both first-year players.

In the singles play, all six Lawrence players won in straight sets, and two of them didn’t drop a game. Elena Watson at No. 3 and Brenna Decker at No. 6 both posted 6-0, 6-0 victories.

Lawrence University 9, Wisconsin Lutheran College 0

 Singles competition
1. Gayatri Malhotra (LU) def. Bonnin, Kendall (WLC) 6-4, 6-1
2. Polly Dalton (LU) def. Krause, Petra (WLC) 6-3, 6-1
3. Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Geddes, Kalyn (WLC) 6-2, 6-3
4. Elena Watson (LU) def. Harbach, Susanna (WLC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Allison Juda (LU) def. Soderlund, Bethany (WLC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Brenna Decker (LU) def. Leistekow, Emily (WLC) 6-0, 6-0

 Doubles competition
1. Hannah Geoffrey/Ali Heiring (LU) def. Bonnin, Kendall/Geddes, Kalyn (WLC) 8-2
2. Gayatri Malhotra/Polly Dalton (LU) def. Krause, Petra/Harbach, Susanna (WLC) 8-3
3. Cathryn Wood/Elana Lambert (LU) def. Soderlund, Bethany/Leistekow, Emily (WLC) 8-1

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 1-1
Wisconsin Lutheran College 0-2
T-3:00  A-25

Lawrence shuts out George Fox in season opener

NEWBERG, Ore. — The Lawrence University men’s soccer team scored early and late to post a 2-0 nonconference win over George Fox University Friday night.

Lawrence got on the board in the third minute when senior forward Cameron Pieper scored just 2:09 into the match. The Vikings held onto that slim advantage until the 84th minute when Erik Soderlund scored off a pass from Dan O’Mahoney to give Lawrence a 2-0 lead.

It was the first career goal for Soderlund, a junior playing his first season of soccer for the Vikings. Soderlund also is a hockey standout for Lawrence.

Freshman goalkeeper Joe Krivit picked up a shutout in this first collegiate match for Lawrence. Krivit made nine saves for the Vikings. Ricardo Sotelo made the start, played the first half, and took the loss for the Bruins.

Vikings take down Wheaton

WHITEWATER, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team won the final three sets Friday night to defeat Wheaton College 3-1 at the UW-Whitewater Invitational.

Lawrence defeated the Thunder 19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-17.

Megan Conley pounded out 14 kills and Terese Swords and Betsy Sorensen added eight kills apiece for the Vikings, who hit .264 as a team. Diane McLeod piled up 32 assists and Kathleen Rowland had a team-high 11 digs for Lawrence.

Vikings hang in there against Costa Rica U20 national team

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The Lawrence University women’s soccer team battled hard but fell 4-0 on Thursday to the Costa Rica U20 national team.

The Vikings are in Costa Rica to play a pair of exhibition games before returning to the United States for the start of the regular season.

The game looked like it would go to the half as a scoreless tie, but the Costa Ricans scored on a set piece with less than 30 seconds to play in the opening half. The Costa Ricans added three more goals in the second half to pull away.

“We looked good and then they just wore us down,” Lawrence coach Lisa Sammons said.

Lawrence freshman midfielder Casey Merkle was given game Most Valuable Player honors by the Costa Rican national team coach.

Costa Rica U-20 game 012

Harris named to All-America baseball team

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University baseball standout Davide Harris has been named to Jewish Sports Review All-America baseball team.

Davide Harris
Davide Harris

Harris (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township), a senior outfielder, was a first-team selection on a squad that encompassed players from NCAA Division II and III and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Harris was the lone player from a Wisconsin college to be named to the team.

Harris, who finished in the top 20 in the Midwest Conference in batting average, hit a team-high .341 on the season and also posted a team-best .449 on-base percentage. Batting from the lead-off position, Harris had seven doubles, one triple, 22 runs scored and 15 runs batted in.

Harris was one of the Midwest Conference’s most feared base runners as he swiped 24 bases in 25 attempts this season. Harris’ 24 steals in 2013 was the third-highest season total in school history. Harris finished his career with a Lawrence record 64 stolen bases.

For his career, Harris hit .311 with 51 RBI, and his name is all over the Lawrence record book. A four-year starter, Harris ranks third with 441 at-bats, third with 70 walks, fourth with 89 runs scored, fifth with 137 hits and ninth with 21 doubles.

Lawrence student-athletes named to Academic All-Midwest Conference team

APPLETON, Wis. — More than 100 Lawrence University student-athletes have been chosen for the Academic All-Midwest Conference team.

Lawrence had 133 student-athletes earn the academic all-conference honor, which is given after having a grade point average of 3.33 during that academic year.

The Lawrence women’s swimming and diving team had the largest numbers of honorees with 12. Women’s tennis and women’s indoor track both had 11 and volleyball and women’s outdoor track both had 10.

Complete list

Francour to lead Lawrence tennis programs

APPLETON, Wis. — Steve Francour has been named the new men’s and women’s tennis coach at Lawrence University,

Steve Francour

Director of Athletics Mike Szkodzinski announced Tuesday.

Francour comes to Lawrence from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he has been the men’s and women’s tennis coach for 23 seasons.

“We are tremendously excited to announce the hiring of Steve,” Szkodzinski said. “During the interview process and after speaking with a number of people who know Steve well, it was clear that Steve would be the right person to lead our men’s and women’s tennis programs. His vast experience will benefit not only our scholar-athletes, but our staff as well. We look forward to watching Steve lead us toward a Midwest Conference title in the near future.”

A native of South Milwaukee, Wis., Francour brings experience and nearly 400 dual match victories to Lawrence.

“Fate had a bit of a hand in leading me to this new opportunity,” Francour said. “The timing is just right with respect to my career, and I am very much looking forward to refreshing the challenge of building a successful program. I am grateful to the Lawrence administration and the athletic department for giving me the chance.

“I’m very excited to meet the women’s team and get started with our season. I’m confident this first group will help me get off in a positive direction, and I know we will both be learning what it takes for Lawrence to succeed.”

During his 23 seasons at UW-Oshkosh, Francour’s men’s teams posted a 240-239 record. Despite the fact that the UW-Oshkosh men’s program competed as an independent, Francour guided the Titans to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 1996, 1997 and 2001.

UW-Oshkosh posted double-digit victories 14 times under Francour, including 10 consecutive winning seasons from 1994-2003. Francour also had 30 of his players selected for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team.

On the women’s side, Francour has a record of 156-150 in 23 seasons. Francour has guided the Titans to three runner-up finishes and two third places in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He received the league’s Coach of the Year honor in 2011 after UW-Oshkosh compiled a 9-8 record.

Francour’s 2000 team set the UW-Oshkosh season record with 14 wins, and Jennifer Pekulik represented the Titans at the NCAA Division III Championships after going 16-3 at No. 1 singles. Francour has coached seven conference singles champions, four doubles champions and three WIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners. The Titans also have had 35 players named to the ITA All-Academic Team.

“I completed my undergraduate degree at UW-Oshkosh in 1988 and was part of the tennis program all four years. After graduate school at Baylor University, I was fortunate to be considered for the head coaching position at my alma mater,” Francour said. “Twenty-three years later, I can say it has been quite the honor to have developed great relationships with my colleagues and student-athletes. I leave UW-Oshkosh with countless fond memories and friendships that will hopefully continue into my new chapter at Lawrence.”

Francour earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from UW-Oshkosh in 1988 and his master’s degree in sports administration from Baylor University in 1989.

Francour has been the head tennis professional at the Oshkosh Country Club since 1993 and at the Butte des Morts Country Club since 2008. He also has been the director of tennis at the Oshkosh YMCA Tennis Center since 1998.

Francour is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and was the USTA Specialist in Competitive Player Development during 2002.

Francour and his wife, Patty, have a son, Cade, and live in Oshkosh, Wis.

Francour succeeds Kevin Girard, who coached the Lawrence men’s and women’s teams for six seasons.