The Lawrence University hockey team takes on Finlandia University this weekend in the final series of the regular season. Friday’s game begins at 7 p.m. at the Appleton Family Ice Center, and Saturday’s game is set for 4 p.m. One victory this weekend would clinch home ice for the Vikings in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
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Broadcaster, sportswriter Knapinski receives Wurdinger Award
Dick Knapinski was presented with the Bob Wurdinger Athletic Service Award as part of the Lawrence University basketball senior night celebration on Wednesday.
Knapinski, a Neenah resident, was presented the award by Bob Wurdinger. The award is given each year to someone who has shown great support for Lawrence athletics.
Knapinski has been involved with Lawrence athletics for two decades. He started working with the Vikings in 1990 as part of the football broadcast team for WLFM Radio. As a sportswriter for the Appleton Post-Crescent for nearly 20 years, Knapinski covered hundred of Lawrence events.
Knapinski returned to Lawrence broadcasts in 2009 as serves as the voice of the Vikings for football and men’s and women’s basketball video webcasts.
Knapinski also involved his two sons, Dan and Patrick, in Lawrence football. Both have served as ballboys for the Vikings in recent seasons.
The award was established to honor Wurdinger, a Kaukauna native, and long-time Lawrence assistant football coach. Wurdinger, who has been a tireless advocate for Lawrence athletics for more than four decades, received the first award in 2006.
Other winners of the Wurdinger Award are: Chuck and Cinny Reff, Ken and Carole Ebert, Joe, Clyde and Jeanne Kieffer and Don Strutz.
Ripon rallies in final minutes to edge Lawrence
The Ripon College men’s basketball team rallied in the final two minutes and pulled out a 63-60 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Wednesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.
Scott Gillespie paced Ripon (13-9, 11-6 MWC) with 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Aris Wurtz added 16 points for the Red Hawks.
Erik Borresen led Lawrence (11-11, 10-7) with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Siebert added 12 points and Tyler Crisman had 11 for the Vikings.
Lawrence led 58-54 after Jon Mays’ layup with 2:26 left, but Ripon got a big 3-pointer from Brad Brooks to trim the lead to 58-57 with 2:11 remaining.
After a miss by the Vikings, Gillespie was fouled and converted both free throws with 1:35 left to give Ripon a 59-58 lead.
Siebert countered for Lawrence and hit a jumper with 1:21 left to put the Vikings up 60-59. Wurtz answered for Ripon by hitting a short jumper with 1:05 remaining to give Ripon a 61-60 edge.
The Vikings then turned the ball over, and Lawrence was forced to foul Gillespie with 14 seconds left. He made both free throws to give Ripon a 63-60 lead.
Mays attempted a 3-pointer with five seconds left, but it was off the mark. Ripon grabbed the rebound and were able to dribble out the remaining few seconds.
Lawrence men face Ripon in final home game of season
The Lawrence University men’s basketball team takes on Ripon College on Wednesday at Alexander Gymnasium in a key Midwest Conference game. The final home game of the season has implications for both the Vikings and Red Hawks in terms of who will make the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament later this month. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Crisman picks up MWC Player of the Week award
Lawrence University men’s basketball standout Tyler Crisman has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.
Crisman (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) earned the honor after pouring in a career-high 30 points in Lawrence’s 72-64 victory at Beloit College this past Saturday.
A junior guard, Crisman was 10-for-17 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the foul line against the Bucs. The 30 points topped his previous career high of 29, which he set against Ripon College earlier this month. Crisman also picked up three rebounds and three against Beloit.
The victory was critical for the Vikings and moved Lawrence into a four-way tie for second place in the Midwest Conference at 10-6.
Crisman, who was honored as the Player of the Week for the first time in his career, improved his scoring average to 15.9 points per game. He is shooting 47.3 percent from the floor, including 44.4 percent from 3-point range.
Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Ripon at Alexander Gymnasium.
Sabres down Lawrence to win Battle of Highway 41
Marian University scored three goals in a span of four minutes in the first period to take control and went on to a 6-3 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University on Saturday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
The game was part of the second annual Battle of Highway 41, which was won by Marian for the second consecutive year.
Lawrence (11-11-1, 9-9-0 MCHA) scored first on Vince Vacketta’s first career goal at 7:03 of the first.
The Sabres (17-6-0, 14-4-0) tied the game on Tommy Fitzpatrick’s goal at the 9:42 mark. Marian grabbed a 2-1 lead just 19 seconds later when Tanner Burton scored his first goal of the season. The Sabres made it 3-1 when Matt Williams scored on the power play at 13:42.
The Sabres took a 4-1 lead into the first intermission when Brendan Roberts scored at 18:01. Marian quickly made it 5-1 on Brendan Hull’s goal just 42 seconds into the second period.
Lawrence trimmed the lead to 5-2 late in the second period when Nate Scurfield scored his first career goal, a power-play tally.
William Thoren gave the Vikings some life when he scored on the power play at 7:16 of the third to cut the lead to 5-3. That didn’t last long because Williams scored just 26 seconds later to stretch the lead to 6-3.
Alex Bjerk made 22 saves to pick up the win for the Sabres. Michael Baldino made the start for Lawrence and allowed four first-period goals. Kevin Aslett, seeing his first action for Lawrence, stopped 34 of 36 shots in the final two periods.
Vikings rally to topple Beloit
BELOIT, Wis. — Tyler Crisman poured in 30 points and Erik Borresen had a double-double to rally the Lawrence University men’s basketball team to a 72-64 Midwest Conference victory over Beloit College on Saturday at Flood Arena.
Lawrence (11-10, 10-6 MWC) rallied from a six-point deficit midway through the second half to sweep the season series from Beloit (9-12, 8-8). The win moved Lawrence into a four-way tie for second place in the conference and all but eliminated the Bucs from any chance of making the MWC Tournament.
Crisman’s 30-point game was a career high, eclipsing the 29-point night he had at Ripon College last week. The junior guard hit on 10-of-17 shots from the floor and was 7-for-8 from the foul line. Borresen added 17 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Vikings.
David Bremner paced the Bucs with 16 points.
Lawrence trailed 51-45 with before Jon Mays buried a 3-pointer with 9:58 left in the game to kick off a 20-6 scoring run. Mays hit another 3-pointer with 7:46 left that tied the game at 53-53.
Crisman followed with a jumper and Chris Siebert had a layup that gave Lawrence the lead for good at 57-53 with 6:20 left.
The teams traded baskets before the Vikings got a hoop from Borresen and a pair of free throws from Crisman to go ahead 65-57 with 1:42 remaining.
Michael Horton trimmed the lead to 65-60 on a 3-pointer, but the Bucs were then forced to foul. Lawrence went 7-for-10 from the foul line in the final 1:29 to seal the victory.
The Vikings return to Alexander Gymnasium on Wednesday for their final home game of the season. The Vikings host Ripon in another key MWC contest.
Lawrence men face critical game Saturday at Beloit
The Lawrence University men’s basketball team continues its battle for a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament when it travels to Beloit College on Saturday. Lawrence is tied for fourth place heading into the game, and the Bucs only trail the Vikings by one game in the standings. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Flood Arena.
Inside LU Athletics: Tepper takes her game to a higher level
The record was nice. Qualifying for nationals was a definite bonus. But Rose Tepper had something else on her mind.
“We knew it was her best jump ever, but Rose’s first question was, ‘Did I beat that girl from Northern Michigan?’ ” Lawrence University track and field coach Jason Fast said.
Tepper jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches (1.67 meters), at last Saturday’s UW-Stevens Point Invitational and tied Northern Michigan’s Bailey Franklin for first place. The jump broke Lawrence’s school record of 5-5.25 and made Tepper a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships in March at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
“More than just the fact that she’s succeeding, Rose brings a great attitude to every competition. She just hates to lose,” Fast said.
“She brings a great competitive aspect to our team that hasn’t been seen in a while. It’s nice to see that and be able to build around that since she’s only a sophomore.”
A native of Mount Vernon, Iowa, Tepper won the high jump at the Midwest Conference Championships during the 2010 outdoor season, but a trip to the NCAA Championships eluded Tepper during her rookie campaign.
“Qualifying for nationals was the main goal (for this season),” Tepper said. “I actually didn’t realize that I was breaking the record until after I jumped.”
Tepper nearly became an automatic qualifier for the NCAA meet but narrowly missed clearing 1.72 meters (5-7.75) last Saturday.
“She was born to jump,” Fast said of Tepper. “She has steadily been improving as we’ve been able to work with her more and get her more involved with the weight room. That’s one of the biggest changes we’ve made this year. Getting her stronger is already paying dividends.”
Tepper said working with assistant coach Lyndsey Thoma, a national qualifier herself during her days at UW-Oshkosh, has paid big dividends.
“I do feel like coach Thoma has definitely been working on some key things in my approach and that has affected how I’ve been jumping,” Tepper said.
“What I have been working on is getting my last three steps shorter to get my power up. When I shorten those last steps, I’m pounding into the ground to get my momentum up and over.”
And Fast believes Tepper has the physical ability and mental makeup to get up and over even greater heights.
“I have no doubt that she can go higher. It’s just a matter of her getting the opportunity. This is a huge barrier out of the way. She talked about how nervous she was clearing 1.67 and now that’s out of the way,” Fast said.
Tepper currently is tied for the eighth-highest jump in the nation, and Fast said that 1.67 meters has always been good enough to reach the NCAA meet. Getting Tepper to the national stage is an exciting prospect, according to Fast.
“Rose has shown the propensity, in her short career, to jump well at big meets,” Fast said.
Sheridan, Thoren honored
Lawrence standouts Jon Sheridan and William Thoren have earned Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association weekly awards.
Sheridan was named the Defensive Player of the Week and Thoren was chosen as the Freshman of the Week.
Sheridan, a senior defenseman, recorded two assists in Lawrence’s 5-0 win over Northland last Friday and then scored the game-winning goal in a 4-2 victory over the Lumberjacks on Saturday. Sheridan was a plus-four on the weekend.
Thoren, a freshman defenseman, had a pair of assists in the shutout win and another assist in Saturday’s victory. He was a plus-three on the weekend.
Battle of Highway 41 this weekend
The Lawrence and Marian hockey teams play in the Battle of Highway 41 this weekend.
Friday’s game is at Marian and Saturday’s game is at the Appleton Family Ice Center. The winner of the series receives the prodigious Battle of Highway 41 trophy.
Should the teams split the two games, a shootout to determine the winner will take place immediately following Saturday’s game.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly 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.
Tepper’s record-setting performance nets MWC award
Lawrence University standout Rose Tepper has been named the Midwest Conference Field Performer of the Week.
Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon), a sophomore, won the honor after she broke the Lawrence record in the high jump at the UW-Stevens Point Invitational this past Saturday.
Tepper jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches, to win the event and break the record of 5-5.25, which was set in 2010 by All-American Madeline Steininger.
Tepper also earned a provisional qualifying spot in the NCAA Division III Championships. Her jump of 5-5.75 (1.67 meters) has her tied for the eighth-highest jump in the nation.
The Vikings return to action on Feb. 19 when they travel to the Eastbay Invitational at UW-Stevens Point.