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Sheridan, Thoren pick up MCHA weekly honors

Lawrence University hockey standouts Jon Sheridan and William Thoren have earned Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association weekly awards.

Sheridan (Midland, Mich.) was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Week and Thoren (Gothenburg, Sweden) was named the Freshman of the Week.

Sheridan, a senior defenseman, recorded two assists in Lawrence’s 5-0 shutout of Northland College last Friday. Sheridan then broke a 2-2 tie in the third period on Saturday with a power-play goal that proved to be the game winner in Lawrence’s 4-2 victory.

Sheridan was a plus-four on the weekend and was on the ice for six of Lawrence’s nine goals. Sheridan now has three goals and six assists for nine points this season.

Thoren, a freshman defenseman, was a key performer in Lawrence’s shutout win over the Lumberjacks last Friday. He picked up a pair of assists in Friday’s victory and had another assist in Saturday’s win.

Thoren, who has three goals and is tied for the team lead with 13 assists this season, was a plus-three on the weekend.

Lawrence returns to action this weekend when it has a home-and-home series with Marian University.

Tepper breaks school record in high jump; qualifies for NCAA Championships

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Lawrence University track and field standout Rose Tepper broke the school indoor record in the high jump on Saturday at the UW-Stevens Point Pointer Invitational.

Tepper won the event with a jump of 5 feet, 5.75 inches. That tops the record of 5-5.25 set by All-American Madeline Steininger in 2010.

Tepper also secured a provisional qualifying spot for the NCAA Division III Championships next month.

The Lawrence men were paced by Sam Stevens, who placed sixth in the mile run.

Results 

Vikings pull away from Northland in third period

Lawrence University scored a pair of third-period goals and pulled away for a 4-2 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Northland College on Saturday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Lawrence, which clinched a spot in the MCHA playoffs on Friday, swept the weekend series. Lawrence posted a 5-0 victory in the series opener.

Jon Sheridan and Jon Bellotti both scored on the power play in the third period for Lawrence (11-9-1, 9-7-0 MCHA), which enjoyed a 43-37 edge in shots. Goaltender Evan Johnson stopped 35 shots to pick up the win.

Lawrence got on top midway through the first period on Sam Johnson’s goal. Matt Hughes followed with a goal at the 14:42 mark to give the Vikings a 2-0 edge.

Chad Moore cut that lead in half when he scored for the Lumberjacks (6-13-2, 5-9-2) at the 16:50 mark of the first. Northland then tied it on Colin Moberly’s power-play goal just 2:14 into the second period.

The Vikings took advantage of a Northland penalty early in the third to take the lead. After David Little was sent off for slashing, Sheridan scored at the 2:56 mark to give the Vikings a 3-2 edge.

The Lumberjacks were whistled for a major penalty at the 10:47 mark, and Bellotti picked up a power-play goal 3:15 later to put the Vikings up 4-2.

Northland pulled goaltender Daniel McIntosh for nearly two minutes late in the game but couldn’t put a dent in Lawrence’s lead. McIntosh stopped 39 shots and took the loss.

Lawrence returns to action next weekend when it takes on Marian University.

Box score

Lawrence men hang on to down Foresters

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Tyler Crisman scored 23 points to lead the Lawrence University men’s basketball team to a 49-45 Midwest Conference victory over Lake Forest College on Friday night.

The Vikings (10-9, 9-5 MWC) saw a big first-half lead evaporate, but Lake Forest missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute.

Travis Clark posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Lake Forest (8-10, 6-7). Lawrence’s Jon Mays matched Clark with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Lawrence jumped out to a big early lead thanks to an 11-0 run, which was capped by Erik Borresen’s 3-pointer. That gave the Vikings a 14-2 edge with 13:50 left in the first half.

Lawrence would build that lead to as many as 19 points in the first half and led 29-12 at the half. Lawrence shot a respectable 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) in the first half against Lake Forest’s tough defense.

The Vikings went stone cold after the break and shot 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) from the floor in the final 20 minutes, and that allowed the Foresters to rally.

Lake Forest went on a 15-1 run to open the second half and trimmed Lawrence’s lead to 30-27 with 15:25 left. Lawrence regrouped after Mays hit a jumper and Crisman buried a 3-pointer to push the lead back to eight points.

Lake Forest managed to cut the lead to two points on two occasions, but the Vikings hung on. Crisman made a pair of free throws with 2:55 left to put the Vikings up 48-44.

A free throw from Clark cut the lead to 48-45 with 1:24 left, and an offensive foul on Crisman gave Lake Forest the ball back with 56 seconds left.

Lake Forest then missed a 3-pointer and another jumper before Borresen grabbed the rebound. Chris Siebert was fouled with 17 seconds left and made one free throw to seal the victory.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Illinois College.

Box score

Lawrence skaters blank Lumberjacks

The Lawrence University hockey team posted its first shutout of the season Friday night with a 5-0 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association win over Northland College at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

The Vikings ripped off four goals in the final period to seal the victory, which clinched a MCHA playoff berth for Lawrence.

Senior goaltender Evan Johnson stopped 21 shots to pick up his ninth career shutout, adding to his school record. It was the first shutout for Johnson and the Vikings since a 4-0 win over Concordia (Wis.) University on Feb. 20, 2009.

Lawrence (10-9-1, 8-7-0 MCHA) took the lead early in the second period when Josh DeSmit scored off passes from Jon Sheridan and Johnson.

The Vikings, who outshot Northland 59-21, didn’t add to that lead until 17 seconds into the third period. Matt Hughes scored just seconds before a Northland penalty elapsed to give the Vikings a 2-0 edge.

Ben DiMarco made it 3-0 at the 6:02 mark when he scored off passes from Jesse Byam-Katzman and Nate Scurfield. Scurfield then assisted on Sam Johnson’s goal just 2:26 later to make it 4-0.

The Vikings then added a goal from freshman Huck Saunders at the 16:15 mark to complete the scoring.

Daniel McIntosh stopped 54 shots but took the loss for Northland (6-12-2, 5-8-2).

The teams wrap up the two-game series on Saturday afternoon.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Crisman, Siebert give Vikings multi-faceted backcourt

Labeling Tyler Crisman and Chris Siebert is tougher than a 99-cent steak.

When you watch the Lawrence University men’s basketball team, you think Crisman is the point guard, right? He’s the smaller guy bringing the ball up the court and calling out plays so he must be the point guard.

And Siebert is the taller guy out on the wing so he must be the shooting guard, right?

Well, you would be right on both counts and wrong on both counts because these guys defy easy categorization.

“With the way we play, and if you play true motion basketball, every position is interchangeable,” Lawrence coach Joel DePagter said.

“Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and that’s how you build a good motion team, you figure out everyone’s strengths.”

It turns out both Crisman and Siebert are multi-talented players who slip in and out of both roles in the backcourt.

“Really, their stats should be the opposite,” DePagter said with a chuckle.

While Crisman would appear to be the point guard, he’s more of a shooter. Among the national leaders in 3-point shooting, the junior from Frankfort, Ill., scored a career-high 29 points at Ripon College on Tuesday to push his scoring average to 14.7 per game.

“Crisman has a toughness and a grit about him, and he’s extremely confident,” DePagter said. “He doesn’t think he’s going to miss a shot.”

Crisman is shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, including 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. Crisman also is averaging 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds per contest.

Siebert, a freshman from Baraboo, has the look of a shooting guard or someone who can slash to the basket, but he isn’t the type of guy who shoots first and looks for the pass later.

“Chris is one of those guys who makes the best playmakers,” DePagter said. “Chris makes plays, and that doesn’t always mean for yourself. He can do things that you can’t coach, and that makes my job a lot easier.”

Siebert, who was ill and limited to only 17 minutes against Ripon, is averaging a team-high 4.9 assists per game. He’s on pace to have one of the top-five assist seasons in Lawrence history.

Siebert also is averaging 11.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.

“Chris is a guy who should go into every game with a triple-double on his mind,” DePagter said. “He can score 10 points and get close to 10 assists and 10 rebounds in every game.”

Siebert, who is the only freshman other than All-American Chris Braier to start for the Vikings in the last decade, came to Lawrence from Loras College where he took a medical redshirt in 2009-10.

“Chris has the ability to be great. The challenge for Chris is to improve,” DePagter said. “The challenge for Chris is not to have a good freshman year but to have great sophomore, junior and senior years.”

With standouts Jon Mays and Erik Borresen both in their senior seasons, it will be up to Siebert and Crisman to run the show for the Vikings next season.

“Both Chris and Tyler have something, what ever that thing is, they both have that natural leadership ability,” DePagter said.

“Their job is to do whatever it takes next year to get this team back to where we were a couple of years ago.”

Mays shoots down MWC honor

Senior guard Jon Mays was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week after a career game against Carroll University.

Mays scored a career-high 38 points in Lawrence’s 85-65 win over Carroll this past Saturday. For the two games last week, Mays averaged 26 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 69.2 percent (18-26) from the floor, including 58.3 percent (7-12) from beyond the arc.

In the win over Carroll, Mays hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range. He also grabbed eight rebounds and picked up one steal and one assist.

The 38 points matches the most scored by a Lawrence player against an opponent other than Grinnell College since Pete Hachmeister had 45 against Silver Lake College in 1975.

Weekend hockey showdown

It’s a big weekend series for the Lawrence hockey team with the Vikings hosting Northland College.

With six regular-season games left, the Vikings lead the Lumberjacks by two points in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association standings entering this weekend’s play.

The good news for the Vikings is they have won 27 of the last 29 games against Northland. The Lumberjacks have reason to be optimistic as well because the teams split the series at Northland earlier in the season.

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.

Vikings rally but fall at Ripon

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to take the lead only to see Ripon College come back and snatch an 84-80 Midwest Conference victory at the Storzer Center on Wednesday.

Tyler Crisman poured in a career-high 29 points for the Vikings (9-9, 8-5 MWC). Jon Mays added 23 points, and Erik Borresen had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Scott Gillespie had a double-double for Ripon (11-7, 9-4) with 16 points and 14 assists.

Lawrence was down 18 at 59-41 on Alex Tomsheck’s jumper with 15:28 left in the game. The Vikings then scored the next eight points on a jumper by Mays and back-to-back 3-pointers by Crisman to cut the lead to 59-49 with 13:47 left.

Crisman hit 11 of 16 shots from the floor, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.

After Nic Schaalma countered with a basket for Ripon, Lawrence scored nine consecutive points, capped by Crisman’s layup, to cut the margin to 61-58 with 11:00 left.

Ripon stretched the lead back to 65-58, but the Vikings chipped away and tied the game at 75-75 on a Borresen free throw with 2:39 left.

After Gillespie missed a jumper, Borresen hit a short jumper to give Lawrence a 77-75 lead with 1:38 left.

Taylor Koth was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 77-77 with 1:19 remaining. Mays went to the basket for Lawrence, but his layup was off the mark after contact with a Ripon player.

Ripon grabbed the rebound and Koth scored and was fouled on the other end to put Ripon up 80-77 after he converted the three-point play.

Crisman then missed an off-balance 3-pointer with 11 seconds left that would have tied it. Aris Wurtz grabbed the rebound for Ripon and converted both free throws to seal the win.

Box score

Mays’ career game earns him MWC Player of the Week honors

Lawrence University men’s basketball star Jon Mays has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.

Mays (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) earned the honor after scoring a career-high 38 points in Lawrence’s 85-65 victory over Carroll University this past Saturday.

For the two games last week, the senior guard averaged 26 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 69.2 percent (18-26) from the floor, including 58.3 percent (7-12) from 3-point range.

In the win over Carroll, Mays hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range. He also grabbed eight rebounds and had one steal and one assist. The 38 points topped Mays’ previous career best of 27 points, which he set against Monmouth on Jan. 15.

It also is the most points scored by a Lawrence player against an opponent other than Grinnell College since Pete Hachmeister had 45 against Silver Lake College in 1975.

Mays also scored a team-high 14 points in Lawrence’s 73-52 loss to St. Norbert earlier in the week.

Lawrence (9-8, 8-4 MWC) returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Ripon College.