JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — The Illinois College women’s soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals on Saturday to top Lawrence University 2-0 in a Midwest Conference match.
The Lady Blues (4-3-1, 1-0-0 MWC) scored just 32 seconds into the second half on Ally Kjellander’s goal. Illinois College finished the scoring on Ellen Radcliffe’s goal in the 62nd minute.
Cat Solberg made four saves to pick up the shutout.
DE PERE, Wis. — Katie Vanden Avond scored three goals and assisted on the other as the St. Norbert College women’s soccer team downed Lawrence University 4-0 on Sunday in a Midwest Conference match at Schneider Stadium.
St. Norbert (4-1-1, 1-0-0 MWC) scored all four of its goals in the first half as Vanden Avond scored in the 10th, 31st and 41st minutes.
Sarah Platzer and Maddie Plinska combined on the shutout for the Green Knights. Dani Glass made eight saves for Lawrence (1-3-0, 0-1-0).
APPLETON, Wis. — The Elmhurst College women’s soccer team scored early and pulled away with a pair of late goals for a 3-0 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Wednesday at Whiting Field West.
The Bluejays (3-2-0) scored in the sixth minute and then added goals in the 72nd minute and 85th minute to seal the win. Shelby Sonte, Kristie Waugh and Jordin Clark all scored for Elmhurst, and Jackie Belmonte added two assists.
Elmhurst piled up a 31-4 edge in shots, and Emily Gordon had to make just one save to record the shutout. Dani Glass stopped 12 shots for the Vikings (1-2-0).
APPLETON, Wis. — Keli Muchowski converted a penalty kick with less than five minutes remaining to lift the Lawrence University women’s soccer team to a 3-2 nonconference victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University on Sunday at Whiting Field West.
Muchowski scored a pair of goals on penalty kicks for Lawrence (1-1-0), and Amber Johnson scored twice for Nebraska Wesleyan (2-1-1).
The game-winning goal came as a result of a great run by freshman Casey Merkle. Merkle was streaking toward the goal when she was taken down in the penalty box. Muchowski then beat goalkeeper Madi Francis with the penalty kick with just 4:39 remaining to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.
Nebraska Wesleyan grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Johnson scored in the fourth minute. Lawrence bounced right back when Merkle scored off an assist from Anne Leung at the 6:21 mark to tie the game at 1-1.
Muchowski gave Lawrence a 2-1 lead at the 36:35 mark. Muchowski got off a shot that hit the post, and as she was leaping over Francis, she was upended by the Nebraska Wesleyan goalkeeper. Muchowski was awarded a penalty kick and converted for her first goal of the contest.
The Prairie Wolves came out strong in the second half and finally evened the score at 2-2 on Johnson’s goal at the 68:35 mark.
Dani Glass made seven saves in goal for Lawrence to get the win. Francis stopped four shots for Nebraska Wesleyan.
DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Dubuque University women’s soccer team broke a 1-1 tie 10 minutes into the second half and rolled to a 7-1 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Friday.
Lawrence’s Kirstin Edwards scored off a pass from Keli Muchowski just 1:04 into the second half to tie the game at 1-1. The score remained that way until Megan Siepler scored two goals in a 10-second span at 54:26 and 54:36 to give Dubuque control of the game.
Dubuque added four more goals in the final 22 minutes to pull away. Alexandra Watkins scored a hat trick for Dubuque.
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.
The Lawrence University Department of Athletics is proud to announce an exciting plan, just approved by the Board of Trustees, to take Vikings athletics to the next level.
The first phase of the plan is a campaign to raise $5 million to renovate the Banta Bowl. Lawrence University Trustee David Blowers ’82, a standout football players and captain of the Vikings during his senior year, will chair the effort.
The Banta Bowl has served Lawrence University student-athletes for nearly 50 years, and the time has come for this legendary venue to receive a dramatic makeover. Currently the home of the Lawrence football team, when renovations are complete, football and men’s and women’s soccer will share the stadium.
The renovations begin with raising the level of the playing field to make it wide enough for a regulation NCAA-sized soccer field. The playing surface will be replaced with a synthetic surface, which will diversify and increase the amount of usage for the stadium. Banta Bowl fans will benefit from new seating as the original fiberglass bleachers will be replaced.
Fans entering the Banta Bowl will do so through an inviting plaza on the north end of the stadium. The current buildings on that end of the stadium will be razed and replaced with new structures. The centerpiece of the new construction will be locker room space for the Vikings. In addition, a new visitors’ locker room will be built, along with spaces for officials, concessions, ticket sales and storage. The parking lot will also be refurbished. New lighting and a new LED scoreboard will also be added.
The last major piece to the Banta Bowl renovation is expansion of the press box to give the coaching staff of both teams an indoor space from which to watch the game from the stadium rim. With all Lawrence football games (and soccer games once that sport moves into the Banta Bowl) being webcast, the new press box would allow for more effective game broadcasts.
When phase I is complete, Lawrence will turn its attention to other Vikings needs, including, perhaps, renovations to Alexander Gym – and even an ice rink.
“With its support of this fund-raising project, the Lawrence Board of Trustees is ensuring that the future of Vikings athletics – football, soccer and all varsity programs, has never been brighter,” said Mike Szkodzinski, director of athletics and head hockey coach. “This project will help us attract the best scholar-athletes and also further connect Lawrence to the Appleton community.”
The Lawrence University soccer teams have again been honored for academic excellence by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Both Lawrence teams have received the Team Academic Award for having a cumulative grade point average higher than 3.0.
The Lawrence women, coached by Lisa Sammons, posted a 3.35 grade point average during the 2011-12 academic year. The Lawrence men, led by long-time coach Blake Johnson, had a 3.16 grade point average.
This marks the eighth consecutive year that both Lawrence teams have earned the award. This is the 11th time since 2000 that the Lawrence women captured the award and it is the 10th time for the Lawrence men during the same period.
The Lawrence men finished the 2012 season with an 8-8-1 record and took sixth place in the Midwest Conference. The Lawrence women had a 4-13 mark and took ninth place in the league.
Lawrence University forward Keli Muchowski has been named to the All-Midwest Conference women’s soccer team.
Muchowski (Neenah, Wis./Neenah), a sophomore forward, was a second-team selection. Muchowski tied for the team lead with four goals and picked up a pair of assists for 10 points on the season.
The Vikings won every game in which Muchowski scored. She scored a pair of goals in Lawrence’s 3-0 victory over Illinois College, picked up a goal in a 2-1 victory over St. Mary’s (Minn.) University and scored a goal in Lawrence’s 4-1 win over Knox College.
The Vikings finished with a 4-13-0 overall record and were 3-7-0 in Midwest Conference play.
Lawrence University women’s soccer standout Cassie Burke has been named the Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Burke (Golden Valley, Minn./Hopkins), a senior goalkeeper, earned the honor for the second time this season after turning a superlative weekend in net.
Burke made eight saves in a 3-0 win over Beloit College this past Saturday to post her second shutout of the season. She also made 10 saves, including several of the spectacular variety, in Lawrence’s 1-0 loss to St. Norbert College on Sunday.
For the two matches, Burke had a .947 save percentage and 0.50 goals against average.
Burke also was named the conference Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17.
