The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Merkle scores four as Vikings rout Maranatha Baptist

APPLETON, Wis. — Casey Merkle scored four goals to lead the Lawrence University women’s soccer team to an 8-1 nonconference rout of Maranatha Baptist University on Tuesday at Whiting Field West.

Merkle, a sophomore midfielder, tallied the third-highest goal total in a match for the Vikings. The record for goals in a match is six by Libby Mullin in 1986.

Eva Tourangeau, a freshman, scored the first two goals of her career, and Keli Muchowski and Ryan Berkley added one goal apiece for the Vikings (2-4-0).

Lawrence owned a 34-2 edge in shots, and Dani Glass made one save for the Vikings.

Maranatha (1-3-1) led 1-0 after Anna Dahl scored off a free kick in the eighth minute. Muchowski tied it for the Vikings off a pass from Anne Leung at the 13:10 mark.

Merkle scored her first goal of the afternoon at 16:23 off  a pass from Genna Matt to give the Vikings the lead for good. Merkle made it 3-1 off a pass from Muchowski at 30:14 and the rout was on.

Ryan Berkley was taken down in the box and scored on a penalty kick to give Lawrence a 4-1 edge at 33:52. Merkle completed the hat trick at 38:52 with an unassisted goal to put the Vikings up 5-1.

Tourangeau scored her first career goal at 63:24 for a 6-1 lead, and Merkle picked up her fourth just 3:04 later for a 7-1 edge. Tourangeau completed the scoring with her second goal of the match at 69:31.

The hat trick was the first for a Lawrence player since Muchowski did it against Knox College on Sept. 22, 2013. The four goals was the most for a Lawrence player since Mallory Koula scored four times against Beloit College on Oct. 15, 2011.

Box score

O’Mahoney earns Special Teams Player of the Week honors

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Patrick O’Mahoney

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Patrick O’Mahoney has been named the Midwest Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

O’Mahoney (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township), a sophomore kicker, earned the honor after tying a Lawrence record in the Vikings 59-0 victory over Maranatha Baptist University this past Saturday.

O’Mahoney went 8-for-8 on extra points to tie the school record for PATs in a game. Kraig Krueger set the record of eight PATs back in 1981 and it was tied by Cody Robel in 2011. O’Mahoney also tied the record of eight PAT attempts held by four others.

This is the first Player of the Week honor for O’Mahoney, who also connected on a 21-yard field goal.

The Vikings have a bye this week and then return to action on Sept. 27 when they travel to Knox College.

Inside LU Athletics: Lawrence Courts get serious makeover

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Lawrence tennis coach Steve Francour stands above the newly renovated Lawrence Courts. The six-court facility is receiving a facelift with new courts, lights, storage facility and seating.

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University tennis teams have been honing their games on the banks of the Fox River for more than 75 years, and thanks to a generous donation, those courts have never looked better.

The Lawrence Courts, located at the bottom of Drew Street hill, underwent a makeover this summer thanks to an anonymous alumni donation.

“The new tennis facility allows Lawrence to provide its men’s and women’s tennis teams with a first-class facility to compete and train,” Lawrence coach Steve Francour said. “Potential student-athletes will also see that they can reach their full potential at Lawrence with an outstanding facility. I would like to thank the donor and Lawrence for making this facility one of the best in the Midwest Conference.”

The six courts, which are located in a picturesque location next to the Fox River, were completely resurfaced with Nova’ProBounce. The new court surface, which is in use at tennis clubs all over the country, is an extremely high quality multi-layer product.

The complex, which received a new windscreen, also has been prepared for the installation of lights. A new storage building is in place, a new retaining wall was built and seating for fans also is on the drawing board.

“The new tennis courts will help give us an opportunity to become an elite program once again,” Director of Athletics Mike Szkodzinski said. “Coach Francour did a tremendous job in his first year with us last year. The new courts will allow him to better attract the best scholar-athletes to our programs. The courts also enhance our ability to interact more frequently with the Appleton community and invite them on campus.

“We are very thankful for the generosity of our alumni who made the courts possible. Without the support of our alumni, we would have a more difficult time reaching our full potential. The support of past Vikings is crucial to our success.”

The Lawrence women’s team gets its first chance to take on an opponent on Wednesday when the Vikings host Ripon College in a Midwest Conference North Division match at 4 p.m.

“The new courts are beautiful,” Lawrence junior Ali Heiring exclaimed. “No better way to kick off a season.”

The Lawrence Courts have been in use by the Vikings since the spring of 1939 and were most recently renovated when the facility was impacted by the construction of Hiett Hall in 2003.

“Having new courts shows the team that we really have the school and athletic department supporting us, which really means a lot,” said senior Allison Juda.

 

Merkle scores twice as Vikings shut out Martin Luther

NEW ULM, Minn. — Casey Merkle scored two goals, including one just 19 seconds into the match, to lead the Lawrence University women’s soccer team to a 4-0 nonconference win at Martin Luther College on Sunday.

Keli Muchowski added a goal and an assists for the Vikings (1-4-0), and Ryan Berkley scored her first career goal.

Merkle gave the Vikings the 1-0 lead just seconds into the match when she scored off an assist from Muchowski. Berkley then scored at the 15:18 mark to put Lawrence up 2-0.

The Vikings struck again at the 21:20 mark when Merkle scored off an assist from Liza Girsova. Lawrence made it 4-0 on Muchowski’s goal at 36:03 to finish the scoring.

Dani Glass made four saves to record the shutout for Lawrence.

Box score

Lake Forest downs Lawrence 6-3

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lake Forest College women’s tennis team topped Lawrence University 6-3 in a Midwest Conference match on Sunday.

Lawrence (4-3, 2-1 MWC) was down 2-1 after the doubles matches. Tess Vogel and Melissa Heeren were 8-0 winners at No. 3 doubles for the Vikings.

It was Vogel and Heeren who also won in singles. Vogel was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 5, and Heeren won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6.

Lake Forest College 6, Lawrence University 3

Singles competition
1. Christi Valicenti (LFC) def. Hannah Geoffrey (LU) 6-2, 6-0
2. Grace Dowling (LFC) def. Katie Frankel (LU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Lexi Chionis (LFC) def. Lyndsey Holsen (LU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Brittany Khayet (LFC) def. Allison Juda (LU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Tess Vogel (LU) def. Emily Rabin (LFC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Zoe Maurer (LFC) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Christi Valicenti/Lexi Chionis (LFC) def. Hannah Geoffrey/Katie Frankel (LU) 8-0
2. Grace Dowling/Brittany Khayet (LFC) def. Lyndsey Holsen/Ali Heiring (LU) 8-1
3. Tess Vogel/Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Emily Rabin/Zoe Maurer (LFC) 8-0

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 4-3, 2-1 MWC
Lake Forest College 5-2, 2-1 MWC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,6,1,3,2,4)

Schrobilgen, Bruning lead Vikings to second at Concordia

MEQUON, Wis. — Erin Schrobilgen and Clare Bruning led the Lawrence University women’s cross country team to a second-place finish on Saturday at the Concordia (Wis.) University Falcon Invitational.

Schrobilgen raced to seventh place, covering the 6,000-meter course in 23:06.0, and Bruning came across the line in 14th place with a time of 23:30.5. Rounding out the scoring for the Vikings were Amy Hutchings (33rd, 24:17.2), Cora Williams (34th, 24:17.3) and Liz Landes (34th, 24:18.6).

On the men’s side, Lawrence finished tied for fifth with 175 points. The top finisher for the Vikings was Max Edwards, who placed 16th and covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:54.1. Kyle Dockery was close behind as he took 19th in 27:15.1. Completing the scoring for Lawrence were Cam Davies (36th, 28:17.8), Jonah Laursen (42nd, 28:29.9) and Teddy Kortenhof (62nd, 29:01.7).

UW-La Crosse won both the men’s and women’s team titles.

Women’s results (pdf)

Men’s results (pdf)

Lawrence hammers Bucs 8-1

BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team rolled to an 8-1 Midwest Conference win over Beloit College on Saturday.

The Vikings (3-3, 2-0 MWC) swept the doubles matches with the No. 1 team of Hannah Geoffrey and Katie Frankel posting an 8-2 victory. Lyndsey Holsen and Ali Heiring were 8-3 winners at No. 2, and Elana Lamber and Tess Vogel were 8-1 winners at No. 3.

Frankel (No. 2), Holsen (No. 3), Allison Juda (No. 4), Melissa Heeren (No. 5) and Lambert (No. 6) were all singles winners.

Lawrence University 8, Beloit College 1

Singles competition
1. Trina Capelli (BC) def. Hannah Geoffrey (LU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Katie Frankel (LU) def. Alexandra Kurpiel (BC) 6-2, 6-1
3. Lyndsey Holsen (LU) def. Samantha Kinard (BC) 6-2, 6-1
4. Allison Juda (LU) def. Alisha Ankin (BC) 6-2, 6-0
5. Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Allison Vance (BC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Elana Lambert (LU) def. Nyasha Nyamhondoro (BC) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Hannah Geoffrey/Katie Frankel (LU) def. Trina Capelli/Alexandra Kurpiel (BC) 8-2
2. Lyndsey Holsen/Ali Heiring (LU) def. Samantha Kinard/Alisha Ankin (BC) 8-3
3. Elana Lambert/Tess Vogel (LU) def. Nyasha Nyamhondoro/Allison Vance (BC) 8-1

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 3-3, 2-0 MWC
Beloit College 1-7, 0-3 MWC

Vikings dump Carroll 5-4

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team got its Midwest Conference season off to a great start with a 5-4 victory on Saturday over Carroll University.

Lawrence (2-3, 1-0 MWC) won two of the three doubles matches to grab the early lead. Lyndsey Holsen and Ali Heiring won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles, and Tess Vogel and Melissa Heeren won 8-4 at No. 3.

The Vikings then split the singles matches to secure the victory. Holsen was a 6-3, 7-5 winner at No. 3, and Heeren took a 7-6, 6-3 victory at No. 6. Vogel dropped the first set at No. 5, but came back to win the match 5-7, 6-3, 7-6.

Lawrence University 5, Carroll University 4

Singles competition
1. Pellett, Abigail (CU) def. Hannah Geoffrey (LU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Patzin, Julia (CU) def. Katie Frankel (LU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Lyndsey Holsen (LU) def. Lambrecht, Alison (CU) 6-3, 7-5
4. Scidmore-Rossing, K (CU) def. Allison Juda (LU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Tess Vogel (LU) def. Maggioncalda, Tiff (CU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
6. Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Hoyord, Samantha (CU) 7-6, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Pellett, Abigail/Patzin, Julia (CU) def. Hannah Geoffrey/Katie Frankel (LU) 8-1
2. Lyndsey Holsen/Ali Heiring (LU) def. Lambrecht, Alison/Scidmore-Rossing, K (CU) 8-4
3. Tess Vogel/Melissa Heeren (LU) def. Maggioncalda, Tiff/Hoyord, Samantha (CU) 8-4

St. Scholastica tips Lawrence in three sets

OSHKOSH, Wis. —  The College of St. Scholastica volleyball team topped Lawrence University 3-0 in a nonconference match on Saturday at the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic.

The Saints downed Lawrence 25-21, 25-19, 25-12.

Kayla Storm led Lawrence (4-8) with seven kills, and tied for team-high honors with eight digs. Megan Conley added six kills, and Betsy Sorensen had five for the Vikings.

Lauren Ray paced the Vikings with 15 assists, and Sydney Nelson added 10. Cyra Bammer, who was named to the all-tournament team, picked up eight digs for Lawrence.

Box score

Lawrence powers past Finlandia

OSHKOSH, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team used a balanced attack to power past Finlandia University 3-0 in a nonconference match at the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic on Saturday.

Lawrence defeated the Lions 25-14, 25-10, 25-10.

Lawrence (4-7) was paced by Rachael Wuensch and Terese Swords, who had five kills apiece. The Vikings hit .312 for the match as 12 players had at least one kill apiece.

Lauren Ray handed out 14 assists, and Cyra Bammer paced the Vikings with 11 digs. Ray, Kayla Storm and Noelle Hele had three aces apiece for Lawrence.

Box score