The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Grinnell edges Lawrence 1-0

APPLETON, Wis. — The Grinnell College women’s soccer team scored in the 14th minute and held on for a 1-0 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Whiting Field West.

Maddie Gray took a pass from Eva Smith at the 13:47 mark, and her shot slipped in just inside the post for the game’s only goal.

Jordan Young played the first half in net for the Pioneers (11-5-1, 6-2-1 MWC) and picked up two saves and the win. Katy Oldach made a pair of saves in the second half. Dani Glass stopped eight shots for the Vikings (5-8-1, 3-4-1).

Grinnell had a 17-7 edge in shots.

Box score

Scots topple Lawrence

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Monmouth College volleyball team carved out a 3-1 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Friday night at Glennie Gymnasium.

The Scots defeated Lawrence 25-17, 25-16, 24-26, 25-14.

Lorin Pedersoli led Monmouth (9-13, 4-4 MWC) with 12 kills, and Mackenzie Gillund added 12. Mollie Murdock picked up a match-high 41 assists, and Abby Butitta piled up 19 digs.

Terese Swords paced Lawrence (9-16, 4-5) with 14 kills, and Diane McLeod had 28 assists. Kathleen Rowland had a match-high 21 digs for the Vikings.

Box score

Great defensive effort leads Vikings past Ripon

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Lawrence University forward Keli Muchowski gets a hug from teammate Anita Babbitt and a pat on the back from Casey Merkle (10) after scoring the only goal in the Vikings’ 1-0 win over Ripon College on Wednesday. (Paul Wilke photo)

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s soccer team rode a great defensive effort to a 1-0 Midwest Conference victory over rival Ripon College on Wednesday at Whiting Field West.

Keli Muchowski scored the game’s lone goal in the 70th minute to provide the winning margin for Lawrence (5-7-1, 3-3-1 MWC).

Lawrence goalkeeper Dani Glass made 10 saves, including a spectacular save off a shot at point-blank range. Defender Amanda Ollerer headed another ball away that was headed for the back of the net.

Lawrence defender Genna Matt did a superlative job on Ripon star forward Brandi Peltier. Marking Peltier one-on-one, Matt held Peltier to two shots on goal, and one of those shots came off a free kick.

Lawrence got the lone goal when freshman Casey Merkle took a ball from the right sideline and dribbled toward the penalty box. She found an open Muchowski, who rifled the ball past Ripon goalkeeper Sidney Blodgett at the 69:36 mark.

Blodgett made seven saves for Ripon (8-6-1, 4-3-1), which saw its hopes of a Midwest Conference Tournament berth dealt a serious blow by the loss.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Grinnell College.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings embark on new era in revamped NCHA

This season will be like starting over for the Lawrence University hockey team, and that exactly what the Vikings needed.

Lawrence is now in the new-look Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and is attempting to rebound from a difficult 2012-13 campaign that saw the Vikings lose nine one-goal games.

“This group has a lot to prove,” said Lawrence coach Mike Szkdozinski, who enters his eighth season with the Vikings. “We simply let too many opportunities slip away last season. We need to take those experiences and learn from them. We return a lot of bodies, but that only matters if we apply the lessons we learned last year.”

The Vikings do return an impressive list of players, including seven of their top-10 scorers from a season ago and all six of the regular defensemen. While Lawrence was incredibly young last season, the Vikings are still young but vastly more experienced.

The offense lost all-conference forward Brad Scurfield to graduation, but the Vikings return leading scorer Logan Lemirande, who was named to the all-freshmen team last season. Lemriande had 27 points last season and is joined up front by sophomore forward Rudi Pino, who had 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points as a rookie.

“Logan Lemirande and Rudi Pino have a chance to be very, very good players at this level,” Szkodzinski said. “They both skate well and have good instincts. They will need to execute more consistently to reach their potential. As a whole, we feel we are as deep as we have been in our forward lines if everyone stays healthy.”

Throw in sophomores Renato Engler and Matt Moore to go with seniors like Paul Zuke and Huck Saunders and the Vikings have quality scorers on every line.

Sophomore Brandon Boelter, who was named captain this season, leads a talented group of defenseman. Boelter was named to both the all-conference and all-freshmen teams last season after scoring six goals and handing out 15 assists for 21 points. The Vikings also have former all-conference pick William Thoren back for his senior season and talented juniors Kevin Killian and Erik Soderlund.

“We didn’t lose anyone on the back end to graduation. That should help us,” Szkodzinski said. “William Thoren has something to prove after a below-average season last year. Brandon Boelter and Kevin Killian should be strong and physical. Again, if we can stay healthy, we like our group of 6 on the blue line.”

The big question mark comes in goal for the Vikings. Lawrence returns former starter Peter Emery, who had a spectacular rookie season in 2011-12, and fellow junior Anton Olsson. Szkodzinski said the competition for goaltending job is wide open.

“For the first time in several years, we have no idea who will be in the net on opening night,” Szkodzinski said. “That’s not a bad thing. It is a challenge for both Peter and Anton. We definitely need someone to step up and take control. To this point, the two are neck-and-neck. We need some one to prove that they want to be the guy. That is crucial to our success this year.”

The Vikings will need to step up their game if they want to have more success in the new NCHA, a product of the abandonment of the old league by the five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools. With the addition of national powerhouse St. Norbert College and perennial top-15 team St. Scholastica, the league is now arguably the best in all of Division III.

“Adding St. Scholastica and St. Norbert is tremendous for our conference,” Szkodzinski said. “It will raise the level of play just like Adrian did when they joined our conference. Our conference will feature great teams and each night will be a true battle. There will be zero gimmies in the NCHA.”

To have a successful season, Szkodzinski said his team will have to take care of the small things to create the bigger picture.

“We need to focus on details,” Szkodzinski said. “We need to finish every play. We need to be committed to doing things the right way on every single shift. We need to take the lessons learned and use them. We need to stop talking and prove that we are capable of finishing games this year.”

Brisbois honored

Cross country standout Jamie Brisbois has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Brisbois took the honor after a stellar performance at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational this past Saturday. Brisbois covered the 8,000-meter course at Lake Breeze Golf Club in 26:22.25, which was a personal record for the senior. Brisbois placed 102nd in a field of 566 runners and now owns the sixth-fastest time in the league this season.

Passing two grand

Libero Kathleen Rowland, already Lawrence’s career digs leader, recently passed 2,000 digs. Rowland, a senior from Champaign, Ill., now has 2,084 digs for her career. Rowland just moved ahead of former Lake Forest College standout Meghan Miller (2,083) for ninth place on the Midwest Conference’s career list.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations 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.

 

Brisbois runs down weekly MWC cross country honor

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University cross country standout Jamie Brisbois has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Brisbois (Falcon Heights, Minn./Roseville) took the honor after a stellar performance at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational this past Saturday. Brisbois covered the 8,000-meter course at Lake Breeze Golf Club in 26:22.25, which was a personal record for the senior. Brisbois placed 102nd in a field of 566 runners.

Brisbois, who ran to all-conference honors in 2011, posted the sixth-fastest time in the Midwest Conference this season. Led by Brisbois, Lawrence took 23rd place against an elite field at the massive 37-team meet.

Lawrence returns to action on Nov. 2 when it travels to Grinnell College for the Midwest Conference Championships.

Green Knights top Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The St. Norbert College volleyball team won three close sets and topped Lawrence University 3-0 in a Midwest Conference match on Tuesday at Alexander Gymnasium.

St. Norbert (11-14, 5-2 MWC) defeated the Vikings (9-15, 4-4) 25-23, 25-21, 25-21.

The Green Knights rallied from a 22-20 deficit to win the first set, and took the second set after the score was tied 20-20. St. Norbert held on in the third set after leading 21-20.

Anika Johnson led St. Norbert with 12 kills, and Heidi Spies had 10. Abby West picked up 22 assists, and Aubree Antosch had 19 digs for the Green Knights.

Kayla Storm paced Lawrence with 11 kills, and Terese Swords added 10. Diane McLeod had a match-high 34 assists for the Vikings, and Kathleen Rowland picked up 16 digs.

Box score

Mann’s goal lifts Vikings over Ripon

APPLETON, Wis. — Charlie Mann scored early in the second half, and the Lawrence University men’s soccer team went on to a 1-0 Midwest Conference victory over Ripon College on Tuesday at Whiting Field West.

Sean Salansky took a free kick near the left sideline and played it into the box to Mann. Mann flicked the ball past Ripon goalkeeper Cody Messerschmidt and into the back of the net for the game’s lone goal. It was Mann’s third goal of the season.

Freshman goalkeeper Joe Krivit made seven saves to pick up his fourth shutout of the season for Lawrence (6-8-1, 4-3-0 MWC). Messerschmidt stopped four shots for Ripon (3-12-0, 3-5-0).

Ripon had a 16-9 edge in shots.

Box score

Lawrence tabbed for seventh in NCHA poll

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team has been picked for seventh place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association in a poll of league coaches.

The Vikings, who went 8-16-3 last season, finished with 34 points. St. Norbert College collected the maximum of nine first-place votes and topped the poll with 81 points. Adrian College was second with 73 and the College of St. Scholastica was third with 62.

The remainder of the teams were MSOE (54), Marian University (44), Lake Forest College (42), Lawrence (34), Concordia (Wis.) University (28), Northland College (13) and Finlandia University (13).

Lawrence opens its season on Nov. 1 when it hosts Concordia (Wis.).

Vikings take sixth at MWC Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team grabbed sixth place at the Midwest Conference Championships, which wrapped up Sunday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

No one advanced past the championship quarterfinals for the Vikings, who finished with 27 points. Grinnell won the title during Friday’s four-team MWC Tournament.

At Nos. 3 through 6 singles, each Lawrence player won her first-round match. All four players, Ali Heiring at No. 3, Katie Frankel at No. 4, Polly Dalton at No. 5 and Melissa Heeren at No. 6, were then defeated in the championship quarterfinals.

Both Gayatri Malhotra at No. 1 and Hannah Geoffrey at No. 2 were defeated in the opening round. Both players came back to win the consolation championship. Malhotra defeated Knox’s Dana Pierce 8-5, and Geoffrey beat Knox’s Emiley Brand 8-1.

All three doubles teams lost in the championship quarterfinals and were eliminated. Geoffrey and Heiring won the in the opening round at No. 1 before losing in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Malhotra and Dalton at No. 2 and Frankel and Allison Juda at No. 3 suffered the same fate.

Results