The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Big second quarter pushes Monmouth past Lawrence

The Monmouth College football team exploded for 28 points in the second quarter and went on to a 56-28 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday in the Banta Bowl.

The Scots (4-3, 4-2 MWC) got a big day on the ground from running back Trey Yocum, who ran 29 times for 176 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Brik Wedekind was 12 of 14 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Tyler Mazur had a huge day for Lawrence (1-6, 1-5) with nine catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Luke Barthelmess was 16 of 32 passing for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Barthelmess moved past Eric Aspenson (4,941) for second place on Lawrence’s career passing list and now has 5,145 passing yards.

The game was tied 7-7 after Mazur caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Barthelmess with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Wedekind then hit C.J. Shields with a 37-yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. The Scots quickly made it 21-7 on Wedekind’s six-yard scoring pass to Garrett Youngren with 8:50 left in the second quarter. Yocum then tacked on another score with a two-yard touchdown run with 4:14 left in the half.

An interception gave Monmouth another chance before the end of the first half, and Yocum capped a 36-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run for a 35-7 lead at the break.

The teams then traded scores in the second half. After Monmouth opened the half with a touchdown drive, Ben Hartman returned the kickoff 46 yards to the Monmouth 44-yard line. The Vikings scored six plays later on Barthelmess’ four-yard run to cut the lead to 42-14.

After another short Yocum touchdown run, Mazur caught a pair of 62-yard scoring passes. He grabbed one near the end of the third quarter and completed Lawrence’s scoring with another one with 4:20 left in the game.

Linebacker Jon Hope paced the Lawrence defense with 14 tackles, and Sam Ausloos added 11.

Box score

Vikings sweep past Knox

The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Knox College 3-0 in a Midwest Conference match on Friday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence defeated the Prairie Fire 25-21, 25-22, 25-18.

Betsy Sorensen led Lawrence’s balanced attack with 10 kills. Jenna Picha and Megan Conley added eight kills apiece for the Vikings and Terese Swords had seven.

Diane McLeod piled up a match-high 36 assists and picked up 12 digs for Lawrence (8-13, 2-4 MWC).

Kaylie Prince led Knox (2-25, 0-6) with 12 kills, and Casey Stachelski picked up 27 assists.

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Inside LU Athletics: Vikings ready to drop puck on new season

The Lawrence University hockey team came tantalizingly close to a huge breakthrough last season. It was like the difference between a puck clanging off the pipe or finding the back of the net.

The Vikings’ season ended with a 2-1 loss to 2011 national runner-up Adrian College in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup semifinals despite dominating the Bulldogs. Lawrence begins the 2012-13 season on Oct. 27 when it hosts the Wisconsin Rampage in an exhibition game, and the Vikings are setting a very high standard.

“We are looking to continue to be a tough team to play against every night – a team that never quits,” Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski said. “We will work hard away from the puck and be responsible defensively if we hope to contend for an MCHA title.”

Lawrence, which was picked to finish third in the MCHA in the preseason coaches’ poll, finished 13-11-4 a season ago. The Vikings lost the most successful group of seniors in the program’s history, including All-MCHA selections Matt Hughes at forward and Jameson Raymond on defense, to graduation.

“We lost some great players, but more importantly, great humans to graduation last year and they will be difficult to replace,” Szkodzinski said. “We will need to find young men in this group who can step into more significant roles both on and off the ice. Strong leadership is the key to any successful team.”

Senior forward and captain Brad Scurfield led the team in scoring last season with 27 points and had a team-best 19 assists. The Vikings also have senior forward Phil Bushbacher back after he scored 13 goals and handed out 12 assists for 25 points last season.

“We feel like we added some depth and scoring this year,” Szkodzinski said. “However, we will need our returners to play a major role in our scoring.  Brad Scurfield and Phil Bushbacher worked extremely hard this summer and we expect them both to have a strong senior campaign. We also expect an up-tick in scoring from other returning players as they seem to be in great physical shape heading into the season.”

The Vikings return other experienced forwards, including Gustav Lindgren, Patrick Coyne, Paul Zuke and Huck Saunders. Lawrence also has newcomers Logan Lemirande, Rudi Pino, Matt Moore, Renato Engler and Brandon Boelter.

“The incoming freshmen have potential to make an impact from day one,” Szkodzinski said. “We will have to see how quickly they can adjust to the demanding schedule and pace of the college game.”

While the Vikings should be better on offense, Lawrence has a big hole to fill on defense with Raymond’s graduation. The good news is former all-conference selection William Thoren is back, along with junior Kevin Killian and sophomore Erik Soderlund.

“We fully expect William Thoren, Erik Soderlund and Kevin Killian to be the core of our blue line and help eat up the minutes that Raymond consumed over the past four years,” Szkodzinski said.

The last line of defense was occupied almost exclusively last season by rookie Peter Emery. All he did was set a Lawrence season record with a .924 save percentage while picking up 12 wins and a pair of shutouts. Lawrence also is deep with senior Michael Baldino and sophomore Anton Olsson.

“Peter Emery had a very good first season,” Szkodzinski said. “He gave a chance to win just about every night.  He will be challenged by Anton Olsson and Mike Baldino, both of whom have had a strong preseason.” 

Walk this way

The Mount Mary College volleyball team was late in arriving for its match at Alexander Gymnasium on Tuesday, and that’s because the Blue Angels’ bus driver led them astray.

The driver mistakenly dropped the team off at the Buchanan Kiewit Wellness Center, which is on the north bank of the Fox River. Alexander Gym is a half-mile away on the south side of the river.

Once the Blue Angels realized the mistake, the coaches called the driver but couldn’t reach him. The team then walked to Alexander Gym, and the match started 15 minutes late.

Lawrence rolled to a 3-0 win over Mount Mary in a match that lasted just 56 minutes. 

Topping  two grand

Junior setter Diane McLeod passed the 2,000-assist plateau in the Lawrence volleyball team’s win at Beloit last Friday. McLeod now has 2,057 assists for her career and ranks second on the career list behind Georgia Seals (3,100).

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.

Vikings roll past Mount Mary in three sets

The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Mount Mary College 3-0 in a nonconference match on Tuesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

The Vikings (7-13) won 25-10, 25-23, 25-12.

The Lawrence attack was powered by Terese Swords, Jenna Picha and Betsy Sorensen. Swords had a match-high 12 kills and hit .370. Picha and Sorensen added nine kills apiece and both hit .412 for the match.

Diane McLeod handed out 29 assists and picked up 10 digs for the Vikings. Kathleen Rowland had a team-high 14 digs for Lawrence.

Stephanie Hardwick paced Mount Mary (12-10) with nine kills and 17 digs.

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Vikings finish seventh at MWC Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team finished seventh at the Midwest Conference Championships this weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The top finishers for the Vikings were Hannah Geoffrey and Melissa Heeren and the team of Christina Schaupp and Tess Vogel, who all reached the championship semifinals of their respective flights.

Geoffrey, playing at No. 3 singles, won her first-round match against Cornell College’s Samantha DeGannes in three sets, including a tiebreaker in the third. She then topped Grace Dowling of Lake Forest College 6-2, 6-4 before falling to eventual champion Constanza Alarcon of Grinnell College in the semifinals 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 6 singles, Heeren beat Knox College’s Emiley Brand 6-0, 6-1 in her first-round match and then downed Lake Forest’s Emily Rabin 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Heeren lost to eventual champion Julia Rumley of Grinnell in straight sets in the semifinals.

Schaupp and Vogel opened with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Cornell in the quarterfinals at No. 3 doubles but dropped a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 decision to Carroll in the semifinals.

Ali Heiring won a consolation title at No. 4 singles. After losing her quarterfinal match, Heiring came back to beat Aimee Neilan of Knox in the consolation semifinals and then defeated Monmouth College’s Haylee Gustafson 8-0 in the consolation final.

Grinnell won the title during Friday’s team tournament, and Lake Forest was second. Carroll and St. Norbert tied for third, and Cornell was fifth with 33 points, Beloit College was sixth with 28 and Lawrence was seventh with 27. Knox was eighth, Monmouth took ninth, Illinois College was 10th and Ripon finished last.

Results

Sunday’s soccer matches vs. Edgewood postponed

The Lawrence University men’s and women’s soccer matches vs. Edgewood College that were scheduled for Sunday have been postponed.

Heavy rain in the Appleton area all day Saturday and again on Sunday morning have the field saturated.

No make-up dates for the matches have been set.

The Vikings return to action on Tuesday when the men travel to UW-Oshkosh for a nonconference match.

Foresters top Lawrence in three sets

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lake Forest College volleyball team downed Lawrence University in straight sets on Saturday in a Midwest Conference match.

Lake Forest (14-8, 4-2 MWC) won 25-18, 25-19, 25-15.

Molly McCloskey picked up 11 kills to pace Lake Forest, which hit .203 as a team.

Terese Swords and Megan Conley, a pair of freshmen, had seven kills apiece to lead the Vikings (6-13, 1-4). Diane McLeod led the Vikings with 21 assists and Kathleen Rowland had a team-high 15 digs. 

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St. Norbert runs past Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College football team jumped out to a big early lead and went on to a 79-7 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Schneider Stadium.

St. Norbert (5-2, 5-1 MWC) built a 35-0 lead after the first quarter and led 45-0 at the half. Lawrence (1-5), which played this as a nonconference game due to a quirk in this season’s schedule, got its only touchdown in the third quarter.

Austin Williams led St. Norbert with 18 carries for 172 yards and three touchdowns. St. Norbert piled up 366 rushing yards. Quarterback James Tringalli was 7 of 13 passing for 126 yards and a touchdown.

Lawrence, which was limited to 120 total yards, got its only score when Tyler Mazur caught a 54-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The touchdown pass was the first in the career of freshman quarterback Akeem Williams. 

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