The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Vikings edge Lake Forest 2-1

The Lawrence University hockey team dominated the play on Saturday night, but the Vikings battled to a 2-1 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lake Forest College.

Lawrence (12-10-3, 11-6-3 MCHA) enjoyed a 45-15 edge in shots but the outcome wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

Lawrence got on the board early when Brad Scurfield scored off a pass from Jon Bellotti just 5:37 into the contest.

The score stayed that way until Phil Bushbacher gave Lawrence a 2-0 lead when he scored on the power play with just 1:23 left in the game.

Lawrence was still on the power play when Mike Violette scored a short-handed goal for Lake Forest (4-21-0, 4-16-0) with just 25 seconds remaining.

The Foresters then pulled goaltender Brendan Sullivan and got a shot off against Lawrence goaltender Peter Emery. Lawrence was able to get control of the puck and run out the final seconds.

Emery stopped 14 shots to pick up the win. Sullivan made 43 saves in the loss.

Lawrence returns to action next weekend when it hosts a MCHA quarterfinal playoff series on Friday and Saturday.

Box score

St. Norbert downs Vikings

The St. Norbert College women’s basketball team posted an 87-52 Midwest Conference victory on Saturday over Lawrence University at Alexander Gymnasium.

Jamie Kuhl led St. Norbert (19-4, 17-1 MWC) with 24 points and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds. Krista Pelky added 20 points and hit 8 of 9 shots from the floor for the Green Knights.

Amber Lisower scored a team-high 22 points for Lawrence (1-22, 1-17), and she also pulled down eight boards. Chioma Ejimkonye added 12 points and seven assists for the Vikings.

St. Norbert jumped on the Vikings early and built a 17-point lead at 22-5 just 5:42 into the game. The Green Knights would lead by as many as 25 points in the first half and were up 45-24 at the break.

The Green Knights continued to slowly build that lead in the second half and would lead by as many 39 points.

Box score

St. Norbert pulls away late to top Vikings

The St. Norbert College men’s basketball team pulled away late and went on to an 80-65 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Andrew Schwoerer led a balanced St. Norbert attack with 17 points. Brandon Gries added 16 points, and Garrett Thorn had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Green Knights (15-8, 12-6 MWC).

Senior Tyler Crisman, playing in his final game for the Vikings, led Lawrence (9-13, 8-10) with 21 points. Tyler Mazur came off the bench for the Vikings and hit 6 of 9 shots from 3-point range on his way to 18 points.

Lawrence, which led 39-37 at the half, trailed 54-52 after a pair of Davis DeWolfe free throws with 9:30 remaining. The Green Knights then scored the game’s next seven points, capped by a jumper from Gries, to grab a 61-52 lead with 6:32 left.

Lawrence got a layup from Crisman to stop the run, but St. Norbert kept the Vikings at arm’s length the rest of the game. St. Norbert led by no more than 11 points until the final minute, but Lawrence couldn’t get any closer than eight the rest of the way.

Box score

Lawrence pummels Falcons 8-1

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team opened its spring season with an 8-1 nonconference victory over Concordia (Wis.) University on Friday night.

Lawrence (1-0) swept the doubles from the Falcons (0-2) and won all but one singles match.

Jason Dunn led the way for the Vikings by rallying from one set down to post a 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) victory at No. 1 singles. Caleb Ray, Cooper Smith, Craig Sherwood and Jeremy Andereck swept the Nos. 3-6 singles.

Box score

Vikings fall to Foresters

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Lawrence University fell behind early and couldn’t fully recover in dropping a 5-2 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association game to Lake Forest College on Friday at Alumni Memorial Rink.

Lake Forest (4-21-0, 4-15-0 MCHA) built a pair of two-goal leads that the Vikings (11-10-3, 10-6-3) trimmed in half, but the Foresters finished with the game’s final two goals to seal the win.

The Foresters scored two goals midway through the second period before Phil Bushbacher scored at the 13:26 mark to trim the advantage to 2-1.

Jordan Bruce then scored just 1:17 later to push the lead back to 3-1. The Vikings battled back again when Sam Johnson scored with just 1:57  left in the second period to cut the lead to 3-2.

That’s as close as Lawrence would get as Curran Forgue scored twice in the third period, once early and once late, to secure the win for the Foresters.

Peter Emery stopped 41 shots for Lawrence and took the loss. Brendan Sullivan made 41 saves for Lake Forest to pick up the win.

The teams wrap up the series and the regular season on Saturday at Lawrence.

Box score

Winter, Gabriel lead 1-2 sweep in 500 freestyle on opening day of MWC Championships

Taylor Winter and Hannah Gabriel swept the top two places in the 500-yard freestyle to pace the Lawrence University swim team on Friday’s opening day of the Midwest Conference Championships at Boldt Natatorium.

Winter, a freshman from Bayside, Wis., won her first MWC individual title by swimming to victory in the 500 freestyle in 5:10.75. Gabriel, a sophomore, was right on her heels and finished second in 5:10.96.

Led by Winter and Gabriel, the Lawrence women are in fourth place in the team standings after the first day with 123 points. Lake Forest leads with 299 points.

On the men’s side, the top finisher for the Vikings was the 200 freestyle relay team, which finished third. The team of Peter Brengel, Walker Brengel, Pat Vincent and Charlie Mann took third in 1:28.33.

Lawrence is in third place on the men’s side with 107 points. Grinnell leads the team standings with 300.5 points.

Preliminary action resumes Saturday morning, and the meet concludes on Sunday.

Results/Team Scores

Podair to receive Wurdinger Award

Jerry Podair will be presented with the Bob Wurdinger Athletic Service Award during the Lawrence University basketball doubleheader on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Podair, the seventh winner of the Wurdinger Award, has been a great friend to Department of Athletics and its student-athletes during his time as a professor at Lawrence.

Podair has served on the Committee on Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics and continually works as an academic advisor to student-athletes. He also works closely with the Director of Athletics as a liaison with the faculty and has served as a guest coach for men’s and women’s basketball, hockey and volleyball.

A professor of history and Robert S. French Professor of American Studies, Podair is a specialist in 20th-century United States history, and his research interests include urban history and ethnic and racial relations. His current book projects are a study of the civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, a biography of baseball mogul Walter O’Malley, and a primary-source anthology in United States history after 1877 titled The American Conversation, written in collaboration with Professor James H. Merrell ’75, of Vassar College.

The award was established to honor Wurdinger, a Kaukauna native, and long-time Lawrence assistant football coach. Wurdinger, who has been a tireless advocate for Lawrence athletics for more than four decades, received the first award in 2006.

Other winners of the Wurdinger Award are: Chuck and Cinny Reff, Ken and Carole Ebert, Joe, Clyde and Jeanne Kieffer, Don Strutz and Dick Knapinski.

Crisman, Mazur lead Lawrence past Red Hawks

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team pulled away late and posted a 77-69 Midwest Conference victory over Ripon College on Wednesday night at the Storzer Center.

Tyler Crisman scored 21 points to lead Lawrence (9-12, 8-9 MWC) and all scorers. Tyler Mazur came off the bench to pour in a career-high 17 points for the Vikings, who swept the season series from the Red Hawks.

Taylor Koth and Aris Wurtz both had double-doubles for Ripon (14-8, 10-7). Koth had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Wurtz added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Lawrence led by as many as seven points in the first half, and Ripon was up by as many as six points before the break.

The Vikings led 49-48 when they went on a 10-4 run midway through the second half, capped by Mazur’s 3-pointer, to grab a 59-52 edge with 8:44 left. Mazur was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc on the night.

After a Nic Schaalma free throw trimmed the margin to 59-53, Lawrence got back-to-back jumpers from Brian Gryszkiewicz and Chris Siebert and a 3-pointer from Mazur to go up 66-55.

Koth’s three-point play cut the margin back to 66-58, but Lawrence put the clamps on the Red Hawks over the next four minutes. In a stretch of 3:59, all Ripon got was two free throws as the Vikings stretched the lead to 73-60. Siebert scored five points in that stretch, including a pair of free throws with 2:20 left that gave Lawrence its biggest lead of the night at 13 points.

Ripon battled back with seven consecutive points, capped by Tyler Ketz’s 3-pointer with 1:14 left, to cut the margin to 73-67. Andrew Kline’s layup off a feed from Gryszkiewicz pushed the lead back to 75-67, and Ripon went cold after that.

The Red Hawks missed their next three shots from the floor, and Mazur sealed the win with a pair of free throws with just 14 seconds remaining.

Lawrence wraps up its season on Saturday when it hosts St. Norbert College. 

Box score

Ripon takes down Vikings

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team endured ice-cold shooting in the first half and dropped a 59-32 Midwest Conference game to Ripon College on Wednesday night at the Storzer Center.

Lawrence (1-21, 1-16 MWC) hit only 3 of 20 shots from the floor in the first half as Ripon (11-11, 10-7) built a 25-9 lead at the break.

Erin Lind paced the Red Hawks with 19 points. Amber Lisowe led Lawrence with 12 points, and Alex Deshler grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with eight points.

Cathy Kaye hit a 3-pointer for the Vikings early in the second half that trimmed the lead to 15 points, but Ripon gradually pulled away after that. The Red Hawks led by as many as 29 points in the second half.

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