Saturday and Sunday, February 23-24
Game Times
Saturday's game begins at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday's game is set for 4:00 p.m. Both games will be played at the Kern Center, 1245 North Broadway, Milwaukee, Wis.
Webcast
Sunday's game will be webcast at http://www.msoe.edu/athletics/broadcasts.shtml.
The Coaches
Mike Szkodzinski (St. Norbert 2000) is in his second season at Lawrence and has a record of 23-26-5. Mark Ostapina (Wisconsin 1979) is in his seventh season at MSOE and has a record of 97-84-6. He is in his 22nd season overall and has a record of 160-168-14.
The Series
MSOE holds a 34-18-2 edge in a series that began in 1992. Lawrence snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Raiders by posting a 6-5 victory on Nov. 2.
Last Meeting
The teams split a home-and-home series on Nov. 2-3. Lawrence scored the game's final five goals on Nov. 2 to pull out a 6-5 victory, and MSOE scored a pair of goals late on Nov. 3 to post a 5-2 win.
Nick Jennette scored with eight seconds left to cap the big rally and give the Lawrence the 6-5 win at the Appleton Family Ice Center. The Raiders built a 5-1 edge midway through the second period on the strength of four power-play goals and a short-hander. Lawrence cut the lead to 5-2 on Jennette's first goal of the season at 10:42 of the second.
The Vikings came out strong in the third period, as Masa Takahashi scored at 3:13 of the third to cut MSOE's lead to 5-3, and the Lawrence power play took over from there. Neil Wallace scored on the power play off assists from Jennette and Matt Jacobs at 8:13 to trim the lead to 5-4.
Lawrence then got a two-man advantage late after Matt Buha and Michael Siergiej were whistled for penalties within 56 seconds of each other. Josh DeSmit scored his first collegiate goal for the Vikings on the two-man advantage to tie the game at 5-5 with 1:38 remaining. Jennette then got the game-winner on the power play off assists from Corey Garrett and Marc Howe with only eight seconds left.
The following day at the Kern Center, MSOE led 3-1 heading into the final period, but Masa Takahashi answered for Lawrence. He scored on the power play just 1:53 into the third period to cut the lead to 3-2. The Raiders then scored two power-play goals in the final four minutes to pull away.
This Season
When leading after one period, Lawrence is 6-1-0.
When leading after two periods, Lawrence is 7-1-0.
When trailing after one period, Lawrence is 3-9-1.
When trailing after two periods, Lawrence is 2-9-0.
When tied after one period, Lawrence is 1-2-2.
When tied after two periods, Lawrence is 1-1-3.
Vikings Update
The Vikings head into the MCHA playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. Lawrence has won five of its last six heading into the two-game series at MSOE. The winner of the series moves on to the MCHA Final Four, which also will be played at the Kern Center. Should Lawrenc and MSOE split this weekend, a mini-game will decide who advances.
When Lawrence defeated Finlandia last Friday, it gave the Vikings 10 wins on the season. This marks the first time in Lawrence's hockey history, which dates back to 1986, that the Vikings have posted double-digit victory totals in back-to-back seasons. Lawrence finished 13-14-2 last season.
The Vikings are 6-2-2 in their last 10 contests and have put up some impressive numbers over that stretch. Lawrence has outscored its opponents 53-39 in the last 10 games, including 39-27 in the final two periods.
The top line of junior Nick Jennette, sophomore Marc Howe, and freshman Josh DeSmit have been outstanding in the last 10 games. All three players have 16 points apiece in that stretch, with Howe and Jennette leading the team with 10 goals apiece. On the season, Howe has a team-high 31 points and ranks second in goals with 16. Jennette is the top scorer with 17 goals and is second with 30 points. DeSmit is third with 27 points and ranks second with 17 assists and third with 10 goals.
Freshman goaltender Evan Johnson has turned up his game in recent weeks. Johnson has posted a 3.31 goals against average and .883 save percentage to go along with with a 4-2-2 record in his last nine contests. On the season, Johnson is 5-9-3 with a 3.83 GAA and .878 save percentage.
Raiders Update
MSOE got a big win last Saturday to earn home ice for the opening of the playoffs. Trailing by one point in the standings, MSOE needed to win at Marian to secure home ice, and Jason Yolo's goal with 5:28 left broke a 3-3 tie and lifted the Raiders to the win.
MSOE is paced by senior forward Lee Swallow, one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the conference. Swallow leads the team with 38 points and has a team-high 29 assists. For his career, he has 56 goals and 100 assists for 156 points.
Chris Keller has seen the bulk of action in goal for the Raiders. He has a 9-9-0 record, with an .872 save percentage and 3.78 goals against average.
Links
MCHA Standings
Lawrence Statistics
mchahockey.com
collegehockeystats.net
USCHO.com Division III Poll
2007-08 Lawrence University Schedule/Results
DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT Oct. 17 Soo Thunderbirds (exhibition) W, 3-0 Oct. 30 at St. Norbert L, 5-0 Nov. 2 MSOE W, 6-5 Nov. 3 at MSOE L, 5-2 Nov. 9 at Adrian L, 9-2 Nov. 10 at Adrian L, 4-3 Nov. 24 Lake Forest T, 1-1 (OT) Dec. 1 at Minnesota-Crookston L, 3-2 Dec. 2 at Minnesota-Crookston L, 1-0 Dec. 7 Northland W, 4-3 Dec. 8 Northland W, 4-0 Jan. 4 at UW-Eau Claire L, 6-3 Jan. 5 at St. Mary's L, 5-1 Jan. 11 Finlandia W, 5-3 Jan. 12 Finlandia L, 7-2 Jan. 18 Concordia (Wis.) L, 3-0 Jan. 19 at Concordia (Wis.) W, 10-5 Jan. 21 Bethel (Minn.) T, 6-6 (OT) Jan. 25 at Marian L, 4-3 Jan. 26 Marian T, 4-4 (OT) Feb. 1 Minnesota-Crookston W, 5-3 Feb. 2 Minnesota-Crookston W, 8-7 (OT) Feb. 8 at Northland W, 6-3 Feb. 9 at Northland W, 5-0 Feb. 15 at Finlandia W, 3-2 Feb. 16 at Finlandia L, 5-3 Feb. 23 MCHA Playoffs at MSOE 7:00 p.m. Feb. 24 MCHA Playoffs at MSOE 4:00 p.m. Feb. 29 MCHA Championship TBA