For the fifth consecutive season, the Lawrence University women's soccer team will play in the Midwest Conference Tournament. The Vikings, who finished fourth in the regular-season standings, enter this weekend's tournament as the two-time defending tournament champions.
Lawrence (8-7, 7-2 MWC) is the fourth seed and will take on top-seed and host school Carroll College (14-2, 9-0) at 2:00 p.m. Friday at Waukesha South High School. St. Norbert College (14-2, 7-2) takes on Grinnell College (9-6, 7-2) in the other semifinal. The winners meet for the championship and the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament at 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
The Vikings are led on offense by a mixture of experience and youth. Sophomore forward Greta Raaen (Byron, Minn.) leads the Vikings in every offensive category. She has eight goals, six assists, and 22 points. She is joined up front by senior forward Alyssa Spyksma (Sedro Woolley, Wash.), who has seven goals, two assists, and 16 points.
The Vikings have also received significant offensive contributions from seniors Danata Janofksy (Concord, Ohio) and Sarah Slivinski (Eagle River) and from sophomores Emily Buzicky (St. Paul, Minn.), Sara Compas (Apple Valley, Minn.), and Jamie Nordarse (Davenport, Iowa).
Lawrence struggled to score goals early in the season, but the Vikings have seen their confidence rise with a recent offensive explosion. Lawrence has scored 22 goals in their last three games since a 3-1 loss at Carroll back on Oct. 13.
The defense begins and ends with senior goalkeeper Katie Wilkin. The Oregon, Wis., native is a two-time All-Midwest Conference selection and can make the spectacular save. She has a 1.73 goals against average and an .868 save percentage. Her goals against average improves to 1.02 against Midwest Conference opponents.
The other leaders of the defense are junior captain Katey Hoyme (Palos Park, Ill.) and hard-nosed senior Molly Johannessen (Northfield, Minn.).
The Vikings have played in the championship game each of the past four seasons, losing to Carroll in 1998 and Grinnell in 1999 and defeating Grinnell in 2000 and St. Norbert in 2001. The fourth seed has been good to the Vikings in the past. When the Vikings won the title in 2000, they were the fourth seed and faced top seed St. Norbert in the semifinals. After playing to a scoreless tie through overtime, Lawrence advanced to the title game by beating St. Norbert 4-3 on penalty kicks. The Vikings then defeated Grinnell 2-1 in triple overtime for the championship.
Lawrence won the championship last season by defeating Grinnell 2-1 in the semifinals and topping St. Norbert 1-0 in overtime in the title match.
Carroll comes into the match on a roll. The Pioneers have a 12-game winning streak and have allowed only eight goals in those game matches.
Kate Kroenke has played the bulk of the minutes in goal for the Pioneers, and she leads the league with a 0.34 goals against average in conference matches. Carroll is paced on offense by Krista Schneider, who has 17 goals on the season, and Julia Bell, who has 11 goals. Carroll's Courtney Fryatt is among the league leaders with seven assists.
The battle between St. Norbert and Grinnell pits the top two scorers in the league against one another. Grinnell's Sarah Evans leads the conference with 23 goals and 53 points, while St. Norbert's Sara Gross is second with 21 goals and 49 points. During the regular season, St. Norbert defeated Grinnell 5-0 and lost to Carroll 1-0. Carroll also defeated Grinnell 4-1.
Directions to Waukesha South High School: Take I-94 west from Milwaukee and exit at Highway 18. Follow Highway 18 to Highway 59 and turn left onto 59. Follow that until you go through about four stoplights and turn right onto Sunset Street. Follow Sunset for about one-half to three-quarters of a mile and the high school will be visible. It is located on Roberta Street.