The Lawrence University men’s hockey team saw their record-breaking season come to an end last Saturday night in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals. The Vikings finished the season with a record of 16-11-1, the most wins in school history, and finished in second place during the regular season, also their best finish ever.
Lawrence faced the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the semifinals and gave them a run for their money, coming up just short. The Vikings regular season game against the Raiders (15-11-2) was also very closely contested, with MSOE pulling it out in overtime.
The Raiders scored first in this one, and took a lead into the first intermission on the back of Ryan Linder’s goal. Lawrence came back and tied it early in the second period when Ben DiMarco scored a short-handed goal to tie the game at one a piece. Nick Jennette carded the assist and in doing so tied Ryan Blick for the school record for points in a career at 103.
MSOE came firing back though as Michael Soik scored just 45 seconds later. The Raiders took the 2-1 lead into the second intermission, but then scored again less than a minute into the third period to lead 3-1. The Vikings refused to back down, as Marc Howe scored with seven minutes left in the game, but they were unable to complete the comeback. Standout sophomore goalie Evan Johnson made 19 saves in the loss.
Many Viking players received postseason awards from the MCHA. Two Vikings were named to the all-conference team, one to the all-freshman team, and five to the academic all-conference team. Senior forward Nick Jennette and sophomore goalie Evan Johnson were both named to the all-conference team for the first time. Jennette had three game-winning goals on the year, and Johnson led the nation in shutouts with seven. Defenseman Jameson Raymond was named to the all-freshman team. Raymond had four goals and 10 assists for 14 points. Seniors Jesse Jacobs and Aaron LaFave, juniors Bill Siers and Jon Sacks, and sophomore Matt Jacobs were all selected to the academic all-conference team. Viking coach Mike Szkodzinski said of his team, “I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young men than I am of this group.
Hockey season ends
