(ST NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) DE PERE – St. Norbert College dominated from start to finish in its regular-season finale, topping Eureka College 61-0 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (7-3, 7-1 NACC) finished as the outright NACC runner-up after dropping their first three games of the season. St. Norbert will play in the Cousins Subs Lakefront Bowl at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, against the Midwest Conference runner-up at Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Raabe Stadium in Wauwatosa.
St. Norbert scored touchdowns on its first six possessions and held Eureka to negative total offense until the game’s final two minutes. The Green Knights outgained the Red Devils 403-8 and had an edge in first downs 28-2. The eight yards allowed is the fourth-lowest total in school history and the two first downs yielded is tied for the second-best single-game effort in program annals.
The Green Knights scored four first-quarter touchdowns. Will Darden scored from a yard out at the 9:39 mark, while Patrick Oden also scored from a yard out at 6:08. Peyton Lyon found Mitch Van Vooren on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 3:30 left in the period. Kyle Santos (pictured) then had a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:53 remaining.
St. Norbert added three second-quarter touchdowns. Lyon hit Paul Bageanis from 10 yards away at 13:04 and again from 13 yards out at 10:15. Lyon then hit Austin Miller on a 49-yard strike with 7:51 left for a 48-0 lead the Green Knights carried into halftime.
Tyler Juergensen connected on field goals from 20 and 31 yards away in the second half, while Connor Kelly’s 15-yard touchdown scamper with 2:04 left in the game closed out the scoring.
Lyon completed 11 of 16 passes for 142 yards and four touchdowns. Kelly rushed 18 times for 99 yards, while Oden had 17 carries for 73 yards. Miller caught five passes for 70 yards, while Van Vooren had two catches for 39 yards.
St. Norbert was led defensively with five tackles apiece from Brian Treacy and Luke Niksic. Sam Barnett had four tackles, while Daylan Lujan added a pair of quarterback sacks.
Men’s hockey
St. Norbert 4, Marian University 3
DE PERE – St. Norbert College picked up a sweep of its Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series against Marian University with a 4-3 overtime win at Cornerstone Community Center.
The Green Knights (7-0, 4-0 NCHA) won when Liam Fraser poked home a loose puck from the doorstep with just 36 seconds gone by in overtime to gain two valuable league points. The marker is Fraser’s sixth of the year and 63rd of his career, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on St. Norbert’s career goals leaderboard.
The victory also gives St. Norbert its best start to a season since going 9-0 to open the 2013-14 campaign.
Following a scoreless first period, St. Norbert got on the goard 53 seconds into the second period on Logan Dombrowsky’s fifth goal of the season. Marian answered just 26 seconds later on a Noah Pickart goal. The Sabres then took a 2-1 lead when Matteo Pecchia scored on a breakaway as a St. Norbert power play expired with 11:50 elapsed in the second period. Marian held its one-goal lead into second intermission.
St. Norbert took the lead when Jack Christen tied it with his first collegiate goal at 5:27 of the third period and Byron Hartley pushed it to a 3-2 lead with a marker at 7:59. Marian would tie the game at 3-3 on a Hayden Tuba goal at 9:37.
The Green Knights had two power-play chances in the last six minutes of regulation but couldn’t convert. St. Norbert was 0-for-5 on the power play. Marian did not have a power-play chance as the Green Knights again had a penalty-free game. St. Norbert has had four penalty-free games in program history, with three coming in its last four games.
Dombrowsky had one goal and two assists for three points. Christen had an assist with his goal for a two-point game, while Dayton Deics had two assists for two points.
St. Norbert outshot Marian 52-19. Grant Adams made 16 saves for the Green Knights, while Tyler Fromolz had 49 stops for the Sabres.
Women’s hockey
St. Norbert 8, Marian University 0
FOND DU LAC – St. Norbert College continued its undefeated start to the season, cruising past Marian University 8-0 at Blue Line Family Ice Center.
St. Norbert (6-0, 4-0 NCHA) scored in all three periods, including a huge final period where the Green Knights put four past the Sabres.
Lexi Bonfe opened the scoring for St. Norbert just four minutes into the first period, finding the back of the net for the first time this off assists from Abby Pieper. Lisa LaRoche would then continue her impressive start to the season with another goal against the Sabres, scoring an unassisted goal just minutes after Bonfe’s opener. Courtnie Hogan would then add a third off a power play, giving St. Norbert a 3-0 just halfway through ther first period.
Pieper got on the scoresheet herself with a second St. Norbert power play goal in the second period, with assists coming from Claire Healy and Ava Anick.
An explosion of offense in the third with goals from Briar Charchenko, Natalie Hogan, LaRoche and Courtnie Hogan put St. Norbert up by eight goals.
Courtnie Hogan, LaRoche and Kelsey Ross (pictured) produced St. Norbert’s multi-point scorers in the contest, with Hogan scoring two and providing one assist. LaRoche scored her fifth and sixth goals of the season. Ross provided two assists.
Jo Mahlum, Emma Stebbeds and Hannah Graunke each had one assist in the game.
St. Norbert outshot Marian 43-11. Keira Markell stopped 11 shots for the Green Knights, earning her third win of the season. Sydney Magnuson made 35 saves for the Sabres.
The Green Knights were 2-for-6 on the power play while Marian went 0-for-4.
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