(ST. NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) – DE PERE – St. Norbert College played keep-away in the second half and posted a tough 24-17 win over Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at an overcast Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights held possession of the football for 20 minutes 47 seconds in the second half to rally from a 14-10 halftime deficit.
St. Norbert took the lead on its second possession of the second half, taking advantage of short Benedictine punt to start on the Eagles’ 39-yard line. The Green Knights needed seven plays to score on Will Darden’s 1-yard plunge. Michael Meneguzzo (pictured) found Bennett Schmidt for 19 yards on a third-and-15 scenario to keep the drive going and then hit Connor Kelly on another 19-yard strike to move St. Norbert to the Eagles’ 4 to set up the touchdown.
The Green Knights scored a possession later when Meneguzzo found Jacob McVane wide open for a 49-yard touchdown and a 24-14 lead with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.
Benedictine cut into the deficit with a 29-yard field goal by Leonidas Gamino with 8:20 left. St. Norbert took over on its own 21-yard line after the kickoff and put together a drive that nearly ran out the clock. The Green Knights converted a pair of third downs and eventually punted back to the Eagles with just 42 seconds to go, melting 7:31 off the clock on a 13-play drive. Benedictine would get to the St. Norbert 41, but a pair of Hail Marys into the end zone fell incomplete.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and moved 78 yards on seven plays to score on a 4-yard run by Dino Stephens. The Green Knights would answer a couple of possessions later when Meneguzzo hit Joey Weber in the back of the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
Benedictine took advantage of a muffed punt and scored on a short 15-yard drive on a fourth-down score from a yard out by Stephens with 4:34 left before halftime. The Green Knights got points back before intermission, moving 54 yards in 11 plays to get three points on a 36-yard field goal from Tyler Juergensen for a 14-10 count going into halftime.
St. Norbert led Benedictine 315-282 in total offense, with 194 of its yards coming in the second half. The Green Knights were also 8-for-15 on third-down conversions. Meneguzzo completed 21 of 27 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns. Jason MacIntyre caught four passes for 42 yards, Joey Weber four passes for 22 yards and one touchdown and Will Darden four passes for 14 yards. Jacob McVane rushed 16 times for 88 yards and also caught three passes for 62 yards and one touchdown.
Philip Jacobs completed 13 of 26 passes for 188 yards for Benedictine, while Stephens rushed 23 times for 95 yards and two scores. Tristan Weglarz caught five passes for 50 yards.
John Seitz led St. Norbert with eight tackles, while Brian Treacy had six stops. Dylan Elsing registered St. Norbert’s lone quarterback sack.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
DE PERE – St. Norbert College avenged Friday’s loss to Gustavus Adolphus College with a 2-1 overtime win in a non-conference game at Resch Olympic Pavilion.
The Green Knights (1-1) trailed early in the first period for the second straight game when Eva Nelson scored at 12:51 on a power play, the fourth goal with an advantage for the Gusties in the weekend series.
Annalee Holzer got the Green Knights back on track just seconds later at 13:14, with assists coming from Tristan Wicklund and Hannah Grabianowski.
After the excitement in the first period, there was a lull with both teams not being able to find the net by the end of regulation. With just over 30 seconds remaining in the extra period, Emma Stebbeds (pictured) netted the game-winning goal at 4:28.8 to give St. Norbert its first win of the new season. Grace Wittkopf and Ava Anick tallied the helpers on the winner.
St. Norbert was outshot by Gustavus 34-19. Freshman Tanith Plachetka earned her first career win with 33 saves, making eight in the overtime period. Lily Timmons made 17 saves for the Gusties.
St. Norbert went 0-for-5 on the power play while Gustavus went 1-for-2.
MEN’S HOCKEY
DE PERE – St. Norbert College dropped a 5-4 overtime decision in the second game of a two-game non-conference series with St. Olaf College at Cornerstone Community Center.
The Green Knights jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of markers in the first five minutes. Braydon Beahm scored at 1:49 of the first period, while Bryan Gilman followed at 4:34. It was the second goal of the season for both. St. Olaf responded with two goals in the last four minutes of the period with a power-play goal by Pan Efraimidis at 16:04 and an even-strength marker by Jonathan Panisa at 18:26.
St. Norbert took the lead back early in the second period when Jack Seaverson registered his first collegiate goal at 1:39. St. Olaf tied it up at 3-3 on Eli Miller’s unassisted goal at 4:53, but the Green Knights again went ahead on Logan Dombrowsky’s second goal of the season at 7:37.
The Green Knights’ 4-3 lead held up until late in the third period, when Jack Boxer tied things up at 14:19. The Oles then won it 33 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime on a Connor McNaughton goal.
Dombrowsky, Beahm and Gilman all had one goal and one assist for two points.
St. Olaf outshot St. Norbert 29-26. Vaughn Makar made 24 saves for the Green Knights, while Ryan Nolan made 22 stops for the Oles.
St. Norbert was 0-for-2 on the power play, while St. Olaf was 1-for-3.
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