Pioneers prepare for upcoming week, football to honor 1970 team

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville golf team completed the fall portion of the schedule over the weekend at the WIAC Golf Championship at Reedsburg Country Club. The Pioneers started the final round in last place before solid play on day three propelled them to a sixth-place finish. Senior Markie Ash secured third place individually with a birdie on the 18th hole.

"It was a wonderful event, it is a great venue here in Reedsburg," Head Coach Mark Evetovich said. "Watching these women compete for three days against this level of competition has been eye opening. Their dedication and time they put in during the season and seeing them come here and compete for three days is a wonderful thing. We did well as a team and individually as well. It was fun to watch."

The Pioneer golf team will be off until second semester, when the spring season begins. Evetovich is in his first year as head golf coach.

Men's soccer continues unbeaten streak

The Pioneer men's soccer team opened the 2021 season with two straight losses. Since those two early losses, the Pioneers have won seven and tied in two other matches. The Pioneers finished off the week with a pair of shutout wins over Knox College, 3-0 and Concordia Wisconsin, 2-0.

Sophomore Jack Gentilli opened the scoring vs. Knox with a highlight goal off a beautiful deep cross from Clayton Lautenschlaeger. It was Gentilli's fifth goal of the year. Freshman Chase Werner stopped all four shots on goal for his third shutout of the year. 

Knox Recap and Photos 

Gentilli's highlight goal

Gentilli's impressive play continued vs. Concordia Wisconsin. Gentilli scored both goals to push his team-leading goals scored to seven. Werner was never challenged in goal as the Pioneer defense did not allow a shot on goal.

Concordia Wisconsin Recap

The Pioneers will look to extend the unbeaten streak this week on the road. The Pioneers will play the next four matches away from Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. The Pioneers will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to face the Coe College Kohawks on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. 

The Kohawks enter the week with a 1-10-2 record. Jay Ndayisenga leads the Kohawks with two goals. As a team, the Kohawks have scored five goals while allowing 30.

Following the trip to Cedar Rapids, the Pioneers will once again cross the Mississippi River on Friday, Oct. 15 to face Loras College at 7:30 p.m. The Duhawks enter the week with a 7-5-1 record and will face Luther College before playing host to the Pioneers.

Patrick Clancy leads the Duhawks with eight goals. The Duhawks have scored 32 goals while allowing only 24.

Gentilli leads the Pioneers with seven goals and five assists. Junior Matt Walter has scored three goals. Werner has played in nine games, starting eight of them. He has allowed six goals in 805 minutes of action.

The Pioneers lead the nation in shots on goal per game, and second in the nation in shots per game.

Sam Koenig is in his third year at UW-Platteville, with a career record of 15-10-5.

Women's soccer battle in two double overtime matches

The theme for the Pioneer women's soccer team this past week can be summed up with one word: overtime. The Pioneers played a pair of double overtime matches vs. UW-Whitewater and UW-River Falls. In fact, all three conference matches this season needed extra time to determine a winner.

The Pioneers dropped the first double overtime game when UW-Whitewater's Anna Boyd scored the lone goal in the 103rd minute of double overtime to give the Warhawks the win 1-0. Junior goalkeeper Emma Ball kept the game scoreless when she stopped a penalty kick by UW-Whitewater's Anna Brodjian late in the first half.

UW-Whitewater Recap and Photos

The Pioneers scored the first two goals at UW-River Falls before the Falcons scored twice in four minutes late in the second half to force overtime. The Pioneers and Falcons would end up tied after two overtimes.

UW-River Falls Recap

The Pioneers (6-2-3, 0-2-1 WIAC) will open the week with a non-conference at Beloit College on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m. Beloit comes in with a 4-3-4 record. Three Buccaneers are tied for the team lead with three goals and six assists. Beloit College has scored 16 goals while allowing only eight. 

The Pioneers will return to WIAC action on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. when UW-Oshkosh visits Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. The Titans come into the week tied for first in the WIAC with a 3-0 conference record. Overall, the Titans are 10-2-1.

Mallory Knight leads the Titans with six goals and 14 points. Alayna Clark leads the team with six assists. Erin Toomey has started six games in goal and allowed seven of the eight goals giving up by the Titans. The Titans have scored 37 goals on the season.

Erin Coppernoll is in her 17th year as UW-Oshkosh's head coach and 21st season overall with a career record of 201-169-36.

Senior Amber Lueder is the fourth leading goal scorer and fifth in total points in the WIAC with eight and 12 points. Ball has played in 10 games and recorded three shutouts for the Pioneers. She has allowed all eight goals the Pioneers have given up. The Pioneers have scored 23 goals on the year.

Sam Koenig is in his first year as director of soccer and has a career record of 6-2-3.

Volleyball gets win on cause night, prepare to honor seniors

With the Williams Fieldhouse decked out in orange, the Pioneer volleyball team picked up a victory over Cardinal Stritch in four sets. The Pioneers and Wolves split the first two sets before the Pioneers ran away for a pair of 25-15 wins in set three and four. Four Pioneers had double digit kills, led by Olivia Kudronowicz and Lita Solbrig, each with 12 kills.

The game was UW-Platteville's volleyball team's annual cause game. Proceeds and donations made from the game will be donated to fight multiple sclerosis.

Cardinal Stritch Recap

Prior to the Cardinal Stritch match up, the Pioneers traveled to UW-Oshkosh for a conference showdown with the Titans. The tightly contest went five sets, with UW-Oshkosh winning the deciding set 15-11. Freshman Emma Carlson and Senior Kaite Asche led the Pioneers with 18 kills.

UW-Oshkosh Recap

The Pioneers (10-11, 0-4 WIAC) will step out of conference play to open the week. The Pioneers will make the trip down Highway 151 to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to battle Coe College on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. The Kohawks enter the week with a 17-6 record. Kate Tidman leads the Kohawks with 287 kills. Elli Teeple has dished out 797 assists. 

The Pioneer volleyball team will close out the week when they host UW-River Falls on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. UW-Platteville will honor the seniors prior to first serve. The Falcons enter the week with an 11-10 record and 1-3 WIAC record. Kameri Meredith leads the Falcons with 176 kills. Haley Cuba has 578 assists for the Falcons.

Patti Ford is in his 29th year at UW-River Falls with an overall record of 621-406.

Carlson leads the Pioneers with 231 blocks. Kudronowicz is second with 209 and leads the team with 2.86 kills per set. Asche leads the team in blocks (76) and service aces (30).

Samantha Birkicht is in her fifth year as head volleyball coach at UW-Platteville. She has a career record of 50-62.

Men's and women's cross country finish second

Both of UW-Platteville's cross country teams finished second at the Firebird Invite hosted by Carthage College. Kaitlyn Galgon and Hannah Fliss were the top Pioneer women's finisher of the 6,000-meter course with a time of 26:55.0. Galgon officially finished 23rd and Fliss 24th.

Zach Hein (28:33.4) narrowly beat out teammate Riley Coulter (28:33.7) to take top time for the Pioneers on the 8,000-meter course. Hein finished in 15th and Coulter in 16th.

Firebird Invite Recap, Women Results, Men Results and Photos

The Pioneers will travel to West Salem, Wisconsin, for the UW-La Crosse Drews/Newbauer Invite on Friday, Oct. 15. The men's race will start at 4:30 p.m. followed by the women at 5:20 p.m.

Tom Antczak is in his 30th year at UW-Platteville as head men and women's cross country head coach.

Football to play third straight nationally ranked opponent

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will battle a third straight nationally ranked opponent when d3football.com #11 ranked UW-La Crosse visits Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

The Pioneers are coming off a defeat at the hands of d3football.com #3 ranked UW-Whitewater. Senior Colin Schuetz completed 20 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wideout Austin Guy had a career high 170 yards receiving on six catches.

UW-Whitewater Recap

UW-La Crosse enters the contest with a 4-1 record and 2-0 in the WIAC. The Eagles are averaging 439.6 yards a game while allowing 362.0 yards a game. They are averaging 35.8 points a contest while allowing 23.4.

Quarterback Jakob Parks has competed 65.2% of his passes for 1,144 yards and 13 touchdowns. Wideout Jake Simuncak is Parks' main target. Simuncak has 39 receptions for 520 yards and seven touchdowns. Cameron Soerenson has six receiving touchdowns on 16 catches.

Running back Joey Stutzman has gained 586 yards on 109 attempts. He has a long rush of 60 yards and found the endzone six times.

Defensively, Ryan Daines leads the team in tackles (36), tackle for loss (10) and sacks (3). Elijah Alt has two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumbled recovered.

UW-La Crosse is coached by UW-Platteville alumnus Matt Janus. Janus played and had two coaching stints under Pioneer Head Coach Mike Emendorfer. Janus is in his first season at UW-La Crosse.

The Pioneers are allowing 36.8 points a game, while scoring 27.0. The Pioneers mainly do it through the air, averaging 314.2 of the 372.4 yards a game through the air. The Pioneers are allowing 511.2 yards a game.

Quarterback Colin Schuetz is completing 60.8% of his passes for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior wideout Ben Wilson has 29 receptions, while junior wideout Brandt Stare has 28 receptions and leads the team with four touchdown receptions.

Junior running back Tyler Lamer has 39 rushes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Schuetz also scored twice using his legs.

Junior linebacker Sam Smith leads the team in tackles (52.0) and tackle for loss (3.5). Senior Logan Ketelhut and junior Justin Blazek are tied for the team lead in sacks with two.

The Pioneers will honor the 1970 Wisconsin State University Conference football champions on Saturday. The 1970 team finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. They would lose to Texas A&I in the NAIA semi-finals. Read what some of the players had to say about the historic 1970 team here.

Mike Emendorfer is in his 23rd year at UW-Platteville with an overall record of 109-108.

To follow the Pioneers all season, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps and links for the contests that are live streamed. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.