Pioneers prepare for final weeks of fall season, cross country at WIAC Championship

Platteville, Wis.- After a busy home schedule for Homecoming Week, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville fall athletic teams will spend most of the week on the road. Men's and women's soccer will be the lone home contests this week. The men will host UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. The women's soccer team will welcome UW-Eau Claire to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.

Football knocks off Pointers in Homecoming win, prepares for UW-River Falls

The Pioneers gave a large Homecoming crowd a show on Oct. 23. The defense forced a Pointer punt to open the game, which the Pointers downed at the Pioneers' one-yard line. The Pioneer offense used 5 minutes and 39 seconds to march 99-yards to take a 7-0 lead. Senior Colin Schuetz completed all seven passes on the drive and senior Evan Gates found the end zone from three yards out. The Pointers would tie it at seven on its next drive before the Pioneers scored the next 35 points to put the game away. It is the Pioneers' 11th win in a row over the Pointers.

Schuetz ended the day throwing 370 yards and three touchdowns.

UW-Stevens Point recap and photos

The Pioneers (2-5, 1-3 WIAC) will travel to UW-River Falls (5-2, 2-2 WIAC) on Saturday, Oct. 30 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Falcons' quarterback Kole Hinrichsen has completed 64.3% of his passes for 1,729 yards and 17 touchdowns. Andy Groebner has 26 receptions for 411 yards and nine touchdowns.

Luke Fugate leads the Falcons with 680 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Hinrichsen leads the Falcons in rushing attempts with 98. He has scored six touchdowns on the ground.

Dylan Brown and Ben Ertz are tied for the lead in tackles with 28. Ted Androli leads the team with 11 tackles for loss and four sacks. Aaron Borgerding has four interceptions for the Falcons. 

The Falcons average 44 points a game, while allowing only 25.1. They average 513 yards a game, while allowing 329.9.

Matt Walker is in his 10th year at UW-River Falls and 13th season overall. He has a career record 50-77.

Schuetz leads the WIAC in passing yards with 2,271. He has completed 63.3% of his passes and has thrown 16 touchdowns. Junior Brandt Stare and junior Ben Wilson are tied for the team lead with 42 receptions. Stare has six touchdown receptions and junior Austin Guy has four.

Junior Tyler Lamer has 60 rushing attempts for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Evan Gates has three rushing touchdowns.

Junior Sam Smith leads the Pioneers in tackles (67) and tackle for loss (4.5). Junior Tyler Bacon leads the Pioneers with 4.5 sacks.

The Pioneers are averaging 409.6 yards a game, while giving up 446.9 yards a game. They average 29.0 points a game, while allowing 32.7. 

Mike Emendorfer is in his 23rd year at UW-Platteville, with an overall record of 110-109.

Bell wins Warhawk Open cross country meet, WIAC championship next for Pioneers

Freshman Logan Bell ran a personal best 26:38.0 to win UW-Whitewater's Warhawk Open. In the final tune up before the WIAC Cross Country Championship (presented by Culver's), four Pioneer men ran personal bests. Senior Mackenzie Parrell was the top women's finisher with 29:32.5. Bell was named WIAC Kwik Trip Athlete of the Week for men's cross country.

Warhawk Open recap and results

The Pioneers will travel to Colfax, Wisconsin, to compete in the WIAC Cross Country Championship (presented by Culver's) on Saturday, Oct. 30. The men's 8,000-meter race will start at noon, followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 1 p.m.

Tom Antczak is in his 30th year at UW-Platteville.

Men's soccer sees unbeaten streak end at 14, ranked #4 in region

The Pioneer men's soccer team saw their school record 14-game unbeaten streak end as Carthage College knocked off the Pioneers 1-0 in frigid and rainy Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The Pioneers ran the school record to 14 with a pair of wins earlier in the week. The Pioneers knocked off Augustana (Ill.) Oct. 19 and defeated Luther College Oct. 22.

The Pioneers and Vikings were both scoreless in the first half, before freshman Konrad Ziaja became the 10th freshman to score this season to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Ziaja's first career goal was enough as fellow freshman Chase Werner didn't allow a goal. The Pioneers would go on to win 3-0.

Augustana (Ill.) recap

Freshman Lucas Godon scored two first half goals to lead the Pioneers to the 2-0 win. Freshman Chase Werner kept the Norse off the scoreboard with three saves. It was the Pioneers' seventh shutout of the year.

Luther recap

The Pioneers (12-3-2) will welcome UW-Whitewater to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. The Warhawks enter the week with a 13-5-1 record. Jacob Mouille leads the Warhawks with eight goals and four assists. They average 2.53 goals a game, while giving up 1.32.

The Pioneers will finish the week when they travel to Elmhurst College. The Bluejays enter the week with a 7-7-2 record. IIija Jerinic leads the Bluejays with six goals. Raffa Consalvo leads the team with six assists.

The Bluejays allow 1.44 goals a game, while scoring 1.19 a game.

The Pioneers average 2.47 goals a game, while allowing 0.80 goals a game.

Sophomore Jack Gentilli leads the Pioneers in goals (12), assists (7) and points (31). In 14 starts, Werner has allowed only eight goals.

Sam Koenig is in his third year at UW-Platteville with a career record of 20-11-5.

Volleyball picks up two wins, finishes regular season at UW-Eau Claire

The Pioneer volleyball team picked up two wins at the Carleton Triangular on Oct. 23. They defeated St. Scholastica in four sets, before defeating host Carleton in four sets. 

Freshman Emma Carlson led the Pioneers with 15 kills vs. St. Scholastica. Senior Kaite Asche continued to be a force defensively with 11 blocks.

Senior Olivia Kudronowicz led the Pioneers with a career-high 22 kills vs. Carleton. Asche had six more blocks for the Pioneers and freshman Shea Lauria had a career-high six service aces.

St. Scholastica and Carleton recap

The Pioneers dropped a match to UW-Whitewater on Yell Night. The season-high attendance of 917 helped keep the first two sets close before the Warhawks finished off the Pioneers in the third. Carlson led the Pioneers with 10 kills, while Asche had five blocks.

UW-Whitewater recap and photos

In the final home match of the year, the Pioneers lost the battle of Pioneers to Grinnell College in five sets. Kudronowicz and Asche led the way with 14 kills. Asche continued her strong play defensively with nine blocks.

Grinnell recap

The Pioneers (13-14, 1-5 WIAC) will close out the 2021 season at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. The Blugolds (25-3, 6-0 WIAC) have clinched at least a share of the WIAC regular-season title.

Kendra Baierl leads the WIAC in hitting percentage (.389) and second in blocks (1.08). Charlie Nelson leads the WIAC in assists (10.56). Jordan Witzel leads the Blugold in kills with 288.

Kim Wudi is in her 14th year at UW-Eau Claire and has a career record of 332-146.

Asche leads the WIAC in total blocks (123) and blocks per set (1.17). Asche is seventh in the WIAC in service aces with 0.39 per set. Carlson leads the Pioneers with 287 kills, while Kudronowicz leads in kills per set (2.95).

Samantha Birkicht is in her fifth year as head volleyball coach at UW-Platteville. She has a career record of 53-65.

Women's soccer hosts UW-Eau Claire on Senior Day

The Pioneers dropped a pair of road conference games to UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point. The Eagles blanked the Pioneers 2-0 on Oct. 20, scoring once in each half.

UW-La Crosse recap

The Pioneers battled the Pointers in the first half that ended in a tie. The Pointers would score in the 64th minute and add on in the 82nd minute. Freshman Alyssa Peterson got the Pioneers' loan goal late in the second half.

UW-Stevens Point recap 

The Pioneers got back to winning when they blanked Finlandia 2-0. The Pioneers scored on a miscue by the Lions defense in the 35th minute. The Pioneers would get the final goal after a shot from Alyssa Peterson hit the post and deflected to senior Amber Lueder. Lueder would bury the ball for her team-leading eighth goal. The win at Finlandia capped a perfect non-conference record. The Pioneers were 9-0-2 outside the WIAC.

Finlandia recap

The Pioneers (9-5-3, 0-5-1 WIAC) will welcome UW-Eau Claire (8-8-2, 2-4 WIAC) to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. UW-Platteville will honor seniors Amber Lueder and Leah Kubasta in a pregame ceremony.

Megan Hansen leads the Blugold with six goals. Anna Kautzman has three assists to lead the team. The Blugold have scored 29 goals, while allowing only 23.

Sean Yengo is in his 24th season at UW-Eau Claire with a career record of 278-165-45.

Lueder leads the Pioneers with eight goals. Freshmen Lydia Smith and Annalise Spindle are tied for the team lead in assists (4).

The Pioneers have scored 32 goals, while giving up 16.

Sam Koenig is in his first year as director of soccer.

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.