Pioneers in heart of fall season as first postseason looms this weekend
Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville athletic teams continued to have a strong fall campaign over the past week. The men’s soccer program picked up a big regional victory over Loras College, the women’s volleyball team swept a WIAC foe, the women’s soccer team opened conference play with a victory, and the golf team finished second at UW-Stevens Point.
Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville athletic teams continued to have a strong fall campaign over the past week. The men's soccer program picked up a big regional victory over Loras College, the women's volleyball team swept a WIAC foe, the women's soccer team opened conference play with a victory, and the golf team finished second at UW-Stevens Point.
Men's soccer runs unbeaten streak to nine, host Concordia Wisconsin in lone game of week
Following a 0-2 start, the Pioneer men's soccer team has been red hot. The Pioneers picked up two wins over schools from Dubuque, Iowa, to run its unbeaten streak to nine contests. On Sept. 27, the Pioneers recorded a third straight shutout in a 1-0 victory over the University of Dubuque. Reigning Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference defensive player of the week Seth Aiken stopped the only shot on goal he saw from the Spartans. Konrad Ziaja scored the game winner in the 61st minute.
University of Dubuque Recap
The Pioneers were in prime position to run their shutout streak to four games before a Loras College free kick deflected off a Pioneer defender and into the goal in the 87th minute. The mishap caused no problems in the region's eighth ranked Pioneers' 3-1 victory over the region's fifth ranked Duhwaks.
Freshman Sebastian Carranza netted two goals in the victory.
Loras Recap
The Pioneers (8-2-1) will host Concordia University Wisconsin (4-2-4, 1-2-3 CCIW) on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12 p.m. for Hispanic Heritage Day. Jack Gentilli leads the Pioneers with six goals and six assists. Eight team members have scored multiple goals for the Pioneers. Aiken has started the last nine games; he has allowed an average of 0.82 goals a game.
The Pioneers are averaging 2.64 goals a contest, while allowing only 1.09.
The Falcons average 2.1 goals a contest, while allowing 1.70 goals a game.
Sam Koenig is in his fourth year as head coach of the Pioneer men's soccer team with a career record of 29-15-6.
Volleyball sweeps week, face league leading Warhawks
The Pioneers women's volleyball team picked up a pair of 3-0 victories this past week. On Sept. 27, the Pioneers swept Edgewood College. Emma Carlson led the way with 10 kills and four service aces, while Claudia Johnson had six blocks. The Pioneers defense stymied the Eagles most of the night. The Eagles hit .036 in the match.
Edgewood Recap
The Pioneers picked up its first WIAC victory of the year on Sept. 30 in a 3-0 sweep of UW-Stout. The Pioneers used a pair of four point runs to take the opening set 25-23 before cruising in set two and three. Carlson had 18 kills to lead the Pioneers. Kierney McDonald continued her impressive play at the net with three blocks.
The sweep of the Blue Devils was the fifth straight sweep for the Pioneers.
UW-Stout Recap
The Pioneers (15-4, 1-2 WIAC) will travel to league leading UW-Whitewater (16-2, 3-0 WIAC) on Tuesday, Oct. 4 for a 7 p.m. contest. Erin McNeil and Jenna Weinfurt lead a balanced attack for the Warhawks. McNeil and Wienfurt are tied for the team lead with 172 kills. Kristen Anderson leads the WIAC with a .429 hitting percentage. McNeil and Hannah Proctor are fourth and fifth in the league. Kelly Ann Sotiros leads the league with 0.62 service aces per set. Anderson is tied for the league lead in blocks per set with 0.92.
Carlson leads the Pioneers with 220 kills, while hitting .173. McDonald is second in the WIAC with a .346 hitting percentage and tied for blocks per set with 0.92. Sam Rossetti is third in the WIAC in assists per set, averaging 8.47. Kelsey Ewert is second in the WIAC in service aces per set with 0.59, while Bri Gartner is third in digs per set with a 4.68 average.
Samantha Birkicht is in her sixth year at UW-Platteville, with a career record of 68-71.
Golf finishes second at UW-Stevens Point Invitational, Ash wins individual title, WIAC Championships up next
The Pioneers finished second out of six teams, all WIAC schools at the UW-Stevens Point Invitational. The team shot a 36-hole team score of 716. Markie Ash won the individual title with a 36-hole total of 136. She shot an opening round 80, tying for low round of the day. She followed up with an 82 to claim the title by one stroke. It is Ash's second individual title this fall and third of her career. The UW-Stevens Point Invitational was played at Sentry World Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Sentry World will be hosting the 2023 U.S Senior Open.
The Pioneers will finish out the fall portion of the schedule with the 54-hole WIAC Golf Championships (presented by Culver's) at Reedsburg Country Club in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. First round action begins on Friday, Oct. 7 with an 11 a.m. shotgun start. Round two and three will be held Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9. Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. with golfers going off hole one and hole 10. Ash will look to improve on her third-place finish in 2021. UW-Eau Claire is the host school in 2022.
Pete Reif is in his first season and second stint as head coach of the Pioneers. He started the Pioneer golf program in 1999 and was head coach until 2017.
Women's soccer opens WIAC play with victory, pair of conference contests ahead
The Pioneer women's soccer program opened the 2022 WIAC slate with a 4-3 victory over UW-Stout on Oct. 1. Lydia Smith was involved in all four goals. Smith assisted on the first three scores before she scored the game winner off a great defensive play. Smith stole the ball from a Blue Devil and executed a perfect shot into the corner of the net in the 56th minute. The Pioneers would hold the Blue Devils scoreless the remainder of the game to get the conference victory.
UW-Stout Recap
The Pioneers opened the week at the University of Dubuque on Sept. 27, with a 1-0 shutout victory. Maddi Spencer-Strong scored the lone goal of the day in the 62nd minute. It was Spencer-Strong's third goal of the season. Emma Ball was big in goal, saving all 10 shots she faced from the Spartans.
University of Dubuque Recap
The Pioneers (8-2-1, 1-0 WIAC) will continue WIAC action with a pair of games. The Pioneers will travel to UW-Whitewater (6-2-3, 1-0 WIAC) on Wednesday, Oct. 5 for a 7 p.m. battle. Allie Prigge leads the Warhawks with seven goals. The Warhawks have scored 16 goals, while allowing only 11.
Following the road trip to UW-Whitewater, the Pioneers will welcome UW-River Falls (9-1-2, 0-1 WIAC) to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for Hispanic Heritage Day on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. The Falcons travel to UW-La Crosse before visiting the Pioneers. Madyson Shew leads the Falcons with six goals. The Falcons have won seven contests via the shutout. The two ties were 0-0 scores. On the season, the Falcons have allowed only seven goals, while scoring 35.
Allyssa Peterson and Smith lead the Pioneers with four goals apiece. Four Pioneers have three goals apiece in a balanced Pioneer attack. Ball has started every contest for the Pioneers in goal. She has allowed 10 goals (.093 GAA), while saving 82.1% of shots faced.
Sam Koenig is in his second season as head coach with a career record of 17-8-4.
Men's and women's cross country finish middle of pack at UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite, have week off
The Pioneer men's cross country team finished ninth out of 25 teams, while the women finished 13th out of 25 teams at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite at the Whitetail Golf Course on Sept. 30.
Logan Bell finished the 8K race in 26:09.90 and placed 48th as an individual to pace the Pioneers. Riley Coulter and Troy Humpal were the next closest finishers, finishing 66th and 69th, respectively.
Kaitlyn Galgon finished 50th to pace the women in the 6K race with a time of 24:07.12. Natalie Kreier finished 106th at 25:00.29.
The Pioneers will have a week off before returning to action. The next event for the Pioneers is the UW-La Crosse Drews/Neubauer Invite on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Tom Antczak is in his 31st year at UW-Platteville as the head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams.
Football drops WIAC opener, trip to UW-Stevens Point next.
The Pioneers dropped the opening WIAC game to UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 1. The Pioneers were unable to get on the scoreboard on offense, but the Pioneers defense made sure they were not shutout a second consecutive game. Justin Blazek forced and recovered a fumble for the lone Pioneer score.
UW-Oshkosh Recap
The Pioneers (1-3, 0-1 WIAC) will travel to UW-Stevens Point (1-3, 0-1 WIAC) on Saturday, Oct. 8 for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The Pointers are allowing 30.50 points per game, while only scoring 19 points a contest.
Trey Schroeder is completing 46.27% of his passes. He has thrown three touchdowns and three interceptions in 2022. Brycen Cashin leads the rushing attack for the Pioneers. He is averaging 52.75 yards per game and rushed for four touchdowns. Reed Smith and Seth Forbes will carry the rock for the Pointers. Smith leads the Pointers with 45 attempts while Forbes is second with 38.
Jeffery Williams has eight receptions for 97 yards. Devin Baldrigde has hauled in two touchdowns from Schroeder.
Wayde Ernstmeyer has recorded 27 tackles, including three for a loss. The Pointers have only sacked the opposing quarterback twice in 2022.
The Pointers are allowing an average of 424.8 yards a game, while only averaging 254.8 on offense.
The Pioneers are allowing 29.3 points a game, while scoring 7.5 points per contest. The Pioneers have played three quarterbacks since the start of the season. Michael Priami started the season as the number one and was injured in the first game. Nathan Shackelford has started the past three games, while Braeden Katcher has seen time in the past two games.
Tag Habedank has carried the ball 44 times to lead the Pioneers. He has one rushing touchdown in 2022.
Austin Guy has 21 receptions to lead the Pioneers. Lucas Petersen and Brandt Stare have caught touchdown passes in 2022.
Sam Smith leads the Pioneer defense with 26 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.
The Pioneers are averaging 240.5 yards per game while allowing 286.5 yards a contest.
Ryan Munz is in his first year as head coach of the Pioneer football team.
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.