Photograph by Jessica Vretenar


Eric Miller, sophomore midfielder, scored one of 14 goals during the 14-4 win over St. Mary’s College on April 18.

The team last made the A-Bracket in 2007 when they won the championship against Madison.

“This year we’re looking to redeem ourselves and get back to where we were three years ago when we won the championship,” Nick Bower, senior midfielder, said.

UW-P defeated Winona State University 9-4, and followed up with a 14-4 win over St. Mary’s College to end the season with a five-game winning streak.

“We were able to keep our heads on straight and not let the back and forth scoring affect us,” Brent Beveroth, senior defender, said. “We stuck to our game plan and were able to come out ahead.”

The younger players were able to step onto the field and gain game-time experience that they don’t get in practice, Beveroth said.

“Going into the tournament, this will give them extra confidence when they get into the games,” Beveroth said. “It also saved some of the veteran players from getting any more beat up before the tournament.”

The 38-strong team saw four first-time scorers between the two games.

“The last couple years St. Mary’s has given the team trouble, this year we knew what had to be done,” Darin Schopen, senior midfielder, said. “They have a smaller team and we were able to take advantage of our numbers and keep fresh players on the field.”

The younger players dominated the lines during the St. Mary’s game. Mike Shea, senior midfielder, said the teams youth was able to work out nerves and see how their lines should run which will help in the tournament setting.

The standout play of the game came from freshman Matt Schwalenberg assisting on a faceoff to allow fellow midfielder John Anderson, freshman, to score, Bower said.

“The team has improved so much since the beginning of the year,” Bower said. “We will just keep working hard and taking it one game at a time. Our attitude will be the same it has been all season.”

UW-P ended with a 6-2 record and second place finish in the West Division of the GLLL. The Pioneers have a power ranking of 71.1. Placing first in the division was UW-La Crosse with an 8-0 record and 74.7 power ranking.

The biggest challenge heading into the weekend will be ensuring that the team maintains their composure and stay in control during the game, Bower said.

“We’re too emotional,” Beveroth said. “We don’t play well until we’re ahead by a couple goals.”

The GLLL tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday April 24 and 25 at UW-P. Approximately 24 teams will be playing between Miners Field, Memorial Park and potentially on fields at the Platteville High School. A-Bracket games will be held at the UW-P stadium.

Times and locations will be determined based on standings. The top two teams of each division will enter the A-Bracket. For more information on the tournament times check out uwplatt.edu/org/lax.

Photograph by Kate Olsen


UW-P defense was key to Pioneer success during Mudfest.

Although this year’s team attendance was relatively small compared to year’s past, the team took the opportunity as a learning experience for their growing team.

“[Spring tournament season] helps the team prepare for next fall because it shows the rookies and upcoming players what UW-P rugby is all about, not to mention the rest of the state,” Santino Zizzo, senior eight man, said.

The first game ended in a tie against UW-Milwaukee. The Pioneers came back and defeated men’s clubs from Oshkosh and Fond du Lac.
“We showed how UW-P rugby is played and we took it to the three men’s teams that we played,” Nikolas Hanko, junior outside center, said. “The guys that haven’t played before or who have little time playing A-side really stepped up their game and chipped in on the wins.”

Speed from the back line players Kenny Craig, Clark Stabe, Grant Bend and Kurt Vanderwerff helped move the ball up the field quickly once the ball was placed by the forwards, Hanko said. The forwards were quick on setting up successful rucks and scrums and moving the ball down the line quickly. Smart passing was key to UW-P’s success.

“We made hard hits and had great stands within our own [end],” Hanko said. “Our best strengths were the forwards winning scrums and rucks. If they don’t do that then we are stuck on defense, and that wears you out fast.”

The team will next travel to Northern Illinois University for the Tournament of Champions on Saturday, April 17.

“We have always been the underdogs and that is always the way we want to play,” Zizzo said. “Most teams in the state think they can step all over us on the field and I feel that the past couple of years we have proven them wrong.”

Photograph by Jessica Vretenar


Senior Jake Carlson attacks UW-River Falls offense on April 3.

UW-P took a strong lead from the start of the game and kept the momentum running throughout the first half, Eric Miller, sophomore midfielder, said.

Goalie Jordan Hass held a shut-out against North Dakota while in goal for the first half of the game. Tim Luebke let two quick goals in from the Fighting Sioux. The defense stepped up in the second half and kept control of the ball.

“We won because we played as a team and not as individuals; each goal was assisted by another player,” coach Matthew Mikulecky, senior, said.

The team kept their heads for the second game and started off with the first goal of the game. Holding the game for the first three quarters, UW-P found themselves on the defense, giving up a few goals, in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the refs recorded a score different than the scorekeepers. Although they had UW-P winning, the Pioneers made the decision to go into overtime.

“They called me and the other coach together. I knew our team did not want to win because of an error,” Mikulecky said. “I agreed to a five minute sudden death overtime.”

UW-P won the initial face-off to take control of the game.

“Our defense was ready for the challenge and I had faith in my teammates to finish the game quickly,” Mikulecky said. “About a minute into overtime, Gustavus committed a foul and we were a man-up [a power play] for one minute.”

Miller substituted in for the power play and scored the game winning goal off a pass from Mikulecky.

“These wins were extremely vital, now we are 4-2 and have a very good shot at getting into the A-Bracket at the end-of-the-year tournament,” Miller said.

The top two teams of the West Division automatically enter the A-Bracket. UW-P is third behind UW-L and Gustavus. UW-L is 6-0 while Gustavus is tied with the Pioneers at 4-2.

UW-P improved to 4-2 after two more wins, and will travel to UW-La Crosse on April 18 for the final two season games before the Great Lakes Lacrosse League Tournament on April 24-25. The Pioneers will take on Winona State University and St. Mary’s University.

The UW-Platteville lacrosse club traveled to UW-La Crosse on April 3, for two more games on their road to the A-Bracket. The Pioneers finished 1-1 for the weekend, bringing their record up to 2-2.

“As of right now we sit in the middle of our division,” Mike Shea, senior captain said. “We need to win out the rest of the year to be guaranteed a spot in the upper bracket of the Great Lakes Lacrosse League tournament.”

The first game ended with a difficult 8-1 loss to UW-La Crosse. Max Vejvoda, freshman midfielder, scored the only goal against the Eagles.
The Pioneers’ numbers were down heading into the weekend due to injuries or prior engagements, but the focus of the players on the field was not on the game at hand, Nick Bates, senior defender said.

“We played right into their game plan and let them do what they wanted to do,” Shea said.

UW-P stepped onto the field for the second game of the day against UW-River Falls. The Pioneers took off will full force from the start and controlled the game.

“We forgot about the last game and came out with some fire,” Bates said. “We knew we had to win to stay in the top of our division.”
According to the GLLL Web site, UW-P is currently ranked 17 out of 27 teams as of press time.

UW-P defeated the Falcons 13-2 in their second game, with six of the points coming from five first-time scorers.

The younger players were able to get playing time against UW-RF which allowed them a chance to play out what they’ve been practicing in a game situation, Shea said.

The defense and offense worked better together during the second game, Bates said. The defense was able to stop the Falcons more than they did against Eagles, and the offense worked the ball around to get past UW-RF.

“We all know that these games are really important and we need to finish strong and come out ready to play,” Bates said.

UW-P will travel to UW-River Falls on Saturday, April 10 for two more games. There, the Pioneers will face off against North Dakota University at noon, followed by Gustavus Adolphus College at 2 p.m.

Photograph by Jessica Vretenar


Junior midfielder Cody Mayne sets up a play against UW-Stout.

The UW-Platteville lacrosse spring season opened up in Winona, Minn. on March 28. The Pioneers played two games back-to-back as they focus on making the A-Bracket in the Great Lakes Lacrosse League Tournament held here in Platteville on Saturday, April 24.

After a five month break from the Fall Ball season, the 35-strong team was ready to head outdoors for six days of practice before their season opener, Brandon Schwenn, junior midfielder, said.

“The team had energy and we were able to ride it to a victory,” Schwenn said.

The Pioneers pounded UW-Stout 8-2 in their opening match. The team took the lead over the Blue Devils early in the game, and kept the momentum throughout the four quarters.

“Once we got a hold of the lead, we kept up the energy, both on and off the field,” Eric Miller, sophomore midfielder, said. “We were able to just keep the game going our way, which led to our first win of the season.”

The defense played a pivotal role in protecting the early lead, senior captain Michael Shea said. Goalie Jordan Hass played his best game of his career, which helped keep the team focused.

UW-P fell to the Dirty Birds Lacrosse Club in the second game. The 4-3 loss was almost an underdog win, with all three of the Pioneer goals coming in the final four minutes of the game.

The game turned in UW-P favor after the first goal from coach Matthew Mikulecky, senior, Miller said.

“Once we showed the other team, and ourselves, that we could score on these guys we went ahead and scored twice more in a relatively short amount of time,” Miller said. “It’s just too bad we didn’t have another quarter to play, because the end of the game was going very well for us.”

With two games played, UW-P sits in the middle of the bracket, Shea said.

“It’s going to take no mental mistakes throughout the season [to win the division],” Mikulecky said. “We need to take every game one-by-one and think that each game is the most important. The top three teams in our division make the A-Bracket, and we have the same chance to be one of those as every other team in our division.”

Field awareness will be a major focal point in the practices to come as the team prepares for the next two games of the season, Mikulecky said.

The Pioneers will next travel to UW-La Crosse to play a game against the Eagles and one against UW-River Falls. Both games will take place on Saturday, April 3.

“In my time here we have had very close games with both of these teams,” Shea said. “They are consistent and play very well as a team. It will be a challenging weekend, but if we play our game and play to our potential, there is no reason why we can’t beat both teams.”

Photograph by Jessica Vretenar


Sophomore midfielder Ben Shaefer jumps past a Dirty Birds defender.

The challenge of playing back-to-back games in a day will be a feat for the rest of the season, but conditioning practices indoors and outdoors have aided the team in preparing for the weekend set-up, Brent Beveroth, senior captain and defensivemen, said.

“We have enough talented players due to our freshmen and new players that we can play hard for two games and not worry about running out of gas,” Mikulecky said.

At the back of the team’s minds is the dream of winning the GLLL Tournament on home turf, Miller said.

“Everyone wants to do well in front of their home crowd, and having the championship here makes it even more special, but in order to get into the A-Bracket we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Schwenn said. “We have to take it one game at a time and focus on the opponent of the next game. If we look ahead with too much thinking about the tournament, we could overlook an opponent and that could mean missing the A-Bracket.”

UW-P is currently 1-1 as they head to UW-L.