(ST. NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) DE PERE – St. Norbert College recovered from a moderately sluggish start and scored the last 58 points in a 61-10 rout of Rockford University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (4-3, 4-1 NACC) fell behind 3-0 but Tyler Juergensen (pictured) connected on a 38-yard field goal a possession later to tie the game at 3-3. Rockford’s William Key then broke off a 65-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the first quarter for a 10-3 lead. The Green Knights responded with a long scoring run of their own when Will Darden ripped off a 64-yard scamper with 2:27 to go and a 10-10 tie.
It was all St. Norbert the rest of the way. Jacob McVane scored from 1-yard out to give the Green Knights the lead with 9:09 left in the second quarter. A blocked punt by Beau Allison set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Michael Menneguzzo to Hunter Thiel at the 5:47 mark and a 24-10 lead. Meneguzzo then found Bailey Turenne on a 50-yard scoring strike 27 seconds before halftime for a 31-10 lead at the rest stop.
Juergensen opened the second half with a 31-yard field goal. Meneguzzo connected with Nick White on a 14-yard touchdown pass at 10:13 and McVane scored from 24 yards out at 8:56 for a 48-10 advantage. Fernando Rodriguez connected with Christian Nabong for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 4:17 left in the third quarter and a 55-10 lead. Juergensen’s 26-yard field goal late in the period gave the Green Knights a 58-10 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Juergensen’s 32-yard field goal with 6:20 left in the game closed out the scoring. Juergensen’s four field goals tied a St. Norbert single-game record, matching Chris Griffin’s mark against Knox College in 2002.
St. Norbert outgained Rockford 443-306 in total offense and had six takeaways to the Regents’ one, resulting in an average starting field position of the Rockford 49-yard line.
Darden led the Green Knights on the ground with 134 rushing yards on 13 carries and one touchdown, while McVane added 74 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Meneguzzo was 11-for-13 for 166 yards and three touchdowns, while Rodriguez was 4-for-5 with 42 yards and one touchdown. Turenne caught five passes for 91 yards and one touchdown, while White caught four passes for 50 yards.
Gage Hugart completed 18 of 29 passes for 155 yards and three interceptions. Kemaurion Richardson had 71 rushing yards on seven carries.
Payton Ponteras had five tackles for St. Norbert, while Joe Cafaro added four. Jim Feeney, Matt Buechel and Luke Niksic all recorded interceptions.
Women’s volleyball
Green Knights sweep Aurora: AURORA, Ill. – St. Norbert College battled through a competitive match and earned a 3-0 win over Aurora University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup at Thornton Gymnasium.
The Green Knights (18-8, 7-2 NACC) swept the Spartans with set scores of 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.
St. Norbert set the tone early in the opening set, earning the first three points and never trailing the rest of the way. Kills from several Green Knights helped push the lead out to eight at 17-9. Aurora pulled within two points after fighting off four straight set points, but a kill from Casey Vaughan gave St. Norbert a 1-0 lead in the match. Set 2 was a closer battle, featuring 13 ties and six lead changes. The Green Knights were able to build to an 11-6 lead behind a few kills from Mari Szews, but the Spartans rallied back to even the score nine more times. The final tie came at 23 before back-to-back kills from Anna Kudick and Annabel Stevenson secured the 25-23 win. St. Norbert faced a 14-6 deficit in Set 3 but closed the match on a 13-4 run to complete the sweep.
The Green Knights hit .237 with 50 kills against 17 errors in 139 attempts. Szews and Vaughan led all attackers with 12 kills each, while Stevenson added 10. Heidi Colburn finished with 39 assists and 11 digs.
Kara Sowinski led the back row with 13 digs, and Andrianna Volz recorded 12. Szews posted three blocks, while Vaughan and Kirsten Klatt had one apiece. Claire Leynse recorded two service aces.
The Spartans hit .188 with 40 kills against 16 errors in 128 attempts. Izabella Kowalczyk led with 14 kills.
Men’s soccer falls to Aurora: DE PERE – St. Norbert College was held to a goalless night against Aurora University, getting clipped 1-0 by an early first half goal in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (10-7, 8-3 NACC) secured a top four finish despite the loss and will host a quarterfinal match in the NACC Tournament next Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Spartans went ahead at 8:37 and held the advantage till the final whistle. St. Norbert had two opportunities on target, with a Davis Vega attempt coming shortly after the Aurora goal in the first half and an Everett Saeger (pictured) attempt forcing a stop in the second half.
St. Norbert was outshot 13-8 and led 5-4 in corner kicks. Saeger led in shots with three.
Jackson Kiszka made five stops for the Green Knights while Aurora’s Alex Ageladelis made two. Carlos Viayra scored Aurora’s goal, with the assist coming from Max Crawford.
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