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| Jacob Stoltz scored a game-high 24 points, but it wasn't enough as Wisconsin Lutheran fell to Washington U. 71-68. Wisconsin Lutheran athletics photo |
By Ryan Scott
D3hoops.com
It feels like destiny. WashU’s Hayden Doyle lives 15 minutes from Wisconsin Lutheran’s campus. WLC’s All-American, Ryan Broeckel grew up in Chilton, Wisconsin, which just so happens to be the hometown of WashU’s head coach, Pat Juckem. The game is being played at UW-La Crosse, where Aaron Aanonsen, WLC’s head coach, was team captain as an undergrad.
Oh yeah, and there’s also last year.
That was when WashU ended Wisconsin Lutheran’s upset bid, with a thrilling 71-68 overtime victory in St. Louis.
“That game has been dwelling with me through the offseason,” says Broeckel, one of five fifth-year players who came back for some redemption. “I didn’t have my best game last year. I found it difficult to get ready for these games in late January, early February; the season is long. My mentality was not as strong, but our sports psychologist told me, ‘mentally, you have to play every game against WashU,’ because he knew that was a pressure point for me. It means a lot.”
“That game gave us a lot of confidence,” adds Aanonsen. “We didn’t play our best and we almost won. We were saying to each other, ‘maybe we can do this’ and ‘maybe we are good enough to compete on the national stage.’ ”
Two of the five fifth-year players were committed before that WashU game last year, another signed up immediately after, not wanting to go out that way. The final two came back months later, as career plans didn’t work out the way they’d expected.
“There were a lot of conversations to make sure they were coming back for the right reasons,” says Aaronsen, noting how well the team accepted the late change in situation.
“Guys had, for three or four months, been prepping their brain to come in and get the minutes they deserve.” notes Broeckel. “It was a very delicate experience for us, but we have unbelievable trust in each other. Everybody is okay every game if they only get four points, but we dominate, because someone else has 30 or four other guys have double digits. That might not have always been the case in my four years here.”
Even Juckem recognizes the special situation Wisconsin Lutheran finds themselves in. “I don’t know if I’ll still say this Friday night, but it’s pretty awesome that this group dedicated themselves to coming back again.”
As grad students, life is different. Three of the five super-seniors have full time jobs; Broeckel started a new one in the middle of the season. “I’m an accountant now; I started about a month ago. My workplace is super flexible, if I have to leave early for practice, it’s no problem. They’ve been great.” It’s very clear this class is on a mission, which may never have happened had they won that game at WashU last year.
As for the Bears, WashU is a huge name in Division III, but they haven’t won a Sweet Sixteen game since the title season of 2008-09 (they were still alive in the 2020 tourney when it was cancelled) and understand the weight of expectations.
“I’ve built a bunch of relationships with alums,” says Doyle. “I’m super close with Sean Wallis and Tyler Nading [from the 08-09 team] and they’re texting me before games. Coach Edwards is at almost every game. There’s a great pride in continuing the tradition of this great program.”
The Bears followed the WLC win with another overtime game against Illinois College before falling to eventual champs, Trine, on the road. They have a lot of their team back, as well, and have just as much motivation to make it 2-0 against the Warriors.
“We only had two seniors last year, so I did step up into a leadership role,” noted Doyle. “It is a different dynamic, though, when you are the oldest guy in the room. I try not to think about any game being the last one; we’ve done a good job of trying to stay in the moment, have fun, and play with joy and passion.”
Predictably, WashU is trying not to get too caught up in the rematch narrative. They won the game, after all, there’s no redemption arc there; the unfinished business lies entirely on moving forward, regardless of the opponent.
“We’re in the second weekend of the tournament,” says Juckem. “There are only good teams left. Every game you play is against a good team. We try to focus as much as we can on WashU. If we can get better, that’s the best thing we can do. ”
Kyle Beedon was the leading scorer for WashU in last year’s matchup; he’s been hurt all this season. Drake Kindsvatter was injured last year, but is second leading scorer and leading rebounder on this year’s squad. Point guard Yogi Oliff had a massive 16 rebound, five assist performance against WLC, but is just now working back into the lineup after a month out.
That’s not to mention UAA Newcomer of the Year, Connor May, who’s worked himself into a vital part of the WashU attack through the grind of a difficult conference season. May and Kindsvatter add a lot of size to an already big lineup, countering what’s been a strength for Wisconsin Lutheran, centered around Broeckel in the paint.
As WashU’s Hilltopperblog notes, Wisconsin Lutheran played five guys 204 of 225 minutes last year; the same five played 207 of 225 against Platteville. Foul trouble is one major stat category to watch.
Another is shooting. Last year’s contest was relatively ugly - WashU talked a lot more about surviving the game, rather than winning. Neither team shot more than 38% from the floor. When two teams are so evenly matched, any little thing could make a difference.
“We’re on spring break this week,” says Juckem. “Last year our break was a week later, so when we got into Trine, I proctored eight exams; we had guys taking calc exams at one in the morning.”
As much as it feels like destiny for Wisconsin Lutheran to draw WashU again this year, it really is a matchup of two different teams. There’s no underdog and a lot on the line.
If it were a sports movie, obviously Wisconsin Lutheran would come out on top and their five musketeers would ride off into the sunset in a happy ending, but WashU is working on completing a fairy tale season, as well, with Doyle leading four seniors of their own into the promised land.
One thing we know for sure: we’re in for at least 40 minutes of great, competitive basketball, played at the highest level, between two teams who know each other and what’s on the line so very well. It might feel like destiny, but the future doesn’t get written until Friday night!