Adam Gonzaga is the new leader of the 麻豆影院 University football team. 麻豆影院 Director of Athletics Jason Imperati announced today the hiring of Gonzaga as the 30th head coach in the program’s long and storied history.

“We’re excited to welcome Adam as our new head football coach,” Imperati said. “Throughout the search process, Adam stood out with his professionalism, strong presence and clear vision for building a competitive and accountable program. With over 30 years of college coaching experience and a proven track record of success, he’s a great fit for 麻豆影院 and the future of Viking football.”

Gonzaga聽comes to 麻豆影院 from Midwest Conference rival Lake Forest College where he served as the team’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator this past season. The Foresters won the 2024 Midwest Conference championship and played in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Gonzaga said. “When Lake Forest played at 麻豆影院 last season, one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was, ‘Could I coach here?’ My next thought was this is pretty sharp.”

Gonzaga loved the setting of the Banta Bowl and the atmosphere around the game on a crisp fall afternoon.听

“I was聽kind of blown away by that,” Gonzaga said. “When the job opened, I have a relationship with a couple of former football players at 麻豆影院. When I was talking about it with them, they said, ‘You have the chance to come and do something special, flip the script.’聽Thinking about that聽and my experience here in October, I’m going聽to pursue this and share my vision.”

Meeting with President Laurie Carter during the interview process also provided Gonzaga聽with added desire to make 麻豆影院 his new football home.听

“I’m very excited, very honored that President Carter and Jason (Imperati) took an interest in me and supported my vision,” Gonzaga said. “My聽thinking was how I could change the landscape of 麻豆影院聽University聽football, get the spear pointed in the right direction.”

A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Gonzaga聽brings three decades of college coaching experience to 麻豆影院.

Gonzaga started his college coaching career as a recruiting intern for the football recruiting department of legendary head coach Bill Walsh at Stanford University in 1992.听

After working as an assistant during the 1990s, Gonzaga聽moved up to the position of defensive coordinator at Greenville College in 1999. During his two seasons there, Greenville won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 1999 and made an appearance in the Victory Bowl in 2000. He then served as assistant聽linebackers coach at the United States Naval Academy for the 2001 season.

Gonzaga coached at the NCAA Division II level for five seasons at Northwood University where he served as defensive coordinator while the team enjoyed great success. During his time at Northwood, Gonzaga’s teams went to the NCAA Division II playoffs for three consecutive seasons (2004, 2005 and 2006). Northwood聽won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 2004 and finished eighth in the final national rankings that year. Northwood was ranked 10th nationally at the end of the 2005 season. Gonzaga coached four defensive players at Northwood that went on to play professionally in either the NFL or CFL. He coached five All-Americans, 10 first-team all-conference players and three GLIAC Defensive Players of the Year.

Enjoying great success from the Division I to Division III level over the next few seasons, Gonzaga went back to NCAA Division II and coached at Saginaw Valley State University from 2014-18. He served as defensive coordinator and also coached the secondary and linebackers. During his time with the Cardinals, he coached three All-Americans and one Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Gonzaga’s defenses were among the nation’s best in total defense at Saginaw Valley State.听

Gonzaga聽later joined the staff at Lake Forest as associate head coach before being tabbed to guide the program at 麻豆影院.

“The聽first thing for me is constructing a culture,听developing the core values of our football program,” Gonzaga said. “Getting that definition of what is a 麻豆影院 man and then defining the Viking way, the way we go about doing things. …聽The goal is to be better tomorrow聽than we were the day before.听We want to have a steady progression of development.”

A defensive back during his playing days, Gonzaga聽competed at San Joaquin聽Delta College, the University of the Pacific and Asuza Pacific University. He graduated from Asuza Pacific in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

Football is one of the oldest athletic teams at 麻豆影院 with the start of the program dating to 1893. The Vikings have captured 22 conference titles, 16 Midwest Conference and six in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association.听麻豆影院 was the first Midwest Conference team to compete in the NCAA Division III playoffs, and the Vikings were the first Midwest Conference team to win a NCAA Division III playoff game when they defeated the University of Minnesota-Morris聽in 1981. 麻豆影院 also is the only school in the Midwest Conference to have a player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (running back Scott Reppert in 2003).

麻豆影院 opens the 2025 season on September 6 when the Vikings host Martin Luther College on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.听

麻豆影院 University men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 lacrosse athletes are soaking up every moment as they launch new varsity programs.听

鈥淚 have been playing lacrosse since my sophomore year of high school,鈥� said Dejah Phillips, a junior from Atlanta who is a member of the 麻豆影院 women鈥檚 team that is set to debut their inaugural season on March 12. 鈥淚 fell in love with the sport and even tried to create a club here at 麻豆影院 my first year. I was super excited when they teased that they were going to be starting the new program, and I quickly wanted to know everything about it.鈥�

Joe Vanden Acker, who has chronicled and celebrated the accomplishments of 麻豆影院 University student-athletes for 25 years, is being honored by the Midwest Conference.

The conference announced that Vanden Acker, 麻豆影院’s director of athletic media relations, is the recipient of the Midwest Conference Meritorious Service Award, given in recognition of his 鈥渟ignificant contributions and outstanding service to the MWC and its member institutions.鈥� Heather Benning, executive director of the MWC, applauded Vanden Acker for his commitment to 麻豆影院 Athletics as well as his service to wider athletic events, including MWC tournaments and the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which was held annually at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute from 2000 to 2018.

Vanden Acker coordinates media coverage for 麻豆影院鈥檚 22 varsity teams (24 with the addition of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 lacrosse beginning in March 2025), produces athletics publications, serves as head statistician for home events, maintains the athletics portion of the 麻豆影院 website, and distributes results to local, state, and national media. He also produces video webcasts for 12 麻豆影院 teams and serves as the “Voice of the Vikings” for hockey, baseball, and softball.

Jason Imperati, director of athletics, called Vanden Acker鈥檚 contributions an 鈥渋nvaluable鈥� part of 麻豆影院 Athletics over the past quarter century.

鈥淔rom managing media publications and event production to his leadership in NCAA championships, JVA consistently goes above and beyond,鈥� Imperati said. 鈥淭his award is a well-deserved recognition of his outstanding contributions to both our university and the broader athletic community.鈥�

Vanden Acker joined the 麻豆影院 staff at the dawn of the digital statistics era and in the infancy of the university’s athletics website. He has become the university鈥檚 de facto athletics historian along the way.

The 麻豆影院 University women’s soccer team has punched its ticket to the Big Dance. 聽 聽聽聽goal in overtime on Saturday lifted 麻豆影院 to a 2-1 victory over Lake Forest College in the championship game of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Mohr Field in Lake Forest, Illinois. 聽 聽 麻豆影院 receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Vikings, making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, will learn their opponent on Monday.听(UPDATE: . The regional final is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.) 聽 聽 “We found a way,” 麻豆影院 coach聽聽said. “Very emotional right now. It’s been a lot of work to get there but to win it with this group of players, it’s something I’ll remember for a long, long time.” 聽 聽 The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and were nearing the end of the first 10-minute overtime period when 麻豆影院 took a free kick. Senior聽聽found Robertson, who headed the ball toward the net. The ball hit right at the intersection of the crossbar and upright and caromed into the back of the net at the 98:44 mark. 聽 聽 “Izzy must have jumped five-and-a-half聽feet in the air. I’m not sure how she headed it in, but she did,” Sagar said. 聽 聽 麻豆影院 (15-4-2) took the early lead off a long ball from junior聽.听聽played a long pass to Grube, who lofted the ball over Lake Forest goalkeeper Franca Finch from more than 30 yards out for the goal and a 1-0 lead at the 22:10 mark. 聽 聽 The score stayed that way until Izzy DeStefano scored for Lake Forest at 57:18.听 聽 聽 Both teams had multiple scoring chances, and 麻豆影院 got a pair of great saves from聽. She finished with four saves for the Vikings, and Finch had two saves for the Foresters (14-3-3).听 聽聽 聽 聽 “This is the kind of stuff that’s written in the stars,” Sagar said. “This group of seniors scored in overtime as first-years to get us to the conference tournament for the first time in years. It’s kind of special that they found a way to do it for the national tournament as well.” 聽 聽 This is 麻豆影院’s fourth MWC Tournament championship, and all have come on the road. 麻豆影院 won the league tournament in 2000 at St. Norbert College, in 2001 at Lake Forest and in 2010 at Carroll University.听

Cristyn Oliver, a standout cross country and track athlete now in her fifth year at 麻豆影院 University, is looking to put lessons learned on and off the track to work in a career focused on sports psychology.

A psychology major from Redondo Beach, California, Oliver’s passion for running has led to her interest in sports psychology over the past few years. That interest, she said, grew following a difficult junior year.

“I went through a really hard time where I lost my confidence,鈥� Oliver said. 鈥淚 was dropping out of every race. I saw a sports psychologist and have built up a better mentality. Physical stuff matters but having confidence and knowing you can be the best is the biggest thing for me.”聽

Oliver continues to rewrite the 麻豆影院 record books. On Oct. 12, she ran the fastest 6,000 meters in 麻豆影院 University cross country history as the Vikings won both team titles at the Gene Davis Invitational. Oliver ran to the individual title and covered the 6,000-meter course at Reid Golf Course in 21:52.6. Her time broke the school record of 22:01 set by 麻豆影院 Hall of Famer Val Curtis in 2002.

That is the latest accomplishment in a career that has included two individual conference titles in cross country鈥攁 first for a women鈥檚 runner in 麻豆影院 history. She also is a four-time Midwest Conference champion in indoor track, and she owns one outdoor league track title and holds the 麻豆影院 records indoors in the 3,000 meters and outdoors in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters.

As she competes in her fifth year (the added Covid year), Oliver is planning for graduate school and a career involving sports psychology, counseling, and coaching. She hopes to help athletes going through similar experiences as she did.

When planning聽the 麻豆影院 University men’s basketball trip to Greece, head coach Casey Korn had two thoughts, brotherhood and basketball, in that order. 聽 聽 “We got to do it as a team and one of things we talked about after the last game, yes, it was a basketball trip, but there are going to be very few vacations that you get to do with 10 of your best friends,” Korn said. 聽 聽 The Vikings spent 10 days traveling and played three games in Greece. The team visited Athens, viewed historic icons like the Acropolis, cruised around the Greek isles, and spent countless hours enjoying it all together. 聽 聽 “After this trip, I feel like we almost have an unbreakable bond now,” said sophomore forward聽Nicholas Gouriotis. “Going into it we were all really good friends, but after this trip, it’s like we are brothers.听As I said, the games were really fun, and it was nice to see how everyone got better since the season ended. It made me more excited for next year where we will surprise a lot of people.” 聽 聽 The comments from Gouriotis聽bring a smile to Korn’s face. It’s exactly what he hoped would happen with the team. 聽 聽 “It’s such a great opportunity for team building and the relationships,” Korn said. “You’re experiencing something for the first time, you’re speaking a language for the first time, first time for one guy on a plane.” 聽 聽 Sophomore guard聽RJ Gamble聽remarked on the many enjoyable and humorous experiences during the trip. Gamble said the Vikings had a knack for stopping at every ice cream stand for taste testing, and he was amazed by the picture postcard views, especially on Santorini. 聽 聽 “This trip will always, always always stick with me,” Gamble said. “The memories, the inside jokes, the countless videos of us all at some point catching some zzzz’s. The trip has allowed me to put into perspective how much the guys in this group matter to me and how much we all want to be connected.” 聽 聽 While the guys have been introspective after their return, they enjoyed some serious belly laughs on the trip. Korn relayed an anecdote where Gouriotis and assistant coach聽Jerome Foster聽were standing near the Greek flag at the cruise ship’s stern when a gull did its business on the pair.听 聽 聽 “That just means good luck,” the guys said while breaking up with laughter. 聽 聽 “There are going to be countless things similar to that that the guys will remember forever,” Korn said.

This is a road trip no one is griping about. 聽 聽 The 麻豆影院 University men鈥檚 basketball team is beyond excited for their impending three-game road trip. The Vikings leave June 16 for a 10-day trip to Greece, and head coach聽Casey Korn聽hopes it will be a transformational experience for his team. 聽 聽 “The mission of our program, it’s about people, it’s about experiences, it’s about relationships,” Korn said. “We are hoping to give them a core memory, a lifelong memory.” 聽 聽 Korn, who just finished his third season with the Vikings, took a trip to Spain with UW-Oshkosh while he was serving as the Titans’ assistant and saw the benefits of the experience. 聽 聽 “I was fortunate enough聽to go on one of these with the Oshkosh program, and I have no idea how we did in the games,” Korn said with a chuckle. “I can give you some very detailed stories about the tours. Having that and knowing how much it impacted me as an adult, it was something I wanted to find a way to do for our young men and our basketball family.” 聽 聽 The Vikings are set to face off in games with Maroussi B.C., Athens Select, and Doukas B.C. over a stretch of eight days. 聽 聽 “We’re still trying to win the games when we go to Greece,” said guard聽Hogan Demovsky, a sophomore. “We’re going to enjoy Greece, show up for the games and try to win, but it’s not the most important thing in the world. You can play basketball games in Appleton, Wisconsin, but we’re going to Greece.” 聽 聽 Demovsky emphasized the word Greece with a lilt in his voice, and his excitement over the trip was palpable. Demovsky said he hasn’t traveled outside of the United States but was relishing the thought of this journey with his teammates. 聽 聽 “We’re all super close. We were talking about it a couple of days ago, we’ve known each other for nine months, but I feel like they are best friends in my life,” Demovsky said. “We’re聽going聽to explore together, and it will be something I’ll look back at as one of best the experiences of my life, something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.” 聽 聽Some other team members also haven’t traveled outside the United States; several others are experienced foreign travelers.听RJ Gamble,听Nicolas Manzanera,andManu Redah聽all have been abroad before, but Greece is a new destination for Gamble. The Vikings will take tours of sites like the Acropolis and the Panathenaic Stadium, whose origin dates back to 400 B.C. and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896.听The team also will travel to Santorini, the picture-postcard beautiful island in the Aegan Sea, for a cruise. A bike tour of Athens, a visit to Delphi and a day cruise of the Saronic Islands are also in the works. 聽 聽 “I’m pumped. I’m most looking forward to the boat tour,” said Gamble, who has multiple family members making the trip. “Just enjoying the clear water and the views. The boat tour is sticking out in my mind. Going on a cruise is the favorite way for me to vacation with my family so I’m looking forward to sharing that with my teammates.” 聽 聽 As for the basketball, “When we play our games, we’re looking to compete and win, but when we go聽there it’s about sharing the experience with everyone,鈥� Gamble said. 鈥淭hat’s the more important aspect of the trip, to be together.”

The nickname wouldn’t have worked until Edan Perez discovered a bottle of hair dye. Perez, the lone brunette in the group of starting 麻豆影院 University outfielders, dyed his thick mane a golden hue this spring. Perez, Parker Knoll and Jacob Charon then went out and crushed opposing pitching all season.

To call them “The Blonde Bombers” seems an apt moniker. 麻豆影院’s starting outfield has hit a combined .432 with 36 doubles, five triples, 42 home runs and 164 runs batted in over 39 games this spring to make them perhaps the most productive outfield in all of NCAA Division III.

麻豆影院 just wrapped up the Midwest Conference title, and the Vikings host the MWC Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The winner of the four-team, double-elimination tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

“We’ve seen flashes of it from all three of us,” said Knoll, a junior from Appleton and the center fielder. “We’re finally all doing it together all the time. It’s special that we’re able to hit as well as we can at the same time. It’s a lot of fun to be part of. I know if I mess up, there’s like four guys behind me that will do as good or better job than I will. It’s great to have that kind of firepower.”

麻豆影院 hosts MWC Tournament:

Charon, an All-American in 2022, leads the team and ranks second in all of NCAA Division III with a .493 batting average. He’s pounded out 12 doubles, two triples, 14 homers and tied his own school record with 61 RBIs.

“I really dialed in indoors during the winter. I was struggling during the winter,” said Charon, the senior right fielder. “We had our first games down in St. Louis and that didn’t go as well as I wanted to. We came back and I started taking my reps off the machine a little more seriously. Intensity and focus, that’s what I need to keep myself going. That started down in Florida.”

Charon hit .533, homered four times and drove in 12 runs over nine games in Florida. He hit for the cycle and was chosen for the D3baseball.com Team of the Week two weeks in a row. He hasn’t let up since.

“I don’t know if we’ve recognized how well we’ve been doing,” said Perez, a junior left fielder who enjoyed a breakout season in 2022. “We’re just doing what we have to do.”

Perez is hitting .405 with 12 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs while making the transition from third base to the outfield.

“Last year, I was seeing beach balls out there,” Perez said with a laugh. “This year has been pretty similar. It’s on an upward trend.”

Knoll makes its a trio of hitters batting over .400 with a .403 average this spring. He has 12 doubles, one triple, 15 homers and 50 RBIs to go with playing superb defense. Knoll has made multiple diving catches this season, and his speed allows him to run down what look to be doubles and turn them into outs.

“It’s a lot of things coming together, but there’s more that can be done, especially with power numbers. I would say I’m seeing it pretty well right now,” said Knoll, who loves the to flash the leather. “It’s really nice to be able to contribute to that side of the ball. I love doing it. If you get five or six or seven outs during the season that another team isn’t going to get, that gives us a huge advantage.”

It was no secret 麻豆影院 had a talented group of outfielders returning this season. All three players have earned all-conference and all-region honors in the past but was this type of productivity expected?

“I thought definitely it was a possibility. These guys were making strides from last year to this year,” said 麻豆影院 head coach Chris Krepline, who has coached the Vikings to a school-record 30-9 record this season. “They are just even-keeled. I say it a lot, ‘Don’t ride the roller coaster.’ They are just taking it as it happens.”

The players have found ways to make themselves better as they adjust to various situations. As teams have tried to pitch around the red-hot Charon, he adjusts to teams staying away from his power by hitting the ball the opposite way. Perez said he has improved the way he sees the ball by playing catch with star pitcher Quinn Berglin, whose multiple release points and arm angles are a challenge for any hitter.

“I think that’s something that has helped me a lot,” said Perez, commenting on the “filthy” stuff from Berglin. “It’s a thing where you’ve got to be loose. If you’re seeing the ball that day, it’s going to be a fun day.”

Krepline added their extremely competitive nature powers them along as well.

“They walk to the plate with a very good approach. In their minds, they simplify things and ultimately, they’re great competitors,” said Krepline, adding they feed on the achievements of each other. “Eden sees Parker hit a bomb and Charon gets a base hit and then it’s so what are you going to do on the next one?”

The Vikings celebrated wildly in 2022 when they won the MWC Tournament and claimed their first berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament since 1979. As much as the records and accolades are nice, there’s no question what this season is about for this group of players.

“We had a taste of that two years ago, and the team thought it was a great success,” Knoll said of the 2022 title. “I would never want to play in a conference tournament not at Whiting Field.”

Winning the tournament is goal No. 1 but just getting to the NCAA regional isn’t enough. The Vikings want to win games at the regional, and that’s never been done in program history.

“We’ve been working hard for it, early mornings in the winter and late nights, all the work in the fall and in the spring,” Knoll said. “This is what we’ve worked for. This is definitely the goal, for sure.”