2013-14 Falcons Year in Review: Top five wins

MEQUON, Wis. – Between its 23 varsity sports, Concordia University Wisconsin won many games, meets and events throughout the 2013-14 season. The Falcons captured three conference championships, which helped mark yet another successful run as a department in 2013-14.

CUWFalcons.com looks at five wins that stood out above the rest from this past athletics season. From championship clinching moments to program firsts CUW had many strong wins against quality competition.

This is the first of several stories being put out as a part of the 2013-14 Year in Review series. The top six stories of the year have already started with a new story being released each Tuesday until number one is revealed. CUWFalcons.com will also be releasing a top five moments of the year, as well as a couple statistics and numbers year in review stories. 

Several games were considered for this list, but without further adieu here are the top five wins from the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons during the 2013-14 athletics season. 

No. 5 – Women's Basketball storms back against UW-La Crosse.

After starting the year with three straight road victories, the CUW Women's Basketball team was set for its home opener against UW-La Crosse on November 26. They welcomed in a strong Eagles team from the highly competitive WIAC.

The home opener couldn't have started any worse for the Falcons as they fell behind 15-0 6:50 into play. Rather than panic, CUW started its comeback bid and trailed just 27-22 at halftime.

The Falcons would continue its run in the second half and built a 63-54 lead with 3:06 remaining in the game. UWL then answered back and trimmed the CUW lead to two on a couple different occasions but senior Camille Parsons sealed the win with a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock.

The win not only gave the Falcons a quality non-conference victory but also helped propel them to a 9-0 start, which marked the best start under head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones.

For a complete story on the November 26 win, click here.

No. 4 – Men's Hockey gains first ever win over MSOE

The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Hockey team had its best year ever in 2013-14, winning a program-best 10 games. The last of those 10 wins was maybe the most impressive as the Falcons defeated MSOE for the first time in their seven-year history, 6-5.

The night was also senior night for the Falcons and helped them gain some revenge after falling to the Raiders, 5-1, the evening before. CUW came out rolling with a 3-0 edge after 20 minutes of play.

MSOE would not back down and cut the Falcons lead to 3-2 early in the second period before senior Brandon Bayer and Brett Penner scored late second-period goals to make the score 5-2 after the second stanza.

The Raiders would score the first three goals of the final period, but sophomore Chris Hughes lit the lamp for the second time at the 13:17 mark of the third, giving CUW a 6-5 win.

For a complete story on the first-ever win over MSOE, click here.

No. 3 – Women's Lacrosse edges North Central for key victory

North Central entered the April 15 Women's Lacrosse game against CUW with a 4-0 record in the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference. The Falcons were 4-1 and needed a win to have any shot at second place in the league standings.

CUW would secure that win, a 14-13 thriller that saw junior Hannah Redden score the game-winning goal with 29 seconds left on the clock. CUW had a 13-10 with 12 minutes remaining in the contest but three NCC goals scored just 38 seconds apart tied the score at 13-13 with 11:15 left on the clock.

The Falcons win also marked a career game for the eventual MWLC Offensive Player of the Year, junior Sammi Reiter. Reiter tied her own program record with eight goals, four coming in each half.

The entire 2014 season was impressive for CUW as they won a program-best 12 games. CUW put up record after record, win after win, and none seemed more important than the 14-13 victory over North Central.

For a complete story on the Falcons win over NCC, click here.

No. 2 – Men's Lacrosse downs four-time national qualifier Adrian

Much like the Women's Lacrosse team, the CUW Men's Lacrosse team had a banner year in 2014, posting a 14-4 record and hosting a Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament game.

One of the biggest of those 14 wins came during the non-conference season as the Falcons defeated four-time national qualifier Adrian College, 11-10. The Bulldogs have been the top team in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, capturing the league's automatic bid in each of the past four seasons.

The Falcons used a strong second period to build a 5-2 halftime lead but saw that lead erased in the third as the score was 7-7 heading into the final stanza. After taking a 10-8 lead, CUW saw Adrian strike back with two goals, the second coming with 1:52 on the clock, making the score 10-10.

Forty seconds later, senior Peter Morton scored the game-winning tally, netting an unassisted goal with 1:12 remaining to give the Falcons the victory.

Senior Danny Dahms was the player of the game for the Falcons as he scored eight points, including netting six goals. The six goals are tied for the third most in program history.

For the complete story on the Men's Lacrosse win over Adrian, click here.

No. 1 – Football secures 28-27 win over Benedictine

To open the conference portion of its 2013 schedule, the CUW Football team hosted Benedictine University at Tomasini Stadium on October 5.

Little did the Falcons and Eagles know that game would play a huge role in the NACC Championship race, as CUW went on to a perfect 6-0 record after coming from behind for a 28-27 victory.

Benedictine scored a touchdown with just over nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter that gave the Eagles a 27-21 advantage. A missed extra point kept the lead at six. After trading a few possessions, CUW got a key defensive stand and the ball back with 3:32 to play and no timeouts remaining.

That is when quarterback Austin Damaschke and the rest of the Falcons offense hit the field and drove 82 yards for the game-winning score. LaCurt Evans would score the game-winner from two yards out and David Gonzalez nailed the extra point for the 28-27 conference-opening victory.

Damaschke threw for 326 yards and three scores in the win, while Garrett Wenzelburger hauled in eight passes for 140 yards and a score. Evans finished with 67 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons, while Luke Scheuerlein had 10 tackles and an interception to lead the defense.

The win helped start an impressive conference run for the Falcons which earned them a spot in the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. CUW saw its season end in the opening round against UW-Platteville.

For a complete story on the top win of the 2013-14 athletics season, click here.