Phoenix Weekly: Nov. 15

11/15/2023 4:00:00 PM

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay men's soccer teams are your 2023 Horizon League Champions! The Phoenix defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 1-0 this past Saturday to secure their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009. GB will take on Western Michigan tomorrow at noon CT in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

WEEK IN REVIEW
CROSS COUNTRY
The Phoenix Cross Country team competed at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional this past Friday at the Zimmer Championship Course hosted by Wisconsin. The Green Bay women finished 27th out of 32 teams. Kelsey Radobicky finished first among the Phoenix women, placing 68th overall with a time of 21:44.4 in the 6K. The Green Bay men finished 24th out of 30 teams in the 10K. Noah Jahnke paced the Phoenix with a time of 31:43.6, finishing 97th overall.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Green Bay men's basketball won its first game of the 2023-24 season as they defeated St. Francis (Ill.) 72-56 last Thursday at the Kress Center. Noah Reynolds tallied a double-double to lead the Phoenix with 23 points and 10 assists. Elijah Jones had 19 points, shooting 9-of-9 from the floor while also finishing with eight rebounds.

MEN'S SOCCER
The Green Bay men's soccer team is heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 after winning the Horizon League Championships, defeating IUPUI in the HL Semifinal and Oakland in the Championship. On Thursday, Green Bay was in a stalemate up until the 33rd minute when Josh Johansen found Keegan Walker for his fifth goal of the season to give the Phoenix the lead. Andrew Paolucci doubled Green Bay's lead in the 40th minute to cushion the GB lead. Logan Finnegan of IUPUI found the net in the 66th minute to cut the deficit back to one goal, but it wasn't enough as Green Bay went on to win 2-1 to advance to the Horizon League Championship Match.

On Saturday, the Phoenix defeated Oakland in the Horizon League Championship 1-0 on a Chris Album goal in the 25th minute. The Phoenix led the rest of the way, only allowing two shots on goal for the entirety of the match.

SWIM & DIVE
The Green Bay men's team defeated St. Norbert 178-53, and the women's team also beat St. Norbert 171.5-47.5.

Men's Events: Green Bay's John Burnard won the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:49.90. Gabe Luepke won the 200 freestyle in 1:48.04. Carson Beals won the 50 freestyle in 21.98 and Eli Zimmerman finished right behind with a time of 22.05. Max Kasal won the 100 butterfly by almost five seconds, finishing with a time of 50.62.

Women's Events: Green Bay finished in the top three spots in the 200 medley relay, the first-place team of Esther Oswald, Carly Zaprzal, Ella Crawford, and Kaleigh Gale finished with a time of 1:54.53. Jacqui Rude won the 200 Freestyle in 2:04.53. McKenna Metropulos won the 50 freestyle by almost a full second, finishing in 24.68. Alexa Kelly won the 500 freestyle by ten full seconds over Kathryn Fischer in a time of 5:20.81.

VOLLEYBALL
The Green Bay volleyball team picked up two Horizon League wins over Oakland and Cleveland State to clinch a quarterfinal bye in the Horizon League Championships this weekend. On Friday, Green Bay defeated Oakland in four sets (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23). Tiffany Paalman led the Phoenix offense with 15 kills. Hannah Vanden Berg had a double-double with 11 kills and 19 digs. Abby Gardner led Green Bay's defense with 31 digs. Emma Best also finished with a double-double 10 kills, and 21 digs. On Saturday, Green Bay defeated Cleveland State on Senior Night in five sets (25-15, 23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13). Paalman finished with a career-high 23 kills, while Cora Behnke had 17 kills. Best led the team in digs with 20. Emma Johnson finished with a career-high 65 assists.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Phoenix women's basketball team picked up their first win of the 2023-24 season, defeating Illinois State 88-62 at the Kress Center on Saturday. GB was led by Callie Genke, who had a career-high 26 points, shooting 9-14 from the floor and 5-9 from three. Cassie Schiltz added 15 points and five rebounds. The Phoenix was solid all day, but a 24-8 fourth quarter put an exclamation point on the Green & White win.

A LOOK AHEAD
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Green Bay men's basketball team travels to Bozeman, Montana for a Multi-Team event against Montana State and UC Riverside on Monday and Tuesday next week. Montana State is led by Brian Goracke, averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Patrick McMahon is right behind him, averaging 14.5 points per game. The Bobcats are 1-1 early in the season, taking down Northwest Indian College in their opener before falling to Seattle U, 71-68.

UC Riverside has started the season 1-2, winning their opener against UC Merced before falling in their last two to Utah and Portland. Barrington Hargress leads UC Riverside, averaging 12.3 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting.

Noah Reynolds leads the Phoenix, averaging 18.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game. Marcus Hall leads the Phoenix in rebounds per game, averaging 7.5.

MEN'S SOCCER
Green Bay is heading back to Michigan tomorrow to take on Western Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It's the third appearance in the tournament since the Phoenix transitioned to Division I in 1981.

Western Michigan won the Missouri Valley Conference and finished the year 15-1-3. The Broncos are led by the MVC's Player of the Year, Dylan Sing, who scored 14 goals in 17 regular season games. Charlie Sharp is also dangerous for WMU, and now leads the team with 15 goals.

VOLLEYBALL
The Green Bay volleyball team will travel to Dayton, Ohio at Wright State for the Horizon League Championships. GB will play in the semifinal on Saturday against the highest-seed remaining after Friday's quarterfinals.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Green Bay women's basketball travels to Omaha, Neb. To square off with Creighton tomorrow. Morgan Maly leads Creighton, averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. For Green Bay, Callie Genke is averaging 16.5 points per game off the bench. Natalie McNeal is averaging five rebounds per game. Bailey Butler is the leader in assists for the Phoenix, averaging four.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
The 2023 Phoenix Fund Fall Drive is officially underway! Investing in the Phoenix Fund helps give Phoenix student-athletes the best opportunity to excel in competition, in the classroom, and in the community. The annual Fall Drive focuses on engaging with alumni, fans, supporters, and friends of the university to support the Phoenix Fund philanthropically. These funds enhance academic services, health and wellness, scholarships, and recruiting, among other valuable services for academic achievement and competitive preparation.

The Green Bay Basketball Coaches Show is back for the 2023-24 season. The first show took place last night at The Bar on Lime Kiln, with the next one scheduled for Dec. 18. Each show will run from 6-7 p.m. and air live on WDUZ The Fan 107.5 FM. The Bar on Lime Kiln is located at 606 Lime Kiln Rd, Green Bay, WI 54302. All shows are free and open to the public.

Calling all Phoenix youth! Students in kindergarten through 8th grade are encouraged to sign up for Phlash's Phriends, the Official Kid's Club of the Green Bay Phoenix. At just $25 per child, each member receives numerous benefits, including a free ticket to all home volleyball and basketball games, postgame court access, Phoenix apparel, and personalized Kid's Club Day activities.

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