Pointer football hopes to keep win streak alive at Oshkosh By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette Much-improved UW-Oshkosh provides the next challenge for unbeaten UW-Stevens Point which has moved up to No. 11 in the American Football Coaches Association Division 3 rankings following last week's come-from-behind 24-20 Spud Bowl victory over UW-Stout. The 3-0 Pointers will take on the 2-1 Titans at 1 p.m. Saturday at 9,680-seat Titan Stadium (Radio Station WIZD, 99.9-FM). In addition to the lofty national ranking, the Pointers own the nation's fourth longest winning streak, eight games dating back to last season. Both the Pointers and Titans opened their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference seasons last week, with the Titans upending l998 NCAA Division 3 playoff semifinalist UW-Eau Claire, 16-14. Oshkosh, under 16th year coach Ron Cardo, has had little success against the Pointers in recent years. UW-SP, which leads the all-time series, 51-37-8, has won the last 11 meetings and 14 of the last 15, the Titans claiming a forfeit victory in 1987. Pointer coach John Miech (77-33-2) is 11-0 against the Titans. UW-O, which posted its last on the field win over the Pointers in 1983 (28-7) has surrendered 42.7 points per game to UW-SP over the last 15 meetings. The Pointers have scored at least 35 points in each of the last eight match-ups and won last year's meeting at Goerke Field, 47-28. Because of last week's close call against Stout, the Pointers aren't likely to be caught looking past the Titans who also defeated St. Norbert College, 24-14, and gave a strong effort in a 28-12 loss at No. 7-ranked Wittenberg (Ohio). Against the Blue Devils in the home opener witnessed by more than 3,000 fans last week, the Pointers needed a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Aulenbacher to Tom Nolan on a third-and-goal play with 8:14 remaining to rally past upset-minded Stout. The Pointers are now 13-0 in the Spud Bowl, which is co-sponsored by agri-business interests in the Central Wisconsin area. Proceeds from the fund-raiser, which promotes the potato industry, are used to provide scholarships to UW-SP students. The defense then stopped Stout, forcing a punt, and the offense was able to run out the clock, aided by a running-into-the-punter penalty against the Blue Devils and strong play by the offensive line and veteran running back Wally Schmitt. The other UW-SP scores came on a 21-yard field goal by Jason Steuck, who also missed two later attempts, a 4-yard run by Todd Goodman and a 13-yard interception return by Heath Novitzke following a blind side hit of Stout quarterback Matt Goryl by lineman Keith Berens which caused the ball to pop up into the air. The Blue Devils outgained the Pointers, 321-285, but turned the ball over four times compared to just twice by UW-SP which ranks 14th in Division 3 in turnover ratio at plus 6. Schmitt , who gained 88 yards in 20 carries, netted 69 in the fourth quarter. All told, the Stratford junior has gained 174 of his team high 284 yards rushing during the final period. Aulenbacher, a 6-6 senior from Hartford, finished with 16 completions in 36 attempts for 183 yards and was not intercepted. Against Oshkosh a year ago, he was a school record 26 of 31. Earning Pointer player of the week honors for their performances against Stout were Mosinee senior tackle Ryan Woller (offense), Wausau (East) senior tackle Berens, who had five tackles, including four solos (defense) and Hull, England (Wolfretron) freshman kicking specialist Ian Plante, a former professional soccer player who boomed all five kickoff attempts inside the Stout 10 (special teams). Men's Cross Country Despite resting top runners, the Pointers of coach Rick Witt finished second to UW-Parkside at the Carthage College Invitational last weekend. As a result, UW-SP remained No. 2 and gained a first place vote for the first time in the NCAA Division 3 rankings. The Pointers are tied for second in the national poll with UW-La Crosse behind top-ranked perennial power North Central (Ill.) College. Keene (N.H.) moved up to No. 4 this week while UW-Whitewater dropped to fifth. Leading UW-SP in the 18-team Carthage run was Rockford, Ill. (Jefferson) sophomore Ryan Enke who placed fifth overall with a clocking of 26.45, a showing which earned him runner of the week honors. Women's Cross Country The Pointers of coach Len Hill are ranked 27th in the NCAA-3 poll this week following a ninth place finish at the 37-team University of Minnesota Invitational last weekend. Of the teams participating, 15 were Division 3 members. West Bend (East) senior Jenny Krenz earned runner of the week honors by virtue of her 78th place finish in 20:11. Among UW-SP entrants, Krenz came in fourth. Also earning recognition this week was Junction City (SPASH) sophomore April Raykowski who led the Pointers' split squad to an eighth place finish in the 22-team Carthage Invitational with a 31st place clocking of 21:30. Soccer Despite a pair of shutout wins last week, the Pointers of coach Sheila Miech dropped to 23rd in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division 3 national poll. Player of the week honors went to Slinger senior forward Jennifer Davis (offense) and Stevens Point (SPASH) junior Margaret Domka (defense). Davis keyed a 6-0 win over UW-Stout by contributing to the Pointers' first four goals. She assisted on and scored first half goals before assisting on the team's first two goals of the second half. Domka's defensive play was a major factor in both the Stout game and a 1-0 win over UW-Whitewater. She lofted a 30-foot shot over the Warhawk goalie's head from her defensive position for the game-winner in the 77th minute of the match. The stalwart UW-SP defense limited Stout and Whitewater to a combined 10 shots on goal. Golf The Pointers will host the fourth annual WIAC Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Stevens Point Country Club. Play begins at 1 p.m. both days. In addition to the host Pointers, the field will include UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater. All have beaten each other during the course of this season and boast season scoring averages within 13 strokes of each other. Of the four, Oshkosh is the only team still seeking its first conference title. Both UW-Superior and UW-Platteville will be represented by individual golfers. The Pointers of coach Scott Frazier, who won the WIAC crown in 1997, enter the tourney on a high note after beating Eau Claire and leading WIAC schools by placing second in the Oshkosh Invitational last week. Eau Claire brings the best season scoring average of the four schools at 345.7 while Point's 358.0 average ranks highest. UW-SP, however, owns a 4-0 record this fall on the challenging SPCC outlay and beat each of the other three schools in dual meet competition. Veteran Kathryn Carlson brings a team best 87.9 season stroke averaging into the tourney, followed by freshman Rachel Sime at 89.8. Pointer golfer of the week honors were shared by Middleton sophomore Abby Hall and River Falls freshman Jessie Johnson. Hall fired a 90 from her No. 4 position in the win over Eau Claire and also stood out in the Oshkosh Invitational by firing an 87 each day. Johnson, playing at No. 5, shot a 92 against the Blugolds, then contributed an 86 and 87 at Oshkosh. Volleyball Earning player of the week honors for the Pointers was Summer Mrotek, a junior back row player from Brookfield (Central) who enjoyed an outstanding week serving and serve receiving. During four matches, Mrotek served 69 times without an error. She also had six aces in the Eau Claire tournament, four against Northland College and two against the host Blugolds. Mrotek finished the tourney with 57 serve receptions and only three errors. For the week, she recorded 50 digs for an average of 2.94 per game. Tennis Victories over St. Norbert and Ripon Colleges, both by 7-2 margins, improved the Pointers' season dual meet record to 3-1. Leading coach Nancy Page's charges was Oregon senior Tammy Byrne who gained WIAC singles player of the week honors after sweeping her matches against the Green Knights and Red Hawks. The straight set wins improved her season record to 6-1. Byrne also teamed with Sheboygan North product Jennifer Oelke for a pair of wins in doubles competition, enabling here to finish the week 4-0. The conference honor was the second of her UW-SP career for Byrne who was also cited last season.