Power produces game-winner for Nazareth College

Vernon Hills graduate John Power recently scored his first collegiate hockey goal, and it was one he will not forget.

The Nazareth College freshman fired home the game-winner 1:48 into overtime against St. Scholastica to give the Golden Flyers a 4-3 victory in a contest played in Oswego, N.Y. The victory improved the Golden Flyers' record to 5-4-3.

Power also has 3 assists this season for Nazareth College, which is located in Rochester, NY.

Women's basketball

Concordia-Chicago junior guard Morgan Jahnke (Grant) led the Cougars with a 24-point effort in an 87-78 nonconference overtime victory over St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn.

The Cougars are 8-4 overall and 6-3 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

Men's basketball

Augustana junior Brandon Motzel (Carmel) leads the Vikings (13-1, 3-0) with an average of 2 blocked shots per game and he is also the individual leader in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Women's basketball

• Augustana senior co-captain Valerie VanRoeyen (Libertyville) averages 10.5 points on shooting percentages of .449 from the floor, .375 from distance and a team-best .793 from the foul line.

• Augustana sophomore point guard Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) has dished out a team and CCIW-high 64 assists.

Women's softball

When Morgan Olszewski played her final softball game for Barrington High School, she decided that her career would come to an end.

"I always toyed with the idea of playing collegiate softball," she said. "But when I needed to make an official decision, I wanted to focus solely on my academics, since my end goal is to go to medical school."

But all that changed over the past few years and Olszewski couldn't be more grateful that Loyola University has given her a chance to play as a walk-on in the Division I program.

Olszewski attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio as a freshman.

"It was great, your ideal college experience," she said. "However, I quickly realized it was not my college experience."

No, Olszewski was getting the craving for softball again.

"I truly believe once you are an athlete, you will always be an athlete," she said. "You will always have that itch to throw a ball or dive into the pool."

At first, she thought it was just the idea of experiencing a new life at a new school without her sport.

But then she noticed it was a feeling that never went away.

"It was that itch to play," she said.

So when the spring academic term of 2014 arrived, Olszewski decided to transfer to Loyola for the fall of 2014.

"To finish off my year at Miami University, I began running," she said. "I was lucky enough to be selected in the lottery system to run the Chicago Marathon. I thought, this is perfect. I was looking for a new sport to pick up that could fill that

missing hole where softball used to be."

• Former Buffalo Grove and Illinois State softball standout Kate Stake has been named the new head softball coach at Valparaiso University.

Stake has eight seasons of assistant coaching experience at the Division I level, most recently serving as an assistant at mid-major power Hofstra.

"Kate Stake has the qualities we look for in head coaches," said Valpo director of athletics Mark LaBarbera. "She was a successful student-athlete, she has been a part of championship programs, and she has played for and coached with some of the most distinguished coaches in college softball. She has a strong commitment to student-athlete experience as well. We are excited to have her joining the Valpo Athletics family as the leader of our softball program."

Women's basketball

Former Buffalo Grove standout Christina Jost is the top assistant coach for Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. She was hired in the summer of 2014.

Jost has served as head coach and assistant coach at the college and high school levels. She spent two seasons as the head coach of St. Viator High School.

Prior to that, she spent six seasons as head coach at the University of Ozarks and then Northern New Mexico College.

In addition to her collegiate experience, Jost served as an assistant for two years at Hersey High and she has also been a volunteer for Special Olympics in West Virginia and Arkansas and has coached collegiate and high school softball.

Jost earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She started for four years on the West Virginia Wesleyan women's basketball team and served as a team captain from 1997-1999. Jost went on to earn her master's degree in education from Arkansas Tech University.

• Please e-mail Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com