Day: February 19, 2020

Eagles skate past Lakers in Sectional playoff opener

The Sauk Prairie Eagles used another of its patented quick starts and went on to a lopsided 10-2 win

Sauk Prairie Eagles captain, Willy Hanson, shown here in an earlier game at Waunakee, set up a pair of goals for the Eagles at SPARC on Tuesday as they moved to the second round of the post season with a 10-2 win against the Madison LaFollette/Madison East Lakers.

against the Madison LaFollette/Madison East Lakers in its WIAA Division 1 Section 3 playoff opener at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) Tuesday.

The fourth seeded Eagles moved in front just 75 seconds into the contest and owned a 4-0 lead against the number 11 Lakers by the five-minute mark, carrying a 7-1 margin into the second period and a 9-2 cushion into the final 17.

Regular season points leader Riley Jelinek picked up right where he left off, the Eagles’ senior scoring twice and setting up two others to pace the attack. Fellow senior Camden Desroches also scored twice and added an assist, sophomore Nick Mast collecting a goal and two assists and sophomore Hakan Peterson picking up three helpers. Senior Lance Bauernhuber collected a goal and two assists and senior Willy Hanson added two assists.

Other Eagles goals came from senior defenseman August Begalske and sophomores Micah Hanson and Erik Peterson. Senior Dylan Anderson added an assist.

Senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor picked up her 20th win of the season in goal for the Eagles, turning aside 13 shots.

The Eagles will stay on home ice Thursday night, hosting the fifth seeded Madison Regents who advanced with a 7-0 shutout win at Madison Ice Arena against the Deforest Norskies. Winner of Thursday’s game will play either the top seeded Verona Tigers or number nine Madison Memorial Spartans in the Sectional semi-final next week.

Regular season points leader Riley Jelinek picked up right where he left off, the Eagles’ senior scoring twice and setting up two others to pace the attack. Fellow senior Camden Desroches also scored twice and added an assist, sophomore Nick Mast collecting a goal and two assists and sophomore Hakan Peterson picking up three helpers. Senior Lance Bauernhuber collected a goal and two assists and senior Willy Hanson added two assists.

Other Eagles goals came from senior defenseman August Begalske and sophomores Micah Hanson and Erik Peterson. Senior Dylan Anderson added an assist.

Senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor picked up her 20th win of the season in goal for the Eagles, turning aside 13 shots.

The Eagles will stay on home ice Thursday night, hosting the fifth seeded Madison Regents who advanced with a 7-0 shutout win at Madison Ice Arena against the Deforest Norskies. Winner of Thursday’s game will play either the top seeded Verona Tigers or number nine Madison Memorial Spartans in the Sectional semi-final next week.

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Spartans upend Thunderbirds in Sectional playoff opener

Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds saw its varsity hockey season come to an abrupt end with a 3-1

Baraboo Thunderbirds senior forward looks to screen or get a tip in during third period play of the playoff game against the Madison Memorial Spartans at Pierce Park Pavilion on Tuesday night. Spartans grabbed a 3-1 to end the Thunderbirds’ season. Behind Logan are Memorial forward Will Boyle and goaltender Wes Turner.

loss against the Madison Memorial Spartans at Pierce Park Pavilion in its Division 1, Section 3 playoff opener on Tuesday night.

Thunderbirds held home ice advantage, but the match brought together the number eight T-Birds and number nine Spartans and there was little separation from much of the mid-pack squads in the section.

Spartans scored the lone goal of the opening period but Thunderbirds senior Josh Beale converted a feed from fellow senior Cameron Logan to even things up in the middle period.

The game winner came during a rash of penalties near the end of the second period, both teams killing off infractions through the final five minutes.

The Spartans never gave the home side an opportunity to mount much of an attack in the final frame and a third goal in the second half of the period was a back breaker.

Thunderbirds wrap up an 11-13-1 season with the loss to the Spartans and this was the final game for a solid group of seniors including goaltender Dane Hinz; defenseman George Fitzwilliams and forwards Campbell Koseor; Beale; Logan; Will Gunnell and Justin Kufner.

Fish blueline blast leads RWD past Cheesemakers

Ben Fish, a senior on the RWD varsity hockey team is a defensive specialist, at his best in his own end.

Freshman Caden Brandt stands ready for a pass in front of Monroe Cheesemakers senior goaltender Heath Bear during their WIAA Division 1 plyayoff encounter at RACA Tuesday night.

He scored three regular season goals this year, but his primary job is preventing goals, not scoring them.

But he came up big for the RWD crew on Tuesday night, finding the right spot with his shot from the blue near the right-side boards in the late minutes of the opening period at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA).

That was the game winner and only goal in a 1-0 win that pushed Fish and the RWD team past the Monroe Cheesemakers and into the WIAA Division 1, Section 3 quarter-finals. Sophomore goaltender Cooper Oakes collected the shutout win in goal.

A great moment for one of the team’s five seniors – a team player who always seems to have a smile on his face.

“It’s awesome for him, especially since he was out nearly a month with a separated shoulder,” said RWD Head Coach Neil Mattson who grabbed varsity career win number 298 with the playoff victory. “Ben is a great kid.”

The contest shows the parity, in particular in the second half of the Section as the RWD crew entered the game as the number seven seed, playing 10th ranked Monroe who actually entered the game with an impress 14-6-2 overall record.

Mattson was impressed at his team’s ability to shut down the Cheesemakers who have shown a knack for putting goals on the board this season.

“That top line for them is good,” said Mattson. “The top four players on that team accounted for 150 points this year.”

RWD senior leads the pack over the Monroe Cheesemakers blue line during first period action in their WIAA Division 1 playoff game at RACA Tuesday night. RWD picked up a 1-0 win and will move on to play the Madison Edgewood Crusaders in the Sectional quarterfinals Thursday night at LeBahn Arena in Madison at 6 p.m.

Bring on Crusaders

With the win, the Cheavers move into the role of heavy underdog taking on the Madison Edgewood Crusaders at LeBahn Arena in Madison on Thursday night.

The Cheavers improved its own record to 11-13-1 with the win Tuesday but will be stepping into the ring against an opponent with just four losses this season and carrying an 11-game winning streak that dates back to early January.

While the players will want to perform their best for the seniors, Mattson is putting no extra pressure on this team, made up primarily of underclassmen.

“We need to take time and space and keep them outside while capitalizing on our opportunities. We are going to adjust the forecheck,” said Mattson adding it might be a little different each period.

“If we keep shots to the outside, Coop will make the saves. He has been playing well, very well and the team is getting a better understanding of the systems.”

Mattson knows the odds are stacked against them and the team’s primary goal right now is gaining experience for the future.

“We have so much youth, but it takes time to build Rome. Everything is a building block for now and the future,” said Mattson who already has put together an ambitious summer schedule to keep his players on the ice and in the game.