Day: September 22, 2021

Bounce back weekend for TW in Elite league play

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/PublisherTw

Saukhockey.info

Team Wisconsin 18U returned to New Hope, MN for its second weekend of Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League play and found more success this time around.  

After opening league play with two losses and a tie the previous weekend, TW hit the win column with a 4-3 win against SIT Mutual Funds in its first of two games Sunday, then took a step forward against Kowalski’s later the same day battling to a 2-2 draw against the same team it fell 7-6 against the previous weekend.  

Wrapping up the weekend, Team Wisconsin downed Twin Cities Orthopedics 5-2, again a step forward from a 4-4 tie the previous weekend.  

Team Wisconsin 4 SIT Mutual Funds 3 

Down 2-0 after a period, TW responded with four unanswered middle period goals, then limited its opponent to one in the third, scored just 74 seconds from the final buzzer.  

Dayne Deanovich (Junior – St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers) and Josh Austin (Senior – St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers) scored two each to place the Team Wisconsin attack. 

Team Wisconsin 2 Kowalski’s 2  

The second game of the day saw TW grab control early with a pair of unanswered first period goals, but Kowalskis struck back for one in the second and tied the game 6:50 into the final frame.  

Deanovich fired his third of the day to open the scoring and the other came from Luke Lindsay (Senior – Eau Claire Memorial) 

Team Wisconsin 5 Twin Cities Orthopedics 2  

The offense started slowly in this one, team playing through a scoreless first period and both teams firing one in the middle period. 

TW fired a pair in the first 12 minutes of the third to grab control but didn’t have the result assured until adding two more in the game’s final minute. 

Kade Smigaj (Junior – SPASH Panthers); Hunter Bill (Junior – Notre Dame Academy Tritons); JJ Wiebusch (Senior – Edgewood Crusaders); Cody Menzel (Senior – Edgewood Crusaders) and Callan Budinger (Senior – Notre Dame Academy Tritons) scored the goals for Team Wisconsin.  

Erik Peterson, a Sauk Prairie Eagles senior, didn’t hit the score sheet, but was nonetheless a contributor for Team Wisconsin.  

With the weekend results, Team Wisconsin sits at 2-2-2 and fifth in the 10-team league standings.  

Team Wisconsin will get a chance to play with home state advantage this weekend with four games at Chippewa Falls Ice Arena, but the opposition will be tough, beginning with a pair against MAP South Hockey, the current league leaders with a record of 5-1-1.  

Wrapping up a busy weekend will be Saturday evening/Sunday morning contests against Shattuck St. Mary’s who enter the weekend with a 2-1 league record.  

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Ducks looking to improve defense for Cougars meeting

By Jim den Hollander  

Editor/Publisher  

Saukhockey.info 

The Dells Ducks moved closer to its second weekend homestand of the season with Coach Anthony Rohde paying his weekly visit to the Dells. 

Dells Ducks

Personal and work commitments are keeping the skating and stickhandling expert in the Chicago area permanently this season, but he makes the most of weekly visits to the Dells area. His practices are known to be the toughest and most specific in terms of areas that need improvement and the players love his ability to get the most out of them.  

Before hitting the ice on Tuesday, Rohde said in an interview (see below) he discussed the areas of concern with the coaches and not only found the drills for a pair of Tuesday practices, but also mapped out the rest of the week with Head Coach Shaun Falzone and Coach Mario Lachica. 

The Ducks continue to work back to front, working hard to lower enemy shots on goal and devise a plan for a quick transition from defense to offense in their own zone.  

The Cougars are generally known as a high-octane offensive machine and the perennial Midwest-East will prove a formidable opponent this weekend. 

 Game time Friday and Saturday at the Lake Delton Ice Arena is 7:30 p.m. 

 

Happy Birthday Seth  

The Ducks are happy to have reaquainted with Seth Stoutenburg this season. A young team member in the 2019-20 season, the Roseville, MN native is back with the team this season and has made his presence felt on the ‘Blue’ line as a winger.  

Held off the board on the opening weekend it’s just a matter of time before Stoutenburg hits the scoresheet. He plays a regular role on special teams as well as at regular strength and will be a big addition to the Ducks’ offense this season. 

On Tuesday (September 21), Stoutenberg celebrated his 18th Birthday with teammates. Happy Birthday Seth! 

Seth Stoutenburg

Crosser back in town  

Old School throwback hockey player Colin Cross was a fan favorite for his on-ice effort and sometimes pugilism when he starred with the Dells Ducks in 2013-14 and 2014-15, both ending with a return trip to Simsbury, CT which just happened to be the site of the USA Hockey National Championship tournament. 

Both a fan favorite and popular with his teammates, everyone was aware of ‘Crosser’s’ love of Country-Western Music. In recent years, Crosser went all in on his passion and he has become a regular on the Nashville Music Scene where he now makes his home. In the midst of a tour that has taken him back to New England already, Cross will make making several stops in the Dairy State, including Bobbers Island Grill on Thursday night.  

Please join us in welcoming Crosser back to town. Check out the set a Bobber’s, support a former Duck and a Ducks’ sponsor. You won’t be disappointed. 

Colin Cross

14U SouthCentral WEHL finds return match tougher

By Jim den Hollander  

Editor/Publisher 

Saukhockey.info 

Photos Courtesy Jessica Othmer

After collecting a pair of shutout wins at the Lake Delton Ice Arena the previous weekend against SouthEast, the South Central 14u Girls Wisconsin Elite Hockey League (WEHL) team found it a little more difficult in Ozaukee this past weekend.  

The tension from the previous weekend as the third and fourth consecutive meetings of the season saw some more physical matches in this hardfought rivalry. The SouthEast team found a way to the net in the opener, battling South Central for a 2-2 draw, then finally collecting a win with a 3-1 edge in the second contest.  

South Central 2 SouthEast 2 

Both teams led once in the first game but neither held the position for long. After a scoreless opening period, it was South Central on the board first board first with a goal by Tahni Barger from the Sauk Prairie Monkeys/Sauk Prairie Flyers with set ups for Carolina Cutrano and Abby Hollfelder, both Madison Mavericks. 

Tahni Barger (right) and a 14U WEHL South Central teammate celebrate her goal to open the scoring at Ozaukee

That goal came with 4:43 to play in the middle period but teams were even 43 seconds later on a goal by Aly Schuster (Milwaukee Jr. Admirals/WCYHA/Them Girls). 

Southeast led for the first time in three contests early in the third period on a goal by Josee Busse (Reedsville) but this time South Central battled back after trailing just 35 seconds with a goal from Brynn Brinkmeier (Madison Mavericks/Wisconsin Jr. Stars) and help from Maizy Fonseca (Monroe) and Samara Collins (Coulee Region Stars/AAA Blue Devils/River Valley Fuse). 

Brynn Brinkmeier (red jersey) slams home the tying goal against SouthEast in the first of two games at Ozaukee on Sunday

SouthEast 3 South Central 1 

The host team finally pulled out a win in the second game, a pair of unanswered first period goals standing up as the difference in the contest. 

Brinkmeier scored the lone South-Central goal early in the final period from Olivia Dull (Waunakee), but Sydney Bertolino (Ozaukee Youth Hockey) scored her second of the game with 4:10 to go to restore the two-goal margin and clinch the win.  

Brinkmeier’s second of the day had South Central within a goal in the second contest, but the host SouthEast squad added a late one to clinch the win.

Busse fired the other SouthEast WEHL goal. 

The weekend results dropped the South-Central team to 2-3-1 in league play. The squad will take a break from WEHL league play and instead head to Darien, IL near the Windy City to take part in the Wheels of Fire Tournament, a massive event with several divisions of boys’ and girls’ teams.  

Baraboo’s Reese Olson gets a chance in close for South Central in one of two games played against SouthEast in Ozaukee on Sunday.
Reedsburg’s Paige Othmer (right) keeps an eye on a SouthEast player on defense with Leah Grudzinski (Madison Mavericks) coming on to help out in 14U WEHL action in Ozaukee Sunday.
Teammates on the 14U South Central WEHL team and Sauk Prairie Monkeys and Sauk Prairie Flyers, Tahni Bager (15) and Sarah Hash work together to clear their zone during their two game series Sunday in Ozaukee.