Gada shutout leads Lightning past Golden Beavers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Badger Lightning varsity hockey team broke into the win column Saturday thanks in part to a 22-save shutout for junior goaltender Alyssa Gada and a goal from senior Mallory Ruland.

That turned out to be the game winner and the lone goal in a 1-0 win for the Lightning.

After Ruland’s goal, set up by first-year Kyran Merrell and sophomore Katelyn Allen with 4:46 to play in the opening period, it was all up to the goaltenders – Gada with the goose egg and Beaver Dams’ Emily Smedema who kicked out 35 of 36 at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo.

The win boosted the Lightning record to 1-1 while the Golden Beavers were playing their first game of the season. The game was the first Badger Conference game of the season for both teams.

The Lightning will be back in action Tuesday, hitting the road for the first time this season to take on the Wisconsin Valley Union at South Wood County Recreation Center in Wisconsin Rapids in a 5 p.m. contest. The Lightning will stay on the road for three games with confrerence matches on Saturday at Stoughton’s Mandt Community Center against the Icebergs and a visit to Sun Prairie Ice Arena Monday Dec. 5 to play the Cap City Cougars.

Next home game for the locals will be another conference tilt against the Rock County Fury at Pierce Park Pavilion Dec. 9.

Alyssa Gada stopped everything the Beaver Dam Golden Beavers could fire against her in collecting her first win and first shutout of the 2022/23 season Saturday at Pierce Park Pavilion. Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer

Mallory Ruland (13) handles the puck off a faceoff Saturday with some help from teammate and fellow senior Lani Selje.(25). ***Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer***

Cheavers double up Robins 4-2 in Somerset Conso

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The RWD Cheavers rebounded from a tough loss Friday, doubling the Antigo Red Robins 4-2 to capture the Consolation title at the Somerset Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

Cheavers were led by senior John Scott who set up three, but the final score flatters the Red Robins as the Cheavers dominated them with a 48-11 edge in shots on goal.

Junior Brady Baldwin fired his second of the season and second of the weekend to put the Cheavers in front, from Scott and senior Carsen Brandt with the lone goal of the first period in the 10^th minute.

Robins dressed just 10 skaters for the contest but kept it close and Paden Michalik pulled them even early in the middle period. Junior Iszak Elder put the Cheavers up again 9:04 into the period with his first of the season, helped by junior Andrey Tougas and Scott.

That 2-1 cushion help up into the final period when Tougas hit the net with the game winner early in the period, from senior Logan DeMars and junior Trey Lariden.

Riley Leveque got the Robins within a goal again near the halfway mark of the final frame setting the stage for senior Caden Brandt who sank his fourth of the campaign on a feed from Scott 91 seconds later.

Scott (2g, 3a) and Caden Brandt (4g, 1a) share the overall team scoring lead three games in with five points apiece.

Alex Griebe collected his second win of the season in goal for the Cheavers.

While the Cheavers moved to 2-1 on the season, the Robins fell back to 2-2 heading into play in the Great Northern Conference, Somerset Spartans captured the championship of its own event with a 3-2 win against the Eau Claire North Huskies later Saturday.

The Cheavers will enjoy a few days off allowing them to prepare for the Badger West Conference opener at Oregon Ice Arena against the host Panthers on Friday.

Next home game for the Cheavers will be at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) Tuesday, Dec. 6, the second of five straight conference matches that will carry them to the league’s halfway mark before Christmas for a second consecutive season.

Eagles’ late rally falls just short in Middleton

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Eagles made things interesting with a solid third period but ultimately fell short Saturday, doubled by the host Middleton Cardinals at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena.

The host Cards held a solid advantage through the first 34 minutes, outshooting its guest 40-22 and building a 3-0 lead despite some nice work between the pipes from Eagles’ senior Kaden Stracke.

The Eagles flipped the script in the final period, outshooting the Cards 17-14 down the stretch and getting two goals in 78 seconds to get within one late in the contest.

Junior Brady Engelkes fired the lone goal of the opening period for the home side with second period goals coming from junior Cam Semrad and senior Hayden WiLmmer.

Landon Froese likely won’t forget the first goal of his varsity career, the freshman converting a feed from junior Colin Harrington and senior Luke Mast with 3:05 to play.

Sophomore Gunnar Nachreiner pulled the Eagles within one, from senior Landon Cleary made the game much more interesting, but Middleton senior Drew Sjowall put it away with his empty netter 46 seconds after the Nachreiner tally.

Stracke stopped 50 of 53 shots for the Eagles with one shot into an empty cage. At the other end, senior Cam Haynes handled 37 of 39 in a wide open contest.

The Eagles fell to 1-1 with the tough loss while the Cardinals look strong out of the game, defeating powerhouse teams Waunakee Warriors and Onalaska Hilltoppers by a combined score of 19-2 before taking on the Eagles who will open its Badger West Conference season against the 1-0-0 Oregon Panthers Tuesday in its home opener at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC).

Schweda turns in another unreal effort on home ice

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Despite coming up way short in a 6-0 defeat in the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds varsity hockey home opener, goaltender Burke Schweda came up with another superhero effort between the pipes.

It took the visiting Waupun Warriors 19:59 to find a way past the Baraboo/Portage sophomore goaltender and by the time they did, he had already blanked them with 18 first period saves and was on his way to an unreal 31 stops on 34 shots in the middle period.

That the Warriors scored five more and captured the shutout win seems moot when held up against an amazing 67-stop effort for the young keeper. Schweda has now made 129 stops through his first two contests of the season. So while his 6.50 Goals Against Average won’t turn any heads, a .908 Save Percentage is positively sparkling.

Warriors scored three in both the second and third period, led by three off the stick of senior Payson Landal, two from junior Nate Batzler and the ice breaker scored by sophomore Dylan Pribbenow.

The loss dropped the T-Birds to 0-2 on the season so far while the Warriors, from the Badgerland Conference were playing their opening game of the season.

The road won’t get any easier for the Thunderbirds who open Badger West Conference play Monday (Nov. 28) making the trip to LeBahn Ice Arena in Madison to take on the defending conference champion Madison Edgewood Crusaders who will be both hungry and angry after also opening their regular season with an 0-2 record.

Scott scores two but Huskies hold off Cheavers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

For a second straight season the RWD varsity Cheavers ran into a tough Eau Claire North Huskies team at the Somerset Invitational tournament.

This time around teams met in their respective opening games at the tournament, the Huskies advancing to the championship game with a 5-3 win against the Cheavers. Both the game winning and game clinching goals came in the final four minutes of the contest.

Teams traded goals through the first period, senior Nick Thompson firing his first of three in the game 5:13 into the contest before Brady Baldwin notched his first of the campaign about four minutes later, unassisted on the Cheavers’ powerplay.

The lone goal of the second period came seven seconds into the session, senior John Scott burying his first of two in the contest and first of the season with just seven ticks off the clock. This goal was also unassisted.

The Huskies rallied to tie the score 4:25 into the final period, Thompson pulling the trigger again and senior Brayton Thillman put them in front again at the 9:17 mark. The lead lasted just 27 seconds before Scott buried his second of the game, from senior Caden Brandt.

Thompson connected on a powerplay with 3:28 to go to finish off his hat trick and before the final buzzer Thillman added another as well.

Sophomore Alex Griebe kicked out 26 of 31 shots in the contest while senior Tristan Bock collected the win in the season opener for the Huskies with 24 saves.

The other game in the four-team tournament matched 2-0 Antigo Red Robins against Somerset Spartans, setting up a consolation match between the Red Robins and Cheavers Saturday while the Spartans and Huskies were scheduled to play for the championship.

Trying to keep up on the road

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

First I want to thank everyone for being so friendly when I was home briefly. I am now back in Orillia, ON for a few weeks, before dashing to Chicago for the USPHL Showcase tournament in mid-December.

I enjoyed seeing the Lightning and RWD make their varsity debuts and now will try to keep up on them, primarily through the use of boxscores. I have been following the junior Ducks online as well and I want to welcome any of the local youth teams to send boxscores, pics or whatever you have. My email is jimmerdenhollander@gmail.com. I had a different one I used last year but somehow it disappeared. That is my only email now so it will get to me. Sometimes it takes a few days to get through them all, but I will do my best.

I was excited to see Sauk Prairie which has transformed in recent years to one of the best hockey programs in the state has set their sights even higher with some high caliber U14 squads under the Lake City Whitecaps moniker. Congrats on taking another big step and running a great program. I haven’t been able to track down a logo online for that yet so if anyone has one, I could sure use it in my email as well.

Also, any of the varsity coaches that want to send comments or observations from yourself and/or players, I would happily use them as well. Thanks to Jessica Othmer I should have pics of RWD and Lightning varsity and possibly JV games. I would welcome any others from Baraboo/Portage and Sauk Prairie but unfortunately all I can offer as of right now is a photo credit. Maybe that will change for next season.

Thanks again to everyone that has helped and supported. I am getting to work now on all of the weekend action so I can be true to my word. I hope you all have a great holiday season.