By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The Lake City 14U A Whitecaps out of Sauk Prairie have given area girls hockey players an ultra-competitive outlet this season.
Head Coach Jeremy Gesicki and his charges began their second season in late August after tryouts in July.
The team has been in action more weekends than it hasn’t and the mix of players from Sauk Prairie, Waunakee and some other surrounding organizations entered a weekend tournament in Sault Ste. Marie, ON boasting a 15-1-1 record including six straight at a National Girls Hockey League (NGHL) Championship tournament in Pennsylvania earlier in the month.
The Soo tourney was a step up in competition level, but after suffering a 3-0 loss to the Thunder Bay Queens and a 4-1 defeat against the host Soo Jr. Greyhounds, the Whitecaps rallied with a pair of wins against the North Bay Lakers, 3-2 and 4-2 for a weekend split.
The Whitecaps face big competition almost every weekend including this coming weekend at the Tier II State Tournament. After treks to Pennsylvania and Ontario the trip to Appleton this weekend will seem like a trip down the block.
Following this weekend against the Wisconsin Elite Hockey League (WEHL) 14U squads, the team will continue through a busy 14-game month of November which includes a second NGHL event in Ann Arbour as the local squad hopes to qualify for the League championship tournament to be held in St. Louis in February.
Team members include Evie Bahe, Anjali Ballweg, Katherine Burkard, Marian Carroll, Margaret Colletti, Megan Collins, Josie Cullison, Natalee Gesicki, Phoebe Hager, Ivy Hare, Kinley Irwin, Penelope Loeffelholz, Eleanor Porter, Mirella Quartuccio and Haley Royster.
While several of last season’s team members have returned this year, a core group graduated to Tier 1 programs this season, so there were some new faces in the lineup. Clearly the team is firing on all cylinders and both coach and players said the bond between players was formed quickly.
Good thing because these girls spend a lot of time together.
On Wednesdays, Gesicki gets some help from Claudia Kepler, an area player who played with both the Ohio State and Wisconsin Division 1 programs and has also played pro both in Europe and recently with the Buffalo Beauts.
There is also a Whitecaps ‘B’ 14U squad and the Sauk Prairie Youth Hockey girls programs has become a model for other centers to follow with two teams at both the 10U and 12U levels, playing under the Sauk Monkeys flag and a U19 squad that runs as the Badger City squad.
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