Teske, Auggies find win column against Pipers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Reedsburg native Juliana (Julz) Teske opened the Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAC) schedule with the Augsburg Auggies with four games and mixed results.

Teske is a sophomore forward with the Minneapolis-based Division 3 hockey team.

After a pair of non-conference losses against some tough WIAC competition, the Auggies split a pair with the Hamline Pipers on its opening weekend, Nov. 12-13 then collected a tie and a loss against St. Scholastica Saints this past weekend.

Both weekends featured home and away matches for the Auggies with the win and tie coming on the home turf.

Hamline captured the 3-1 win in the conference opener played at the TRIA Rink in St. Paul but the Auggies collected its first win of the season the following night at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis. The following weekend, playing on home ice, the Auggies battled the Saints to a 2-2 draw on home ice, but fell 4-1 at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.

Auggies 1 @ Pipers 3

All four goals in this one came in the final period as goaltenders Mara McClain of the Auggies and Ava Bailey kept a clean crease for 40 minutes.

Pipers fired three before Lilia Scheid notched the lone Auggies’ goal, denying Bailey the shutout with less than a minute to play.

Pipers 3 @ Auggies 5

On home ice, the Auggies snapped a three-game season opening skid, as Kiley Wahlin scored the lone first period and Kennedy Stein added another early in the middle frame.

The Pipers rallied to tie the game at 2-2 before the end of the second, but two goals a little under two minutes apart put the Auggies in front to stay just before the halfway mark of the final period.

Emily Cronkhite fired both of those goals, the second one with her team shorthanded and Jenna Gerold scored the other Auggies goal.

Saints 2 @ Auggies 2

Three periods and an overtime segment solved nothing between the Auggies and Saints on Friday (Nov. 19).

The Saints moved in front twice but both times the Auggies rallied back to tie it, Kensie Malone and Stein scoring for the Auggies who outshot the Saints 34-24.

Auggies 1 @ Saints 4

The following night Stein scored just past the halfway mark to even the game at 1-1, but two unanswered middle period goals pushed the Saints in front and an empty netter in the final minute clinched the win.

The Auggies once again had the edge in shots, this time by a 41-30 edge.

Teske had one of those shots for the Auggies.

The Auggies are off for the holiday weekend and will return to MIAC play Dec. 3/4 playing host the to the Concordia Cobbers for a pair of games.

Locals get College seasons underway

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

NCAA Updates

MacDonald debut delayed

The newest local player to make their NCAA Division 3 debut has found it difficult to get on the ice as COVID restrictions have seen five straight games postponed for Jack MacDonald and his St. Michael’s College Purple Knights hockey team.

A graduate of Baraboo High School and a key player on the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbird squad, class of ‘18, MacDonald moved on to play 129 games over three seasons with the Seahawks Hockey Club in Cape Cod, MA, a member of the Eastern Hockey League, last season wearing the ‘C’ as team captain.

MacDonald collected 31 goals and 71 points with the Seahawks and moved on to St. Michael’s in September.

After an unofficial, exhibition match and a 3-0 loss against the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals Oct. 23 in Plattsburgh.

MacDonald hit the stats sheet with a two-minute minor penalty and was 3-of-10 in the faceoff dot in his first NCAA test.

Since that unofficial game, the Purple Knights have had five games postponed due to the COVID protocols: Oct. 29-30 against the SUNY Potsdam Bears, a conference game at Post against the Eagles in Waterbury, CT on Nov. 6 and two more road tests at Long Island University against the host Sharks.

Two more will be added as a pair of home conference tilts against the Assumption College Greyhounds have already been postponed this weekend.

St. Michael’s will now kick off the 2021-22 regular season next Friday at Cairns Arena in South Burlington with a Northeast-10 Conference match against the Franklin Pierce Ravens.

O’Connor nearly flawless in sophomore debut

After a successful run with the UW-River Falls Falcons Women’s hockey team in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) last season, Jordan O’Connor, finds herself a part of a solid tandem in goal this season with the Falcons who enter the regular season as the fourth-ranked team in the NCAA.

The Falcons have played and won four games so far, outscoring Lake Forest Foresters (twice), Augsburg Auggies and St. Mary’s University Huskies by a combined total of 21-5.

O’Connor went to the blue paint for the second game of the season and kicked out all but one of 17 shots faced to lead the Falcons past the Foresters by a 5-1 margin on Halloween.

The Falcons head into Stevens Point Friday for its first WIAC Conference contest against the host Pointers, then head home Saturday for another conference meeting against the Northland Lumberjills.

Tough opposition for Teske and Auggies

Julianna Teske also began her sophomore year in the Twin Cities with the Augsburg University Auggies, playing some tough opposition.

The team has hit the ice twice so far, taking the Falcons to overtime before surrendering a 5-4 decision in its first game, last Thursday (Nov. 4) at Ed Saugestad Rink and falling again to the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds 2-1, again on home ice.

As mentioned earlier, the Falcons enter the season as the fourth-ranked D3 team in the nation and the Blugolds ranked third in the same poll.

Teske has yet to hit the score sheet but did pick up some stats, serving a minor penalty in one of the games.

The Auggies will begin the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), facing the Hamline Pipers at TRIA Arena Friday night with a rematch at Ed Saugestad Rink on Saturday.

Engel sidelined to start Lumberjills’ campaign

The area’s other Sophomore, Kaylee Engel, an all-WIAC and all-American honors student in her first year at Northland University in Ashland, WI underwent off-season surgery to fix a shoulder injury that had hampered her for some time. She will likely be out of the lineup until at least after Christmas.

The Lumberjills opened the season with back-to-back non-conference losses against the Bethel University Pilots at Blaine, MN Oct. 29-30, then dropped two more on home ice against the St. Norbert College Green Knights, both by 4-0 scores on Nov. 5-6.

On Thursday night (Nov. 11), the Lumberjills received a jolt against the nation’s third ranked NCAA Division 3 team, defeated 10-0 by the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds in its WIAC Conference opener in Eau Claire.

The road will stay rough as the Lumberjills move on to play the UW-River Falls Falcons Saturday in River Falls.

Teske looks ahead to second season with Auggies

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

It’s already tough for a young hockey player to make their debut on an NCAA Division 3 team. Throw in the delays caused from a pandemic and a team that ultimately was unable to play in a number of those games and it was a tough debut for Julianna Teske.

The 19-year-old Reedsburg native played much of her youth hockey with the Madison Capitols and moved to Warroad, Minnesota with her family during her high school tenure, appearing in the State tournament in all four seasons with the varsity girls Warriors.

This past season, Teske, known by most as ‘Julz,’ began her college career with the Augsburg Augies out of the Twin Cities.

She played in all 11 games for the Auggies and like the team, she improved with each contest.

The team dropped its first three before undergoing the postponement of cancellation of its next half dozen games.

After 19 days of delays, the Auggies celebrated its return to play with its closest result, going to overtime before dropping a 3-2 decision to Gustavus Adolphus on home ice Feb. 25.

The Auggies turned a corner though and put together a tie and two wins in its next four games and a 3-2-2 record the rest of the way.

The most lopsided win was a 7-3 win at Ed Saugestad Rink in the Augsburg Ice Arena and Teske scored her lone goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1 in the first period.

In all Teske, an Exercise Science major at Augsburg compiled a goal on six shots and made her presence felt in her own end with six blocked shots. She sat just one minor penalty and finished the season with a -3 overall rating.

With a season under her belt, watch for Teske to be a bigger factor on both ends of the rink. The Auggies will begin preparation when school gets under way for a full 2021-22 season which begins with a scrimmage against the UW-River Falls Falcons at Hunt Arena in River Falls Oct. 23.

First regular season game will also be against the Falcons, on home ice Nov. 4 and the first Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Conference (MIAC) game will be at Tria Rink in St. Paul against the Hamline Pipers Nov. 1.

Anyone looking for a close opportunity to see Teske in action could make the relatively short trip to Stevens Point for a game Dec. 10, Green Bay for a game against St. Norbert the following day, or a pair of games in Winona, Minn., against St. Mary’s Feb. 11-12, 2022.

Jimmy D’s Notes — Hockey talk Aug. 19

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Our goal here beginning Sept. 1, is to have daily items. Some days will be harder than others and in an effort to get something started here are a few random tidbits for today – Aug. 19, 2021.

Danny Roe

To start with, we want to wish a Happy 27^th Birthday to Danny Roe. A native of Montana, Roe came to the Dells Ducks in 2013 and played 30 games, collecting seven goals and 15 points . He finished the season in the Western States Hockey League, but returned to the Dairy State playing three seasons with the Marian University ACHA squad and later, played some with the Fond du Lac Bears in the Great Lakes Hockey League, a senior circuit.

Roe was a force on top of the blue paint when he played for the Ducks in 2013-14.

Ducks open training Camp

The Dells Ducks 2021-22 players will be arriving in town over the next 24 hours if they haven’t arrived already. Players, family and billets will be at the Lake Delton Ice Arena for an orientation day Saturday and the team will begin dryland workouts on Monday. Part of the first week’s activities will be assisting Lake Delton Ice Arena Owner Aaron Kirby with installing the ice for this season. The Ducks also did the same last season.

Up next Recaps of College campaigns

Over the next week or so, we will highlight the freshman hockey seasons for Kaylee Engel, Jordan O’Connor and Julianna Teske, Sauk County residents who began their respective college careers in the WIAC and MIAC Conferences last season.

There won’t be a lot of details as the NCAA D3 seasons were cut short due to the effects of the pandemic. Watch for game by game coverage of all three this season.

Varsity fall sports up next but plenty of hockey being played

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Students are likely not pleased but the summer break is nearly over for athletes.

After what seemed to be the busiest summer yet for varsity hockey players, a majority of them will be heading to football fields, soccer pitches, volleyball or tennis courts, pools, golf courses or cross-country running courses for the next few months.

Football practices begin Tuesday while boys’ soccer, girl’s tennis, golf, volleyball, swimming, and cross country for both kicks off a week or two later, depending on the team.

Unofficial captains’ practices for hockey players will likely begin in early September as the ice will be in the Lake Delton Ice Arena by then and SPARC in Prairie du Sac will have floor hockey sessions.

Official first practices for the varsity hockey programs will begin on Nov. 8.

The RWD regular season is scheduled to begin once again against the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders, this time around at the South Wood County Recreation Center on Nov. 23. Sauk Prairie Eagles will face Onalaska Hilltoppers in its first of two home games to kick off the season on the same night.

Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds will faceoff on home ice against the Menomonie Mustangs Dec. 1.

There hasn’t been any official information released yet, but the three Sauk County varsity teams will be in a slightly different conference. Gone are the Waunakee Warriors, Beaver Dam Golden Beavers and DeForest Norskies, replaced by the Madison Edgewood Crusaders, Oregon Panthers and Monroe Cheesemakers.

The Badger Lightning schedule is not available as of today (July 27).

The Dells Ducks will be on the ice a little earlier, beginning with a tryout camp in Crystal Lake, Ill. Aug. 6-8.

Dells Ducks

Players will arrive in town in late August, the players will begin with a week of dryland training and then hit the ice. The team will head to Motown for a weekend of exhibition matches against the Detroit Fighting Irish and Motor City Hockey Team Sept. 10-12.

The following weekend, the Ducks will open the USPHL Premier Midwest-West regular season with games Sept. 17-18 against the Rum River Mallards from Isanti, Minn.

Locals at colleges will begin soon after.

After COVID all but wiped out seasons for a trio of locals last year, they will be looking forward to finally playing a regular NCAA Division 3 campaign this fall.

Kaylee Engel from Lavalle, captain of the 2019-20 Badger Lightning varsity team, will begin her sophomore season with the Northland College Lumberjills while, Jordan O’Connor, a 21-game winner in her senior season with the Sauk Prairie Eagles, will also be back for her second year between the pipes for the UW-River Falls Falcons while Julianna Teske, a Reedsburg resident will begin her sophomore season with the Augsburg Auggies. Regular seasons will begin in late October for all three players.

Former Baraboo/Portage captain, Jack MacDonald will begin his freshman season with the St. Michael’s College Purple Knights in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Purple Knights play out of Colchester Vermont and that season is also scheduled to begin in late-October.

Before you know it, full time hockey will be upon us again.

Teske, Auggies drops season opening pair to Saints

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Julianna Teske and the Augsburg Auggies opened their 2021 regular season on the weekend with a home-and-home non-conference matches with the St. Scholastica Saints.

Teske was in the roster for both games, a 5-3 loss on home ice at Ed Saugestad Rink (Augsburg Ice Arena) on Friday night, then a return match at MARS Lakeview Arena in Duluth, Minn. Saturday evening, also won by the Saints, 3-0.

Teske suited up for both games but collected no stats – points or penalties in her NCAA Division 3 debut contests.

Wearing #12, Teske was listed as a -1 for the opening contest and was called on to take a faceoff at one point. In Duluth, Teske was rated at 0 stats wise in the contest.

Last season, the Auggies also opened the season with a pair against the Saints, taking both by a single goal, 2-1 and 3-2.

Also facing off on the opening weekend: Hamline Pipers collected a 7-0 shutout win against Concordia-Wisconsin Falcons in non-conference play and a scheduled match between St. Benedict Bennies and St. Thomas Tommies was postponed on Friday.

On Saturday, Bethel University Royals collected a 1-0 win against Concordia-Wisconsin, Hamline Pipers defeated the Bennies 3-1

The Auggies will play seven regular season conference matches – once against each team in the MIAC conference along with four non-conference matches. The team will make its MIAC debut on Saturday with a 2 p.m. faceoff on the road at Tria Rink in St. Paul against the host Hamline Pipers.

Last year, the Auggies and Pipers met in a home-and-home series early in the season, Pipers taking the first game 6-0 before the Auggies bounced back on home ice with a 4-3 edge.

Anyone wishing to watch Teske and Auggies on Friday, can tune in at the link below.

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hamline/

Puck drops at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.