O’Connor part of unbeatable Falcons goaltending trio

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Prairie du Sac native and former Sauk Prairie Eagles goaltender Jordan O’Connor has been nothing less than stellar this season with the River Falls Falcons Womens hockey team.

But on the Falcons, currently ranked fourth in the USCHO Division 3 Womens Hockey poll, that just makes her one-third of an awesome goaltending machine.

The Falcons mixed Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference (WIAC) conference and non-conference games in the past two weekends collecting four wins and one tough defeat against #3 ranked Eau Claire Blugolds.

O’Connor and the team’s other two goaltenders, senior Sami Miller, from Blaine, MN and sophomore Pistol Cowden from Amherst, WI and a former goaltender for the Wisconsin Valley Union WIAA team have all played a part in four shutouts in those five games, including three in a row.

The first WIAC match saw the Falcons hitting the road and collecting a 7-0 win against the host Stevens Point Pointers. Cowden stopped all 17 shots she faced to collect the goose egg on Nov. 12.

Callie Hoff, a senior from Hermantown, MN and Kora Torkelson, a senior from Thief River Falls, MN both fired a pair of goals for the Falcons with others added by Kiana Gilbraith, a senior from Fargo, ND; Maddie McCollins, a Maple Grove, MN junior and Alisen Carothers, a freshman from Buffalo, MN.

The following night, the Falcons returned home to Hunt Arena and O’Connor collected a nine-save shutout in an 8-0 win against the Northland Lumberjills.

Torkelson scored another pair along with Alex Hantge, a sophomore from Hutchinson, MN and Brooke Walters, a junior from Sartell, MN. Hoff and McCollins scored the other Falcons goals.

Miller played the next two games, collecting a 14-save shutout in a 6-0 non-conference win on home ice against the St. Scholastica Saints on Nov. 16, then facing the toughest test so far against the Blugolds.

Miller matched Stephanie Martin in the Eau Claire goal shot for shot until late in the second period when Emma Peterson scored her first of a pair for the home team.

In the non-conference win, Bailey Olson, a freshman from Willmar, MN scored twice with others for Hoff, McCollins, Hantge and Ellie Brice, a Freshman from St. Croix Falls, WI

The Falcons got back on track on Tuesday (Nov. 23) as Cowden returned for a second consecutive shutout in a 3-0 non-Conference win against the St. Olaf Oles.

Erin Olson, a senior from Lakeville, MN; Sophia Leong, a senior from Apple Valley, MN and Alyson Niebur, a senior from Isanti, MN fired the Falcons goals.

In all, the Falcons goaltenders have combined for six shutouts in eight games and an unreal three goals against in eight games so far this season.

The Falcons will play a set of five non-conference contests, all against MIAC opponents beginning Dec. 8 at St. Peter MN against Gustavus Adolphus.

all-WIAC highlights awesome freshman year for O’Connor

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The jump from varsity hockey to NCAA Division 3 College is generally considered a big one but Jordan O’Connor couldn’t have made it look much easier.

After helping the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team to a 19-4-1 regular season and a berth in the Sectional semis, O’Connor had to wait a while, but collected a shutout in her first game with the UW-River Falls Women’s Hockey team, kicking out all 11 shots she faced in a 13-0 win against the Northland College Lumberjills on February 3, 2021.

O’Connor went on to play in four of the team’s eight regular season contests, posting a 3-1 record and allowing just five goals on 48 shots.

She took her game to a higher level in a short playoff run, playing in four of the team’s five games, leading the team to a two-game sweep of the UW-Steven’s Point Pointers and playing two of three games in a 2-1 edge in the Best of Three Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship series.

O’Connor posted another shutout and stopped 64 of 70 shots faced. In all, she played 526 minutes, posting a 1.27 Goals Against Average and a Save Percentage of .919.

Her play was clearly noticed as O’Connor was named to the WIAC all-Conference team.

The only downside to her first season was how compact it was. Due to the pandemic issues, the season was whittled down to a month-long regular season followed by playoffs.

This fall, O’Connor returns for her sophomore season this fall with the first test an exhibition game at Hunt Arena in River Falls against the visiting Augsburg Auggies on Oct. 23. The regular season is scheduled to start Oct. 30 at Lake Forest, Ill. against the Foresters. The first six games will be on the road including the WIAC season opener Nov. 12 at Stevens Point. The first home game will be the following night with the Northland Lumberjills paying a visit.

After making a glorious debut in 2020-21, O’Connor will be trying to lead the Falcons to another Conference title and with NCAA Championship tournaments returning this season, her aim will go even higher.

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.

Jimmy D’s notes — June plans

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

June 1 is probably about as far from the hockey seaon that you can get in Sauk County.

If local arenas are being used at all it is for indoor activities, likely related to fairs and carnivals…at least in Reedsburg.

For Saukhockey.info, hockey will still be included with a couple projects and some looks back.

Over the past month and with the great assistance of statistics kept on wisconsinprephockey.net, I have begun compiling some all time statistics.

I wrapped up the first part for RWD — tracing results from every game and compiling points and penalty minutes for every player that suited up for the Cheavers, since the start of the Reedsburg-Wisconsin Dells-Mauston Co-operative effort in 2010-11.

Currently I am working on the same for Baraboo/Portage and over the month I will continue with the Sauk Prairie Eagles and Badger Lightning.

I have something similar for the Dells Ducks, but need to add the 2020-21 stats to it. I will do a brief look at the overall stats when I complete each team, but the primary purpose of this is background information which will come in handy everytime RWD, Baraboo/Portage or Sauk Prairie Eagles come up against each other.

I am going to go back and do conference histories and Playoff histories for each team over the course of the summer.

The RWD hockey team has some summertime activity planned including something next weekend which will keep them in the headlines. I am trying to find out more about the other teams as well.

Also, I want to go back and do season reviews on each team as well as the junior Ducks and also take a look a the short freshman college seasons for Jordan O’Connor, goaltender at UW-Superior Yellow Jackets and Kaylee Engel from the Northland College Lumberjills in the WIAC along with Julianna Teske of the Augsburg Auggies in the MIAC.

I have been wanting to do either a weekly video show or podcast and plan to set it up with something once a month or more frequently if I have material, in the off season months and then weekly starting in September.

Other stories will surely come up each week during the summer months. If anyone knows of something coming up related to hockey, I would be glad to include coverage of it. I can be reached a jim@dellsduckshockey.com or text 608-393-2876.

Also, still looking for someone that might be interested in helping with this website/facebook page and a possible partnership. I would really like to find someone that is adept, or at least interested in advertising and hopefully, website design.

Engel and O’Connor faceoff tonight

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Two area hockey players will make their official NCAA D3 hockey debut tonight when the Northland Lumberjills make the trip to River Falls to play UW-River Falls Falcons.

Kaylee Engel, a freshman at Northlands is a product of Reedsburg Polars and Badger Lightning hockey programs locally and is the first area player in several years to play at the college level.

After a long delay, the Lumberjills along with the other four Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference (WIAC) teams begin their respective eight-game regular seasons tonight. There was one tune-up match played last week at UW-Superior last weekend, a 5-1 win for the Yellowjackets.

The Lumberjills will play home and away games against each of its four conference rivals and all five teams are slated to qualify for post season action.

Meanwhile, Jordan O’Connor who won 21 games in goal with the Sauk Prairie varsity Eagles last season could be in goal for the Falcons tonight. She is one of two freshman keepers on the team and there is also a junior goaltender. Who will be in goal is likely a game time decision.

Locals interested in watching the match can view it on this link — https://uwrfsports.com/watch/?Live=388&type=Live

Puck drop tonight is at 7:05 p.m. at Hunt Arena in River Falls.

The other WIAC opener tonight will see UW-Eau Claire Blugolds playing host to the Stevens Point Pointers at 7 p.m.

The Lumberjills and Falcons will return to Ashland for the return match on Friday, starting at 7 p.m. at Bay Area Civic Center.