A third period goal lifted former conference rival Beaver Dam Golden Beavers into a 3-3 deadlock with the high-flying Sauk Prairie Eagles in their Badger Challenge match at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Friday, Jan. 13.
The Eagles and Golden Beavers hold down second spot in the Badger West and Badger East respectively and showed there isn’t much separating them head-to-head. Last season, these matches were all held on the same day in Sun Prairie but this season it is up to the respective teams to schedule their contest.
The Eagles entered the game with a 13-3-2 record, 7-1 in Badger West Conference play. The Golden Beavers were 9-4 on the season including 5-1 in Badger East Conference play.
Teams were even at 1-1 after a period as senior Luke Mast opened the scoring from freshman Josh Mast and junior Colin Harrington with 5:47 to play in the period only to have senior Alex Woods tie it for the Golden Beavers 1:32 later.
The Eagles took control 3-2 in the second with goals from senior Landon Clary and freshman Landon Froese. Luke Mast set up both with another assist for Harrington. Junior Jacob Lont countered with the long Beaver Dam marker in between the two Eagles’s goals.
Woods fired his second of the game just five seconds from the third period horn to pull the Golden Beavers even and teams were scoreless through an eight-minute overtime period.
Shots were almost even as well, Eagles’ senior goaltender Kaden Stracke stopping 34 while junior Henry Vick kicked out 35 for the Golden Beavers.
The Eagles were scheduled to move on to play a non-conference home game against Stevens Point Pacelli on Tuesday, then face a huge conference test against the Edgewood Crusaders on Thursday.
Following an unbeaten showing at the annual Madison area Holiday hockey tournament, the Sauk Prairie Eagles rolled into the second half of the season looking to build on an already successful season.
A 4-1-1 stretch has the Eagles in the hunt for a top tier playoff seed and a shot at at least a share of the Badger West Conference title.
The Eagles began play at the holiday tournament with a 7-1 win against the Ashland Oredockers, an independent team that rolled into the event with a 4-2 record on Dec. 28.
The Eagles outshot the Oredockers 47-18 and after surrendering the game’s first goal in the third minute, responded with seven straight markers.
The following day, Cedarburg Bulldogs from the North Shore Conference faced off with the Eagles who bounced them by a 9-1 count. The Eagles put this one away turning narrow 2-1 cushion after a period into an 8-1 margin with six unanswered middle period goals.
Wrapping up the event, the Eagles battled Madision Memorial Spartans to a 2-2 draw. After a scoreless first period, freshman Landon Froese opened the scoring in the second, then added the lone third period tally to pull the Eagles even at 2-2 against the Sparts who rolled into the contest with a 7-2 record and a five-game winning streak.
Building off that momentum, the Eagles faced off with the Sun Prairie Cardinals dropping a 5-3 decision at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Jan. 3.
Teams were even at 1-1 after a period and 3-3 heading to the final frame before the Cards scored a pair, including a shorthanded empty netter to clinch it with 73 seconds to go.
On Friday the Eagles returned to Badger Conference play and improved their record to 6-1 with an 8-1 decision at SPARC against the visiting Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds.
The Eagles led 4-0 after a period and carried a 7-1 cushion into the third.
Finally, at SPARC Tuesday (Jan. 10) a goal from junior Colin Harrington 20 seconds from the final horn lifted the Eagles to their second win against the RWD Cheavers this season and a 7-1 conference record. The goal was the third of the period for the Eagles who rallied all the way back from a 4-2 deficit.
Leading the offensive charge was senior Luke Mast who racked up 25 points with nine goals and 16 helpers, vaulting him to third in the state with 18 goals and 44 points. He could become the second player in team history to move past the 200 points plateau as he currently sits at 71 goals and 172 points through 72 games played.
Luke Mast (left) looks for a way past RWD defender Carsen Brandt during their game at SPARC Tuesday night. Mast is on a torrid offensive pace that could be highlighted with him becoming the second player in team history to reach the 200-point plateau. Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer.
Freshman Froese chipped in nine goals and 13 points while Harrington added four goals ande nine points. Junior Karsyn Banta notched a goal and six points and senior Landon Clary scored four and added an assist.
Freshman Josh Mast scored once and set up three others and junior Thor Peterson fired three goals in the six-game stretch. Other goal scorers included senior Blake Howery and sophomores Gunnar Nachreiner and Connor Grant while junior Garret Mittelsteadt picked up an assist.
Game winners came off the sticks of Peterson, Harrington, Howery and Froese.
In goal, Kaden Stracke rolled up a 3-1-1 record with 115 stops on 127 shots, including 40 of 42 in the draw against Madison Memorial. Overall, his Save Percentage for the stretch was .911. Senior Brooks McInerney got some relief work in the tournament and picked up the win against Baraboo, stopping 16 of 17 through five periods’ work for a save percentage of .941.
The Eagles head back into action Friday (Jan. 13) with its Badger Challenge match against the Beaver Dam Golden Beavers and after a road-heavy opening to the schedule, the Eagles will get the pay off with six of their final eight games on home ice at SPARC.
Carrying a 12-3-1 record into the home stretch, the key match will be next Thursday when they put their 7-1 conference record on the line against the unbeaten (in conference play) Madison Edgewood Crusaders looking for a share of the conference title.
The highly anticipated 2022-23 varsity High School hockey season is just days away from facing off.
For the Sauk County teams – RWD Cheavers, Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds and Sauk Prairie Eagles in the Badger West Conference and the Badger Lightning varsity team from the Badger Conference, weeks of captain’s practices turned into actual practices in recent days with the regular season kicking off as early as Saturday.
The Lightning, looking to make a jump into the middle or upper tiers of the Badger Conference this season, will be first out of the gate, entertaining the Arrowhead Warhawks on Saturday.
In terms of personnel, this is probably the biggest Lightning team in a decade or more. Two seasons ago, the team fielded exactly two lines, hoping the COVID epidemic or any other illness or injury wouldn’t affect its team that had to have every player available.
Two seasons later, the Lightning has grown to a full 27-player roster which means junior varsity games will be included on the schedule.
After finishing last season with a 9-13 record last season, the Lightning has its eyes on .500 or better this time around and will get an interesting test out of the gate against a Warhawks team it hasn’t faced off against in a while.
First Badger Conference match will be Saturday Dec. 3 against the Icebergs at Mandt Community Center in Stoughton and first home league game will be Dec. 9 against the Rock County Fury from Janesville/Beloit.
Among the leaders for the Lightning this season is an awesome group of seniors including Kayla Capener who garnered all-state recognition last season, Bella Bowden, one of the fastest skaters around looking for a bounce back after injuries and adversity kept her out of the lineup much of last season and Mallory Ruhland, a gifted goal scorer who travels all the way from Elroy to suit up.
In goal, the Lightning has junior Alyssa Gada who has already shown herself to be one of the best keepers in the conference. With improvements all around likely limiting the shots she will face, watch for Gada to have a huge campaign.
Sauk Prairie Eagles – of the local varsity teams, the Eagles went the furthest last season, falling in Sectional semi-finals against the Madison Edgewood Crusaders in Sectional semifinals.
Several graduations affect the team both on offense and defense, but there are some key players returning as well, including Luke Mast who finished among the state leaders last season with 27 goals and 69 points. In three years on the varsity team, Mast has racked up 53 goals and 128 points.
The team has plenty of experience at the most important position as well, seniors Kaden Stracke and Brooks McInerney both veterans of the high school game in goal.
Other seniors include Cole Scallon and Landon Clary, and Head Coach David Lohrei has done an amazing job in his seasons with the team and is able to provide a game plan based on whatever strengths the team has.
The Eagles will open the regular season with a pair of road games, in Onalaska to play the Avalanche Tuesday (Nov. 22) and at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena to face Middleton on Nov. 26.
First home game will also be the team’s first Badger West Conference game, taking on the Oregon Panthers Nov. 29.
RWD Cheavers – The Cheavers look solid at all positions despite graduating a goaltender who started nearly every game for the team in all four seasons he attended RAHS.
Cooper Oakes has established every record of note for Cheavers goaltenders, but junior Alex Griebe put up some amazing numbers as a junior varsity keeper last season and Head Coach Neil Mattson is confident, he can be relied on to take the team to the next level.
The Cheavers graduated a small but amazing group of seniors last season but led by the Brandt bothers, forward Caden and defenseman Carsen, the team looks solid both up front and on the blue line.
Caden has scored 58 goals and collected 91 points through his first three campaigns and could be among the state scoring leaders this time around. Carsen showed his physical and mental toughness last year when he decided to put off shoulder surgery and played through some excruciating pain in the late season games. He enters this season healthy and ready to go.
John Scott is coming off not only his best season with the Cheavers, scoring 14 goals, but also an awesome season as a running back for WDHS football which has college scouts from two different sports knocking on his door.
Other key contributors among the seniors are hardnosed forwards Caleb Eastman, Yevgeny Dedun and Conner Putz along with defenders Nate Stando and Logan DeMars, both regulars on the blue line along with Carsen Brandt last season.
RWD will have to hit the ground running with a tough opening to the regular season, including its annual duel against the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders, opening the season at RACA on Tuesday, followed up by a return visit to the four-team tournament in Somerset on Friday/Saturday.
RWD will open against the Eau Claire North Huskies Friday.
Following that, the Cheavers will head into a stretch of five straight Badger West Conference contests, taking it immediately to the halfway mark of the conference season.
Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds – Thunderbirds had its struggles last season with illness, injury and adversity playing a key part.
Positive reinforcement from Head Coach David Clark and great leadership from forwards Oliver Scanlan and Gabe Fitzwilliams and goaltender Andrew Schaetzl kept the team in a lot of games.
Clark has moved away from Baraboo, but Tony Bluske who has been with the team for several seasons and knows the players well, will be a perfect fit as the new mentor.
Like Griebe with RWD, Burke Schweda showed his potential in both junior varsity and varsity games last season, and he will give the team stability in the blue paint this year and into the future. Brother Luke Schweda, a hard working forward with a nose for the net will be among the senior leaders as well as others.
The Thunderbirds will kick off the regular season on the road, taking on Monona Grove Silver Eagles Tuesday and will play its first three games on the road, including a tough conference opener against defending champion Madison Edgewood on Nov. 28.
First home game for the Baraboo/Portage fans will be the first of three straight at home Nov. 29 against Tomah/Sparta.
The Sauk Prairie Eagles and Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds returned from a brief holiday break to face each other at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Monday (Jan. 3) night.
The Eagles collected a 9-0 win, its third straight goose egg to wrap up its first round of Badger West Conference play at 3-2, snapping two conference losses in a row.
Teams played through seven minutes without a goal, but the Eagles wrapped up four in the final 10 minutes of the opening period and piled on three more in the middle frame before wrapping it up with two down the homestretch.
Seniors Hakon Peterson and Micah Hanson and junior Luke Mast fired two goals apiece, Peterson adding two assists and Mast setting up one. Seniors Nick Mast and Erik Peterson both notched a goal and two assists, the other goal fired by junior Landon Clary.
Luke Mast boosted his season points total to 46, fourth best in the state behind only the Oregon trio of Kyle Rohrer (57), Andrew Jicha (51) and Joe Roemer (47). He is also third in assist. Nick Mast’s goal was his 26th of the season, boosting him to second in state, tied with David Emerich of Waunakee and just two behind state leader, Jicha.
The Eagles held a 44-8 edge in shots on goal. Junior Brooks McInerney picked up the shutout in goal and first year Burke Schweda was the busiest man on the ice, in goal for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds returned home to Pierce Park Pavilion where it was scheduled to play host to the Black River Falls Tigers on Tuesday and the Eagles head straight into the second half of its Badger West Conference schedule with a trip to SLICE in Monroe to play the host Cheesemakers on Thursday night.
The Sauk Prairie Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak and created a three-way tie for second in the Badger West Conference with three straight home wins at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC).
Starting the stretch, on Monday, Dec. 20 was a needed 7-1 win against the visiting Oregon Panthers, followed up by a 7-5 non-Conference win the following night against the McFarland Spartans and a 9-4 margin on Thursday against the Avalanche, made up of players from La Crosse Aquinas, Holmen and other area schools.
The key might have been rediscovering its offense. In a division that includes some of the best offensive crews in the state, the Eagles fit in well, coming up with 24 goals in its first three games, but then two in its next pair. The Eagles struck for another 23 in the past three carrying it into the Christmas break.
The win against the Panthers was the most important as the Eagles, winners of its first two conference games suddenly saw itself at 2-2 and needed to get back on track.
The Eagles struck for three unanswered first period goals and added two more in the second with two more in the third before the Panthers, a team the boasts the state’s top three point getters avoided being victims of a shutout with the only shot to beat junior Kaden Stracke in the Eagles’ net with 50 seconds to play in the contest.
Junior Luke Mast had a massive night for the Eagles, in on all seven points with a goal and six helpers. Senior Nick Mast added three more goals, including the game winner. Senior Erik Peterson enjoyed his best night so far with two goals and three assists and senior Micah Hanson scored the other.
Spartans 5 @ Eagles 7
A night later, the Eagles engaged in a wild shootout, similar to the season opener against Onalaska.
After allowing the game’s first goal, the Eagles carried a 4-2 lead out of the opening period, but found themselves even at 4-4 four minutes into the middle frame. Two later goals made it 6-4 heading to the third and both teams added one more down the stretch.
The Mast brothers and senior Hakon Peterson scored two each, Peterson added three assists with two for Luke and one for Nick.
The other Eagles’ goal came from freshman Gunnar Nachreiner.
Avalanche 4 @ Eagles 9
Wrapping up the busy and successful week on Thursday, the Eagles again allowed the first goal but carried a 3-1 lead into the middle period and widened the gap to 6-3 by the start of the third.
Nick Mast led the charge again with four goals and an assist, Hakon Peterson adding two of each and Luke Mast picking up a goal and four more assists.
Erik Peterson scored a goal and added two assists, junior Landon Clary scoring the other.
Luke Mast leads the team with 30 points (9g, 21a) at the break, good enough for 10th best in the state and Nick Mast is close behnd with 25 (18g, 7a).
The wins boosted the Eagles’ record at the break to 6-2.
The Sauk Prairie Eagles boosted its record to 3-0 on the season and collected its first Badger West Conference win with a 9-0 shutout against the visiting Monroe Cheesemakers Thursday (Dec. 2) at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC).
Up 4-0 after a period, the Eagles added two more in the middle period and put it away with another three down the stretch.
A rare shared shutout saw junior goaltenders Brooks McInerney and Kaden Stracke for a combined 13-save effort.
On the score sheet, junior Luke Mast led the charge with a hat trick and three assists in the contest while senior Nick Mast collected two goals and two helpers.
Senior Hakon Peterson finished with three assists, senior Micah Hanson collecting a goal and assist. Other goals came from junior Landon Clary, senior Brandon Mittelstedt and sophomore Thor Peterson.
Sophomore Colin Harrington, freshman Gunnar Nachreiner and senior Porter Kreul picked up assists for the Eagles who have now outcored opponents 24-7 in its first three contests.
This game was the first of five straight conterence matches for the Eagles. The tough assignment ahead is a trip to LaBahn Arena in Madison to take on the 2-1 Madison Edgewood Crusaders.
Next home game for the Eagles will be Thursday (Dec. 9) against the Oregon Panthers at 7 p.m.
If losing a two-time state scoring champion and one of the top goaltenders among nine graduating seniors was supposed to have a detrimental effect on the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team, someone must have forgot to tell this season’s team.
Two more lopsided wins wrapped up a near perfect season for the Eagles who enter the post season with at least as much promise as a year ago.
The final week included an 8-3 win against the McFarland Spartans and a 6-0 shutout against the Milton Red Hawks, both on home ice at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC).
McFarland Spartans 3 @ Sauk Prairie Eagles 8
In the past, Eagles have jumped on teams quick, often grabbing control of games with opening shift goals.
Last Monday (January 25), the Eagles showed it can comeback if needed. A hot goaltender played a big part in the Eagles looking up at a 2-0 deficit on home ice despite outshooting its guest by a 17-3 margin.
The Eagles though, found a higher gear in the middle period, scoring three unanswered goals on 23 more shots, then blasted off with a 5-1 edge and another 25 shots down the stretch.
Junior Luke Mast paced the squad with a three-goal game, juniors Erik Peterson and Landon Clary adding two each and the other the first career varsity goal for freshman Samson Begalske.
Junior Hakon Peterson enjoyed a huge playmaking game, collecting five assists with juniors Nick Mast and Erik Peterson along with sophomore Ethan Tranel setting up two each. Senior Caeben Schomber also picked up a helper.
Kaden Stracke picked up the win in goal and his opposition keeper, Ray Wheaton faced 65 shots on the night.
Milton Red Hawks 0 @ Sauk Prairie Eagles 6
The finale was billed as ‘Senior Night’ and the four graduating players played their part – Brodie Trollop scored the game winning goal and set up another while Caeben Schomber, Spencer LaCour and Sam Severson each collected an assist in the contest.
Junior Nick Mast enjoyed a two-goal, four-point night to wrap up the season with 30 points in 13 games, Luke Mast adding an assist for a team high 33 points on the season.
Hakon Peterson also scored twice with the other added by Clary. Junior Micah Hanson, Luke Mast and Erik Peterson also picked up assists.
Sophomore keepers Stracke and Brooks McInerney, split the work on a shared shutout bid and the Eagles outshot the Redbirds 43-12.
Overall 12-1
The Eagles lost just one contest this season, a brief 3-2 stumble against Beaver Dam the lone blemish on an otherwise perfect campaign. It can be called a stumble because in a previous meeting, the Eagles bounced the same Golden Beavers by a 6-1 score.
The Eagles were seeded third in the 13-team Section 3 pool and along with top two seeds – Madison Edgewood Crusaders and Verona Wildcats, the Eagles drew a bye through the opening round of the post season.
RWD Cheavers and Middleton Cardinals are playing tonight (February 2) for the right to challenge Sauk Prairie on Thursday night in the Sectional Quarterfinals.
Three goals in 2:18 helped the Sauk Prairie Eagles take control for good on its way to a 5-4 edge against the visiting Oregon Panthers at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Friday (December 19).
The Eagles scored a pair of first period goals to grab early control, but teams were even at 2-2 heading for the third.
Panthers grabbed its first lead with 5:13 to play in the contest but that triggered the Eagles’ barrage starting a little over a minute later.
The Panthers pulled one back to get within a shot but left themselves just 10 seconds to notch a tying goal which they couldn’t do.
Junior Landon Clary scored the opening goal with 7:25 to go in the first from junior Nick Mast and sophomore Luke Mast. 1:50 later the Masts hooked up another goal, Nick pulling the trigger from Luke and senior Brodie Trollop.
Trailing 3-2 with little time to play, Clary notched his second, from Luke Mast and junior Micah Hanson.
After three assists, Luke Mast pulled the trigger on the goal that put the Eagles in front to stay. Junior Erik Peterson set up the Mast goal before firing the eventual game winner from sophomore Ethan Tranel.
Peterson’s game winning goal is shown below.
The Eagles held a heavy advantage in shots in the game, 41-21 and dominated in particular the final two periods by a 32-13 margin.
The Eagles boosted its record to 3-0 with the win and head into the Christmas Break with the perfect start. The Eagles are not scheduled to play until January 5 when the DeForest Norskies pay a visit.
The Panthers were scheduled to play again Wednesday (Dec. 23) against the Middleton Cardinals.
Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team is coming off one of the most successful seasons in its history and saw several players graduate in the spring of 2020.
But if anyone expected them to take a big step back, they might be surprised after the Eagles finally got its season underway Friday night at Pierce Park Pavilion with an 8-2 road win against the host Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds.
The loss dropped the Thunderbirds to 0-3 on the season so far while the Eagles were making their debut after original start was postponed the previous week.
Thunderbirds hit the board first in this one, Oliver Scanlan finding the mesh just 50 seconds into the contest, unassisted.
Micah Hanson scored the first Eagles’ goal of the season, from Thor Peterson and Nick Mast 9:30 into the period but Thunderbirds struck back and grabbed another lead just 40 seconds later on a goal by Peyton Sloan from Kyle Poole and the home team carried the lead into the middle period.
The lead held up until late in the second but the Eagles struck for three goals in 2:13 to tie, lead and add insurance heading to the third.
Nick Mast scored the first two with Brodie Trollop setting up one, then scoring the third. Luke Mast assisted on two of the three.
Trollop added his second early in the third before Erik Peterson struck for a pair and Thor Peterson rounded the scoring.
Luke and Nick Mast both added two more assists with singles for Hakon Peterson, Nam Ganch and Landon Clary.
Kaden Stracke picked up the win in goal for the Eagles with 16 saves while Andrew Schaetzl was peppered with 51 shots in goal for the T-Birds.
The Eagles were scheduled to finally play on home ice Tuesday (December 15) against the Beaver Dam Golden Beavers and the T-Birds stay busy with a weekend encounter, a rare second meeting with a non-conference opponent as they travel to Menomonie to face the same Mustangs who grabbed a 5-3 win at Pierce Park Pavilion in the season opener for both Dec. 1
Junior Nick Mast enjoyed a two-goal, four-point night to wrap up the season with 30 points in 13 games, Luke Mast adding an assist for a team high 33 points on the season.
After three assists, Luke Mast pulled the trigger on the goal that put the Eagles in front to stay. Junior Erik Peterson set up the Mast goal before firing the eventual game winner from sophomore Ethan Tranel.
The lead held up until late in the second but the Eagles struck for three goals in 2:13 to tie, lead and add insurance heading to the third.
Sauk Hockey 