Overtime fatal for Cheavers again in Onalaska

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The RWD Cheavers have lost eight times this season, (as of Jan. 24) but there hasn’t been much separation between them and the victors on most nights.

On Tuesday (Jan. 24) the Cheavers lost its third extra-time decision of the season as the host Onalaska/La Crosse Hilltoppers spoiled a great road game with a 4-3 overtime decision.

Of the nine defeats, three have been in extra time and the team has never been separated by more than two goals.
At Onalaska, the Cheavers opened a 2-0 lead with two goals in 21 seconds in the second period but it was 2-1 entering the middle period and Onalaska pulled even at 3-3 just 21 seconds after the visitors moved in front for a second time in the final period.

Sophomore Matt Tillman gave the Hilltoppers its first and only lead of the contest with his goal 78 seconds into overtme.

Senior Caden Brandt and junior Andrey Tougas notched the Cheaver first period goals with assists for senior Carsen Brandt along with juniors Brady Baldwin and Trey Lariden.

The Cheavers will stay on the road with a tough assignement againt the undefeated (in conference play) Madison Edgewood Crusaders on Friday (Jan. 27) at LeBahn Ice Arena, then return home to face the DeForest Norskies in its Badger Challenge match on Monday.

Baldwin took a feed from Brandt and buries his second period goal putting the Cheavers in front again at 3-2.
Sophomore goaltender Alex Griebe stopped 28 of 32 through the regulation periods and overtime segment.
The Cheavers fired 26 at the oppositemend including a 2-1 margin through the brief overtime.

Froese sinks overtime winner for Eagles

By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
Freshman forward Landon Froese fired his second of the game with 5:13 to play in overtime, lifting the Sauk Prairie Eagles to a 5-4 road win at the Onalaska Omni Center Thursday (Dec. 1) night.

The win came in the first game without senior Luke Mast in the lineup and it was an impressive victory against the always strong Onalaska/La Crosse Hilltoppers.
Sidelined with a wrist injury, Mast, who finished among the state leaders in scoring last season had 136 career varsity points.
Hilltoppers hit the board first for the Hilltoppers 8:59 into the contest but Froese fired his first of the contest 25 seconds later from sophomore Gunnar Nachreiner.

Junior Thor Peterson continued that trend later in the period, responding to the second Hilltoppers’ goal again 25 seconds later with his unassisted goal.
Junior Colin Harrington gave the visitors their first lead with a shorthanded goal, unassisted with just over five minutes to play in the opening period.
After a scoreless second period, the Hilltopers pulled even 6:29 into the third and this time it was 31 seconds before Harrington’s second put the Eagles in front again with a set up from junior Garret Mittelsteadt.
For the Hilltoppers, junior Noah Gillette scored twice and senior Carter Hayes notched the other before Gavin Shuster evened it up again with 7:26 to play.
That set the stage for Froese with another unassisted marker in the extra period.
Senior goaltender Kaden Stracke played a big part in this one, stopping 39 shots for his third win of the season in the Eagles’ crease and sophomore Josh Pogreba had 24 saves for the Hilltoppers.

Ironically, with the win, the Eagles have one more win at the Omni Center (2) than at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC). The other win came in the season opener against the Avalanche.
This win came in the first of four-straight road games for the Eagles. The next three for the 3-1 (1-0) will be Badger West Conference match ups at Pierce Park Pavilion against the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds Saturday (Dec. 3), Tuesday at Reedsburg Area Community Arena against the RWD Cheavers and Thursday at LeBahn Arena against the Madison Edgewood Crusaders.
Next home game for the Eagles will also be a conference game as the Monroe Cheesemakers pay a visit Dec. 13.

Mast, Harrington pace Eagles past Panthers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

On paper they should be about even, but the Sauk Prairie Eagles continued its run of Badger West Conference wins against the Oregon Panthers Tuesday night with a 4-2 doubling in their home opener at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC).

The Eagles now have three straight wins against the Cats since Badger conferences were realigned to start the 2021-22 campaign.

Senior Luke Mast and junior Colin Harrington paced the Eagles with two goals apiece in a game the home side never trailed.

A powerplay solo effort from Mast opened the scoring 7:32 into the match put the Eagles on the board, but Oregon senior Simon Dosher tied it up five seconds from the end of the opening period.

Mast’s second put the Eagles in front again 7:48 into the second but the Panthers rallied back again, this time just over two minutes later.

Harrington notched the eventual game winner to give the Eagles its third and final lead of the night 82 seconds from the end of the middle period and he added insurance near the three-minute mark of the final period. The final Eagles’ goal was the only one with set ups, Mast and sophomore Gunnar Nachreiner collected the assists.

For Mast, the three-point contest gives him five goals and eight points just three games into the season.

Senior Kaden Stracke stopped 23 shots to collect his second win of the season while Oregon junior Nate McAlpine made 19 saves.

The Eagles moved to 2-1 on the season with the win and 1-0 in Badger West play while the Panthers fell to 1-1 and 0-1 in league play. The Panthers will play its first home game Friday, entertaining the RWD Cheavers in another conference battle.

The Eagles will go back on the road for its next four games, beginning Tuesday (Dec. 1) at the Onalaska Omni against the Onalaska/La Crosse Hilltoppers with a 7 p.m. puck drop. Following that the Eagles will play Badger West Conference matches Saturday at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo Saturday, at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) Tuesday (Dec. 6) and LeBahn Arena in Madison against the Edgewood Crusaders Thursday, Dec. 8.

Next home game will be Dec. 13 at SPARC against Monroe Cheesemakers, another conference tilt.

Badger West this Week

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

BADGER WEST THIS WEEK

As Badger West Conference teams wrapped up the pre-Christmas portions of their schedules with a barrage of 13 games between Dec. 13-21.

Out of the smoke, Madison Edgewood Crusaders emerged as the conference’s championship favorite, the only team still unbeaten in conference play and adding two more games to its current six-game winning streak while Sauk Prairie Eagles, Oregon Panthers and RWD Cheavers have each dropped two out of five to share the runners up spot.

Another key match saw the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds sliding into fifth with a win against the Monroe Cheesemakers.

MADISON EDGWOOD CRUSADERS (6-1, Badger West 4-0)

The Crusaders put itself in the driver’s seat on Monday, Dec. 13, becoming the lone undefeated team in conference with a decisive 10-2 win at LaBahn Arena against the visiting Oregon Panthers. The following night the Crusaders collected a 12-0 shutout against the Monroe Cheesemakers, also at La Bahn. That win was the team’s sixth in a row after a season opening defeat against defending State Champion Hudson Raiders.

Cody Menzel let the awesome group of seniors on the Crusaders, collecting four goals and eight assists for a dozen points while J.J Wiebusch scored eight while setting up another three for 11 points. Both Wiebusch and Menzel have 26 points in seven games, good enough for a tie for ninth among the state’s top scorers.

Aidan Lenz, another senior, collected three goals and four assists in the two games and senior Parker Murn had six set ups.

In goal, sophomore Rowan White stopped all but two of 39 shots, boosting his overall Goals Against Average to exactly two, good enough for a tie for eighth best in the state.

OREGON PANTHERS (7-4, Badger West 3-2)

The past stretch was an up and down run for the Panthers who started out with its first conference defeat, brushed aside by the host Crusaders 10-2 before bouncing back with a 5-1 win the following night on home ice against RWD. A 3-2 loss against St. Mary’s Springs from Fond du Lac carried the team into a second conference loss, 7-1 at Sauk Prairie.

The key to beating the Panthers in this stretch seems to be shutting down the high-flying team leaders that remain the state’s top scorers so far. Of course, it is one thing to know that task and another thing to get it done.

The 10 goals in four games this week is easily the lowest scoring stretch so far, but the Panthers will be looking to recapture that touch at a tournament over the Christmas Break.

Senior Joe Roemer picked up seven assists to lead the way, sophomore Andrew Jicha collecting five goals and an assist and junior Kyle Rohrer adding three goals and two assists while junior Simon Dosher scored once and assisted on three.

Rohrer (20-26-46), Jicha (23-19-42) and Roemer (6-33-39) hold down the state’s top three spots. While Rohrer leads the state in points, Jicha is the state’s leading goal scorer and Roemer has the most assists.

SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLES (5-2, Badger West 2-2)

The Eagles, like the Crusaders, haver started the season a little slower than other teams due in part to a couple games being postponed.

The Eagles dropped a 2-1 decision at RACA in Reedsburg against a desperate RWD team on Friday (Dec. 17) and bounced back as the desperate team itself with a 7-1 victory at SPARC against the Panthers on Monday.

The Eagles wrapped up its busiest stretch of the season so far with a 7-5 win against McFarland in non-conference play at SPARC on Tuesday.

The Eagles put up 15 goals through the stretch, junior Luke Mast leading the charge with three goals and eight assists for 11 points. Senior Nick Mast scored six and added an assist while senior Hakon Peterson scored a pair and added four helpers. Senior Erik Peterson chipped in two goals and four assists.

In goal junior Kaden Stracke appeared in the first two goals, stopping 41 of 44 shots against.

RWD CHEAVERS (6-5, Badger West 3-2)

The Cheavers fell to 2-2 in Conference and 4-5 overall with the loss in Oregon but bounced back with a 2-1 win at RACA against the visiting Eagles and climbed over .500 once again with a non-conference win at Tomah against Tomah/Sparta on Tuesday night.

Defense and goaltending were key for the Cheavers, especially in the two wins that saw senior goaltending Cooper Oakes stopping 55 of 56 shots in goal and picking up the goose egg in Tomah.

Offensively, the Cheavers got two goals and four assists from senor CJ Pfaff, two goals from senior Caden Brandt, two assists from senior Grant Marsich and a goal and assist from junior Carsen Brandt.

BARABOO/PORTAGE THUNDERBIRDS (2-7, Badger West 1-2)

After starting out with a postponed game against the Eagles, Thunderbirds dropped a pair of games against some tough non-conference opponents but sandwiched them with a 2-1 win at Pierce Park Pavilion against the Monroe Cheesemakers on Saturday.

The losses came against Janesville Bluebirds, a 9-0 loss in Janesville and an 8-2 loss against Onalaska/La Crosse at the Omni Center.

Scoring has continued to be a tough area for the Thunderbirds who picked up the win but scored just four goals in three games.

Seniors Gabe Fitzwilliams and Oliver Scanlan both scored a goal and added an assist with other goals added by sophomore Carson Zick and first-year Nathan Gneiser. Junior Peyton Sloan drew assists on two of the goals.

MONROE CHEESEMAKERS (1-11, Badger West)

The Cheesemakers dropped all three games played this season, running its current losing skid to eight games.

The first two were both Badger West matches, a 12-0 loss to the Crusaders at La Bahn Dec. 14 followed by another loss at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo against the host Thunderbirds on Saturday. Wrapping up the week was a 6-2 loss against Kenosha Thunder at SLICE on Tuesday (Dec. 21).

Cheesemakers scored three goals in the week. Junior Seth Brandt scored the lone goal in Baraboo from senior Josh Haight. Scoring details for the Onalaska game were not available at press time.

Cheavers snap out of skid with 8-0 win

After the RWD Cheavers collected an 8-0 win against La Crescent-Hokah at Lake Delton Ice Arena Saturday, the team honored seniro Connor Schyvinck, this year’s recipient of the ‘Tracy’ Award, in honor of Tracy Jones. On hand to celebrate from left are: Ben and Chris Jones, sons of Tracy, Schyvinck and Thomas Pfaff, last season’s Award winner.

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The RWD Cheavers varsity hockey team snapped its longest skid of the season at three games with a big 8-0 win against an oversized La Crescent-Hokah Lancers team at Lake Delton Ice Arena Saturday, but Head Coach Neil Mattson said after the game (see video) the team began the turn around with a gutsy, albeit unsuccessful effort against the Stevens Point (SPASH) Panthers on Thursday (Jan. 19).

The Cheavers lost that one 3-2 and were outshot 48-15 but showed no fear against the team that was later ranked as the #3 seed in what some consider the toughest of the four Division 1 State Sectionals.

SPASH Panthers 3 @ RWD Cheavers 2

RWD junior goaltender, Cooper Oakes is always solid between the pipes, but this might be one of his best games as he kicked out 45 shots to keep the Cheavers in the hunt.

The Panthers scored the lone goal of the first period with 9:23 to go but sophomore John Scott found the mesh near the halfway mark of the middle frame to even it up with help from junior Clayton Pfaff.

The Panthers scored about three minutes later and carried a single-goal cushion out of the second period again.

Pfaff found the mesh for the Cheavers 6:32 into the final frame and it seemed teams might have to play some extra hockey entering the final minute, but Jacob Sankey sank the game winner and broke local hearts with 44 seconds to go.

Oakes was especially hot in that final period, stopping all but one of 20 Panther shots. In all, the SPASH crew held a 48-15 edge in shots.

La Crescent-Hokah Lancers 0 @ RWD Cheavers 8

The Cheavers played its third game and recorded its third shutout at Lake Delton Ice Arena, this time an 8-0 decision against the Lancers.

The Cheavers grabbed control of this one quick, scoring in the fourth minute and adding a couple more before the end of the first 17-minutes.

Sophomore Caden Brandt notched the first two, on his way to a four-goal, five-point game and freshman Brady Baldwin notched the other. Assists came from juniors Grant Marsich and Trevor Slaght along with sophomore Logan DeMars.

Marsich fired the fourth 35-seconds into the middle period and other second period goals came from DeMars and two more for Brandt with help coming from senior Danny Ely (2), Brandt and sophomore Carsen Brandt.

Slaght added one more in the third period with assists for Baldwin and DeMars.

Oakes had an easier night but stayed hot with 16 more saves to collect his third shutout of the season.

Schyvinck collects ‘Tracy’ Honor

Following Saturday’s game, the team presented it’s ‘Tracy’ Award, named in honor of Tracy Jones, a well-respected member of the hockey community who was taken by Cancer a few years ago. Jones’ sons, Ben and Chris were on hand along with last season’s award winner Thomas Pfaff to congratulate this season’s honoree, senior Connor Schyvinck (see video).

The Cheavers got some good news on Sunday when the Sectional Brackets were released, they were granted the #6 seed in the bracket and a first-round home game against the Middleton Cardinals. Winner will advance to play at #3 Sauk Prairie in the Regional final.

Before that though, the now 10-6 Cheavers will wrap up the regular season this week with a home-and-home pair against Janesville – at RACA Tuesday (Jan. 26) and in Janesville two nights later, then squaring off with Onalaska/La Crosse Hilltoppers at the Onalaska Omni on Saturday.

Middleton will be in town for the playoff contest on Feb. 2.