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.

Jicha spoils valiant comeback by RWD

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Alec Jicha brought a disappointing finish to a hard fought, gritty and emotional contest for the RWD Cheavers at Oregon Ice Arena Friday (Dec. 2) night, sinking the game winner of a 3-2 Conference contest in overtime.

After a tough start, the odds stacked further against the visiting Cheavers when one of the state’s top players, senior Caden Brandt was forced to leave the game with an apparent lower leg injury.

Down 2-0 late in the opening period, the Cheavers were threatening on a powerplay with a flurry around the Oregon Panthers’ goal but when the whistle sounded, Brandt was on the ice and ultimately had difficulty getting up. He was eventually helped off the ice and the game continued.

If the Cheavers felt sorry for themselves, it didn’t show as senior John Scott snapped home the team’s first goal before the end of the period and still on the powerplay. Fellow seniors Carsen Brandt and Logan DeMars had the assists.

Caden Brandt’s regular linemates – senior Scott and junior Brady Baldwin picked up their own game following his injury and utility player, junior Iszak Elder filled in flawlessly to round out the line. Scott and Baldwin teamed up on the tying goal, Scott dropping a perfect pass that Baldwin slammed home 4:19 from the end of the period. Senior defenseman Lukas Vana also collected an assist.

Following a scoreless final period teams headed to overtime and junior Andrew Jicha ended the game just before the end of the second period. Jicha, the lone remaining member of the Panthers’ powerful top line from last season, also opened the scoring for the Panthers and set up the second goal, scored by senior Edgar Nieto.

Sophomore Alex Griebe stopped 32 of 35 shots in goal for the Cheavers while senior Josh Kean handled 25 of 27 for the Panthers.

The loss dropped the Cheavers to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in Badger West Conference play while the Panthers avoided an 0-2 start to league play with the win while boosting their regular season record to 2-1.

The game is the first of five straight conference matches for RWD and the loss adds some importance to its next match at home at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) against the Sauk Prairie Eagles.

Iszak Elder did a great job moving up from the blue line to fill in with John Scott and Brady Baldwin after the injury to Caden Brandt at Oregon Ice Arena Frdaiay. **Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer**

Alec Jicha (6) scored twice for the host Panthers including the overtime game winner Friday night, but sophomore goaltender Alex Griebe made the stop on this opportunity. **Photo Courtesy Jessica Othmer**

Lightning and Monkeys hosting State Tournaments

The South Central Cyclones/Badger Lightning at Sauk Prairie Flyers/Monkeys will both be Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) State Championship hosts this season with the State 10-U B Girls Championship tournament to be held at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) in Prairie du Sac March 7-8 and the State U-12 B State Championship contest at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) the following weekend.
Details on both events was finalized with the various Regional Championships decided this past weekend.
WAHA U-10 B Girls State Championship
As host, the U-10 Sauk Prairie Monkeys earn an automatic berth into the tournament as did the Dane County Diamonds, the only other Regional representative at this division.
They will square off in the final game of the opening round of play at SPARC at 12:45 p.m. Saturday (March 7). Other opening round games will see Green Bay Bobcats against a still to be determined team at 9 a.m.; Washington County Lynx, taking on Appleton Freeze at 10:15 a.m. and Hayward Hurricanesagainst Beaver Dam at 11:30 a.m.
All eight teams will play twice on the opening day, the Monkeys facing off against either Beaver Dam or Hayward in the second round. All eight will play once more on Sunday, culminating with the State Championship game at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

WAHA U-12 B Girls State Championship
The U-12 Badger Lightning will play host as well at the RACA the following weekend.
The good news is both the Badger Lightning and Monkeys will play in the tournament. The bad news is they will square off against each other at the end of the opening round Saturday at RACA at 1:15 p.m. Saturday (March 14).
Other first round action will see Marinette/Menominee Thunder against TNT (Black River Falls); at 8 a.m.; the Washington County Lynx against the Black Cats (Black River Falls) at 9:45 a.m. and the Hayward Hurricanes taking on the Beaver Dam Wildfire at 11:30 a.m. Depending on results, the Monkeys and Lightning will move on to play either the Wildfire or Hurricanes in the second round at RACA. The U12 B State Championship game will faceoff on Sunday at 2 p.m.