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.

Schaetzl shines despite lopsided loss at home

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds wrapped up its Badger West against the toughest team, the Madison Edgewood Crusaders wrapping up a 7-0 shutout win on Thursday at Pierce Park Pavilion.

The Crusaders clinched the first Badger West Conference championship with a lopsided win against the Monroe Cheesemakers Thursday (Jan. 3) then closed in on a perfect conference season with the win in Baraboo the following night.

Despite the loss, Andrew Schaetzl earned star honors, stopping 40 shots and allowing just three on 25 shots through the final two periods.

The Crusaders dominated the opening 17-minutes, scoring four unanswered goals with a 22-5 margin on the shot clock.

It was more of the same through the final two, but Schaetzl kept it respectable as the Crusaders rolled to a 47-12 edge on the shot counter.

The loss dropped the Thunderbirds to 4-18 in regular season play and wrapped up a 2-8 Badger Conference record, good enough for fifth place.

Thunderbirds will play its final home game Tuesday against the Avalanche Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pierce Park Pavilion, wrapping up its schedule on the road in Waupun two nights later.

The Crusaders boosted its record to 9-0 and will look to close out a perfect first season in the Badger West at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Thursday night.

State conteding Lynx handle Lightning

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Badger Lightning varsity hockey team entertained the Metro Lynx Monday (Jan. 24) at Pierce Park Pavilion and found out the talent level of one of the state’s top teams.

Ranked in the state’s top six all season long, the Lynx grabbed a 4-0 first period lead and never looked back on its way to an 8-0 win.

The Lynx went to work in the first period scoring three times in 1:58 in the middle of the period on its way to a 4-0 first period cushion, adding two more in the second and third frames.

Lightning sophomore Alyssa Gada was kept busy with a shots margin of 43-8 for the visitors.

Pacing the Lynx was junior Anna Faulkner with two goals and an assist while senior Ally Jacobsen added a goal and two helpers.

The loss dropped the Lightning to 4-8 in regular season play and 3-6 in Badger Conference contests. Next up for the Lightning will be a home Conference game against the Viroqua Blackhawks at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Tuesday (Jan. 25) followed by five straight road contests that will carry the team into February.

The Lightning has a total of 10 games to play before the regular season ends on Feb. 11.

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.