By Jim den Hollander Editor/Publisher Saukhockey.info With senior Luke Mast leading the way, the Sauk Prairie Eagles varsity hockey team wrapped up its 2022-23 Badger West Conference schedule on a winning note Tuesday (Jan. 24).
The Eagles wrapped up second place in the conference with an 8-0 win at Stateline Ice and Community Expo (SLICE) in Monroe, wrapping up an 8-2 Conference schedule and boosting its overall regular season record to 14-4-2.
The Eagles all but settled the game with four unanswered first period goals despite a narrow 13-10 edge on the shot counter. The Eagles wrapped up the win with two more in both the second and third periods. Mast, in the hunt for the overall state lead in scoring, put up four goals and set up another three to stay with the front runners. Freshman Landon Froese and sophomore Gunnar Nachreiner both added a goal and assist with other goals scored by juniors Steven Romaker and Colin Harrington. Junior Karsyn Banta chipped in two assists.
With the conference season wrapped up, the Eagles will finish the regular season, beginning Friday (Jan. 27) with a home game against the Muskego Co-Op Ice Force (9-12-0, 3-3 Classic Eight). Next week, the Eagles will complete its home schedule against Madison West from the Big Eight Conference Tuesday and DeForest Norskies from the Badger East Thursday.
The regular season finale will take place in Tomah Feb. 7.
Despite a dominant effort on the shot counter, Tomah/Sparta didn’t secure a win against the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds until an insurance goal inside the final three minutes lifted them to a 3-0 win at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo Tuesday night.
The Thunderbirds, playing on home ice for the first time this season, fell to 0-4 despite yet another amazing effort in goal from sophomore Burke Schweda.
This one had to sting a bit as the Thunderbirds were shutout for a third straight time and have found the mesh just once in 204 minutes so far. At the opposite end, Schweda stopped all but three of 56 for the Thunderbirds and was beaten just once on 31 attempts heading to the third period.
Statistically, the middle frame was likely the best of the season for the T-Birds who fired 10 against Tomah/Sparta sophomore Ashton Steele on his way to a 16-stop shutout. Thunderbirds had just three shots in both the first and final periods.
Schweda matched him and beyond through the first 32:15 before junior Owen Walker notched the only goal needed by Tomah/Sparta.
Blake Haun doubled the margin early in the third, but the game wasn’t clinched until freshman Colin Ritter sank a third for the visitors with 2:53 to go.
The Thunderbirds will stay on home ice for their next pair, beginning with their third game in four days against the Janesville Bluebirds from the Big Eight Conference. Bluebirds opened their regular season Tuesday with a 6-5 loss to Kenosha on home ice.
Thunderbirds fell to 0-4 with the loss and will look to get off the shnide Thursday with a 7 p.m. faceoff. Following that, Thunderbirds will head back into conference play hosting the Sauk Prairie Eagles on Saturday at 5 p.m., also at Pierce Park Pavilion.
Coming off a pair of tough losses against Monona Grove and Waupun, the Thunderbirds wrapped up a three-game season opening road trek with what could be its toughest game of the season, opening the Badger West Conference schedule with a 10-0 loss against the host Madison Edgewood Crusaders at Le Bahn Ice Arena in Madison.
The Crusaders enter 2022-23 as the defending conference champs and rolled into the contest Monday also sporting an 0-2 record with weekend losses against defending state champion Hudson and Chippewa Falls on the road.
The Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds absorbed another tough lesson Monday, heading into a tough and busy week of WIAA action.
Once again, Thunderbirds’ goaltender Burke Schweda was a bright spot for the locals, especially early, as they came out of the opening period down 2-0 despite a 17-4 edge in shots for the home side. Unfortunately for the T-Birds, that was already half of its game total as the Crusaders rolled to a 55-8 margin overall.
Schweda has kicked out 174 shots in three games for Baraboo/Portage but because of the scores, it has likely gone unnoticed by many,
The Crusaders added five more unanswered middle period goals and sank three more in the third, led by freshman Owen Koch and sophomore David Halblieb with three goals apiece.
The good news for the Thunderbirds is the toughest road portion of its scheduled is now in the rearview mirror and the team is scheduled to play its first game in front of friendly fans tonight (Nov. 28) at Pierce Park Pavilion against Tomah/Sparta from the Mississippi Valley Conference.
A non-conference tilt, this would normally be considered a good opportunity for the Thunderbirds to break into the win column but after opening the season with a 4-2 loss against Black River Falls Tigers in its opener Friday, Tomah/Sparta took its frustrations out on the Stoughton Vikings from the Badger East 9-2 the following night. Both Tomah/Sparta games so far have been on home ice.
Thunderbirds have just one goal in three games and will be looking to get its offense on track in this one at Pierce Park Pavilion.
Thunderbirds will wrap up a four-game week and a three-game homestand with a Thursday night contest against the Janesville Blue Birds from the Big Eight Thursday before playing its first conference match on home ice Saturday against the Sauk Prairie Eagles. Tuesday and Thursday games start at 7 p.m. with the weekend contest starting at 5 p.m.
The Sauk Prairie Eagles wrapped up a win in its penultimate regular season contest, tripling Tomah/Sparta 6-2 at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Tuesday (Feb. 8) night.
The Eagles started slow, scoring once in the second half of the opening period, but even at 1-1 early in the second.
Three goals in six minutes sent the Eagles to a 4-1 second period cushion. Tomah/Sparta gave themselves a glimmer of hope early in the third period making it a two-goal game, but the Eagles notched two more to pull away down the stretch.
After a seven-point game the previous night in Monroe, junior Luke Mast added another four with a goal and three assists, senior brother Nick Mast and senior Erik Peterson rounded out the top line, both adding two goals and an assist.
Senior Micah Hanson added the other goal and an assist for the Eagles, other set ups coming from senior Brody Wolfe, junior Ethan Tranel and sophomore Karsyn Banta.
Sophomore goaltender William Anderson got his first varsity start and made it a win with 13 saves. Meanwhile, junior Jake Berry took the loss despite kicking out 44 shots in goal for Tomah/Sparta. The Eagles’ final goal was into an empty cage.
The win pushed the Eagles to 17-4 on the season and they will wrap it up with one last conference test against the currently undefeated (in Badger West) Madison Edgewood Crusaders on Thursday (Feb. 10) at SPARC.
The Sauk Prairie varsity Eagles hockey team bounced back from a tough loss at home to the RWD Cheavers with an impressive 3-2 win against the visiting Middleton Cardinals Thursday (Feb. 3).
Sophomore Colin Harrington scored his second goal in two games, taking a pass from junior Luke Mast for the only goal of the first period. That lead stood up until teams combined for three goals in the final 82 seconds of the final period.
An unassisted tally for senior Nick Mast doubled the Eagles margin but the Cardinals finally hit the board with 24 seconds to play in the middle frame, sophomore Brady Engelkes burying the only shot of 15 in the first two periods to get by junior Kaden Stracke in the Eagles’ net.
Luke Mast restored the two-goal margin 12 seconds later from Nick Mast and senior Erik Peterson.
The lone third period goal was another from Engelkes, his 28th of the season.
With his goal, Nick Mast has 38, tying him with Oregon’s Kyle Rohrer as the third highest scorer in the WIAA. Luke Mast sits 10th in state in assists with 36.
The win boosted the Eagles’ regular season record to 15-3 with three games to play.
Eagles will make the trip to Monroe’s Stateline Ice and Community Expo (SLICE) to play the Cheesemakers in Badger West Conference action on Monday (Feb. 7). The following night, the Eagles will return to SPARC where it will close out the regular season against Tomah and then two nights later, the Madison Edgewood Crusaders.
RWD varsity goaltender Cooper Oakes rose to the occasion in a big way at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) Friday night to lift the RWD squad to a 3-2 win against the host Sauk Prairie Eagles Tuesday (Feb. 1) night.
Despite a 35-19 edge in shots in the contest, Oakes kept his crease clean for the most part.
Out of the gate, the Eagles owned a 15-5 edge in shots through the first period but counted just one goal as sophomore Colin Harrington notched his first varsity goal, from senior twice Hakon and Erik Peterson 2:21 from the end of the opening period.
The Eagles carried the lead into the second period, but the Cheavers found a way past junior Kaden Stracke in goal for the Eagles twice, grabbing a lead and holding it to the final buzzer.
Junior Caden Brandt converted a Trevor Slaght feed for his 18th goal of the season to pull the Cheavers even 4:07 into the middle frame and junior John Scott notched his 12th late in the period from senior linemate Tomas Korndorfer.
Both teams fired nine shots through the middle 17 minutes, but the Eagles dominated the shot clock again down the stretch with an 11-5 margin in the third.
But it was the Cheavers on the board first in the frame with an all-senior effort, Slaght pulling the trigger on the game winner from CJ Pfaff and Grant Marsich 2:11 into the frame.
Erik Peterson responded for the Eagles 6:55 in, but Oakes allowed nothing else past through the final 10 minutes to secure the win.
All three Cheavers’ goals were scored at even strength and both Eagles’ markers came on powerplays.
While the Cheavers celebrated an emotional win against one of its biggest rivals, also cheering was the Madison Edgewood Crusaders who are all but assured the Badger West Conference crown as both the Eagles and Cheavers have three losses while the Crusaders are undefeated through seven conference games.
The Eagles saw an 11-game winning streak ended with the loss, its first since Dec. 17.
The Cheavers boosted its overall record 15-6 and became the first team to wrap up its Badger West Conference schedule with a 7-3 mark. After seeing a long winning streak of its own ended Jan. 18, the team has shrugged it off with two wins since and is 11-1 since Dec. 17.
RWD will head north for a pair of games this weekend against the Hayward Hurricanes (8-10-1, 4-3-1 Middle Border Conference) Friday night and the Ashland Oredockers (8-11, Independent) on Saturday, wrapping up its regular season Tuesday at the Lake Delton Ice Arena against the Janesville Bluebirds (12-7-0, 8-4 Big Eight Conference).
The Eagles sit at 14-3 on the season and 5-3 in Badger West Conference matches. The team has four games yet to play, three on home ice, beginning Thursday (Feb. 3) at home against the Middleton Cardinals (15-6-0, 9-5 Big Eight Conference).
The lone road trip will be Monday (Feb. 7) when the Eagles travel to Monroe to play a Badger West Conference match against the Cheesemakers (2-17-0, 0-7 Badger West), then return home to play Tomah/Sparta (6-13-2, 1-3 Mississippi Valley Conference) Tuesday (Feb. 8) and the Madison Edgewood Crusaders (16-3-0, 7-0 Badger West Conference) two nights later.
Another two goals for junior John Scott and the third shutout of the season for senior Cooper Oakes helped the RWD Cheavers reach the prime stage to defend its 2020 Monk’s Cheeseburger crown.
A 3-0 win in its semi-final set up a date with the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders Wednesday (Dec. 30) at the Lake Delton Ice Arena.
The path to the final went through the Kenosha Thunder and while the game was not clinched until late, the Cheavers were in control the whole way, outshooting the Thunder by a 49-11 margin.
Thunder junior goaltender Zach Mitchell was the busiest man in the barn, kicking out 46 shots but once again it was the trio of Scott, senior Tomas Korndorfer and sophomore Brady Baldwin who solved the goaltender.
Scott fired both the game winner 7:43 into the opening period and the clincher, early in the third Korndorfer notching the middle goal, also in the first period and assisting on the final goal. Baldwin set up Korndorfer’s tally.
After wearing out a path to the sin bin the previous night, the Cheavers produced a more disciplined effort against Kenosha as the two teams combined for six minutes of infractions, just one minor called against the locals.
The win sets up the final against the Red Raiders, the same team RWD defeated for the burgers last season.
Teams met in Rapids to open this season, the Red Raiders rallying back from an early 2-0 deficit to pull out a 3-2 edge. The Raiders outshot RWD 36-15 on that night and have brushed aside La Crescent-Hokah and Onalaska by a 17-5 margin in its first two games at the Monk’s tourney.
Other Games
The second game for the Red Raiders was a lopsided 7-1 win against Onalaska on Tuesday. They carried Lout of the opening period and added another before the Hilltoppers scored its only goal.
Senior goaltender Dakota Blasky stopped 26 shots for the Red Raiders with two goal games for senior Carson Gunderson and junior Trevor Vilbaum. Gunderson also collected two assists.
The game’s first game, saw La Crescent-Hokah Lancers picking up a 5-4 win in overtime against the McFarland Spartans and River Falls Wildcats bounced back from its opening game loss to RWD with a 7-1 win against Tomah/Sparta.
The RWD Cheavers opened play at the Monk’s Cheeseburger Classic ready to defend its title and putting together what might have been its best 51-minutes of the season so far this season.
Led by a junior John Scott who fired his first varsity hat trick and 22 stops on 23 shots for senior goaltender Cooper Oakes, the Cheavers got by the River Falls Wildcats, a team they had never faced before.
RWD dominated the contest from start to finish, including a long stretch in the middle period played one or two skaters short. After a lackadaisical final five minutes of the second which allowed the Wildcats a chance to score its lone goal, the Cheavers responded with a renewed vigor in the final period, turning a 3-1 cushion into the 5-1 final.
Juniors Caden and Carsen Brandt had the set ups on the game’s first goal, scoring by senior C.J. Pfaff and Scott fired the other two first period goals, the first on a feed from senior Tomas Korndorfer.
The Cheavers re-established control with a 14-3 edge in shots through the final 17-, minutes and it paid off with goals from Scott and junior defenseman Logan DeMars.
Korndorfer collected assists on both third period goals and sophomore Brady Baldwin, the third man on the line with Scott and Korndorfer, also picked up one.
Other Scores
The first day of the tournament began with Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders collecting a 10-4 win against the La Crescent-Hokah Lancers, an independent Minnesota team.
Sophomore Carson Gause led the Raiders with four goals and two assists, first year Pagel Jax scored a pair.
In the second game, Noah Clemment turned aside all 29 shots he faced and junior Gavin Schuster scored four to lead the Onalaska Hilltoppers to a 6-0 shutout against the McFarland Spartans.
The third game was the closest of the day, the Kenosha Thunder holding off a late rally by Tomah/Sparta for a 2-1 edge. First-year goaltender Mark Michelson stopped 33 of 34 to lead his team to the win despite a massive 34-12 edge in shots for Tomah/Sparta who didn’t find a way past him until late in the final period.
RWD, Baraboo/Portage and Sauk Prairie varsity teams will all hit the tournament trail this week, seeing some different teams and getting a break from their respective conference schedules.
RWD Cheavers will once again host the annual Monk’s Cheeseburger Classic. The 12th version of the tournament will see it once again as an eight-team event after being trimmed to four last season.
The tournament has been an important launching pad for the Cheavers in past seasons. They won the first tournament and rolled from that to a state championship berth. In 2014-15, a team much like this season’s Cheavers carried a 4-3-1 record into the Monk’s tournament and turned three wins to win the title into an 18-game unbeaten streak that didn’t end until the State championship quarterfinals.
The Cheavers will begin its latest version of the tournament in the final game of the day on Dec. 28 against the River Falls Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile the Sauk Prairie Eagles will begin play at the annual Culver’s Cup, playing out of Hartmeyer Ice Arena and Madison Ice Arena.
The Eagles will begin at 2:45 p.m. against the Oshkosh Ice Hawks.
Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds will begin the following day at a tournament in Hartland.
Here is a little information on the local tournament and the other ones as well.
Monks’s Cheeseburger Classic
Lake Delton Ice Arena
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Game 1 — 12 p.m. — Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders (5-3, 2-2 Wisconsin Valley) vs. La Crescent-Hokah Lancers 4-2, Minnesota Independent)
Game 2 — 2:30 p.m. — McFarland Spartans (4-5, 3-2 Badger East) vs. Onalaska Hilltoppers (3-4, 1-1 Mississippi Valley)
Game 3 — 5 p.m. — Tomah Sparta (3-5, 1-0 Mississippi Valley) vs. Kenosha Thunder (4-2, 0-1 Classic Eight)
Game 4 — 7:30 p.m. — RWD Cheavers (6-5, 3-2 Badger West) vs. River Falls Wildcats (3-5, 0-4 Big Rivers)
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Game 5 – 12 p.m. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 6 – 2:30 p.m. — Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 7 – 5 p.m. — Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 8 – 7:30 p.m. — Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
Thursday, Dec. 30
Game 9 – 10 a.m. — Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7
Game 10 – 12:30 p.m. — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7
Game 11 – 3 p.m. — Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8
Game 12 – 5:30 p.m. — Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8
Culver’s Cup – Varsity Boys Division
Tuesday Dec. 28 – Quarterfinals
Game 1 – 2:45 p.m. — Sauk Prairie Eagles (6-2, 2-2 Badger West) vs. Oshkosh Ice Hawks (3-4, 2-1 Badgerland) — MIA
Game 2 – 7:45 p.m. — Madison West Regents (3-7, 3-4 Big Eight) vs. Marshfield Tigers (6-3-1, 2-1 Wisconsin Valley) — MIA
Game 3 – 5:15 p.m. — Marquette Hilltoppers (6-1, 1-0 Classic Eight) vs. Madison Memorial Spartans (4-6, 3-3 Big Eight) — MIA
Game 4 – 7:45 p.m. — Ashland Oredockers (4-5, Independent) vs. Monona Grove Silver Eagles (3-5, 2-3 Badger East) — Hartmeyer
Wednesday Dec. 29 – Semi Finals
Game 5 – 12:15 p.m. — Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – MIA
Game 6 – 2:45 p.m. — Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – MIA
Game 7 – 5:15 p.m. — Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – MIA
Game 8 – 7:45 p.m. — Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – MIA
Thursday, Dec. 30 – Finals
7th Place Game – 4:45 p.m. — Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7 – Hartmeyer
5th Place Game – 4:45 p.m. — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7 – MIA
3rd Place Game – 7:15 p.m. — Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8 – Hartmeyer
Championship Game – 7:15 p.m. — Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8 – MIA
Mullet Cup
Howard G. Mullet Ice Center – Hartland, WI
There will be four teams in this two-day event.
On Dec. 29, the first game will pit the Homestead Highlanders (5-5, 0-0 North Shore) against the Sheboygan Red Raiders (3-9, 0-3 Fox River) at 4:45 p.m. followed by the Baraboo-Portage Thunderbirds (2-7, 1-2 Badger West) against the Arrowhead Warhawks (6-2, 0-0 Classic Eight).
Game times and match ups for the Consolation and Championship game on Dec. 30 are still TBA as of press time.
Badger Lightning
The Lightning will not be in a tournament this season, but locals get a look at them at Pierce Park Pavilion on Wednesday at 5 p.m. when they play host to the Northern Pines Eagles at Pierce Park Pavilion wrapping up a three-game homestand.
Of course the primary goal is to attract attention and get the promotion to varsity, but the RWD junior varsity Cheavers have quietly put together a bit of a dream season so far.
A 2-0 win at home to Sauk Prairie Dec. 17, followed up by a 5-0 win in Tomah Dec. 21 continued a string of four-straight shutouts and boosting the team’s overall record to 10-2. A shutout is shared by all teammates, but first-year goaltender Alex Griebe has put together a run of 203 minutes and 12-seconds without allowing a puck past him in the blue paint for the Cheavers heading into the Christmas Break.
Eagles 0 @ Cheavers 2
Griebe and Eagles junior Brooks McInerney both stopped everything shot at them through the opening period. First-year Alec Breunig broke through with the game winner 2:24 into the middle period after a set up by junior Conner Putz.
The other goal came in the third period, an unassisted marker scored by Kaden Uminski.
Griebe kicked out all 28 Eagles’ shots while the Cheavers fired 18 the other way.
Cheavers 5 @ Tomah-Sparta 0
In Tomah, teams played through a scoreless first period again and Breunig fired his second straight game winner with the lone second period goal unassisted.
The Cheavers padded its lead with four more unanswered goals in the third period. Senior Malachi Strompolis-Salama paced the squad with the second goal and two assists in the period. Senior Carter Scully and junior Nate Stando both picked up a goal and assist in the period, the other goal scored by Uminski.
Cheavers held an overall edge of 37-11 in Tomah.
The junior varsity squad will be back in action on Tuesday Jan. 4 at Waupaca.
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