WAHA State Preview — Sauk 10U ‘A’ Monkeys

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

This is the second of six previews of WAHA State Championship tournaments involving local youth teams this weekend.

Sauk Monkeys 10U ‘A’ 12-16-3 (Not including Feb. 26-27 games)

The Sauk Monkeys have exploded onto the girl’s hockey scene in recent seasons and this season has qualified six of its seven teams to play in State Championship tournaments.

Both youngest level teams, the 10U A and 10U B teams are among those heading into the big tournaments this weekend.

The ‘A’ squad headed into the final weekend before the state tournament a little under .500, but five of those defeats are a dstant memory, coming in the opening have dozen games played way back in late November.

The Monkeys were the lone ‘A’ level team in region four and earned an automatic berth into the state tournament that will be held at the Mandt Recreation Center in Stoughton, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday when the local squad opens against the Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire Area Stars (26-24-1).

The Monkeys are familiar with the Stars having faced off against them twice this season. The Stars claimed a 3-2 edge against the Monkeys at a game played in Beaver Dam Jan. 15, but more recently, it was the Monkeys pulling out a 7-5 win in a game played in Ashwaubenon.

The Monkeys will play a second game Saturday at either 4:30 p.m. or 5:45 p.m. and against either the River Falls BlackCats ‘Black’ (1-9-1) or the SHAW (Southern Hockey Association of Wisconsin) Timberwolves (20-15-1), depending on first round results.

Also included in the WAHA State 10U A Championship tournament are the Wisconsin Valley Union Junior Eagles (incomplete statistics), Appleton Freeze (28-16-2), River Falls BlackCats ‘Orange’ (no statistics available) and the Lake Country Warhawks (No statistics available).

The eight-team event will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday with each team playing twice. The final game will face off at 5:45 p.m. On Sunday, play will begin with the 7^th place game at 9 a.m. and wrap up with the State 10U A Championship game at 1:30 p.m.

Sauk Monkeys team members include Mia Persinger; Hayley Chamberlin; Ruthie Saltzberry; Harper Caldwell; Mya Goodman; Isabelle Jolicoeur; Lucy Gibson; Huntleigh Grant; Khloe Walker; Claire Hansen; Teresa Weiss; Catharine Marshall; Carys Benedict and Sydnee Marks.

Unfortunately, it appears there is no LiveBarn available at the Mandt Recreation Center.

Saukhockey.info would like to wish the 10U ‘A’ Monkeys good luck in Stoughton this weekend.

Zeutzius and Conklin pace 12U Monkeys to wins

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Sauk Prairie Monkeys 12U Squirt team made the trek to Stevens Point and collected back-to-back wins against the host Wisconsin Valley Union Junior Eagles on Saturday.

The Monkeys’ defense shook off a rough start, trailing 3-0 after the first period of play and allowed just one more goal through its final five periods. After rallying back for a 7-4 win in the opener, the Monkeys dominated the second game on its way to an 8-0 shutout win.

12U Monkeys 7 WVU Jr. Eagles 4

The Monkeys scored twice in the second period to get within one in the opening contest, then exploded for five in the third period, including the tying and go-ahead goals 25 seconds apart.

Sidney Zeutzius led the Monkeys with a three-goal game, Emma Wipperfurth adding a goal and assist, and other goals scored by Evelyn Bahe, Natalee Gesicki and Evelyn Gurney. Anjali Ballweg and Eleanor Potter also picked up helpers and Lucy Hahn turned in a 13-save effort to collect the win in goal.

Amaya Collins scored three for the Eagles, Katie Winder adding a goal and assist and Ellie Czaikowski setting up a pair.

Issie Wojcik was kept busy in the Eagles’ net with 43 shots on goal for the Monkeys.

12U Monkeys 8 WVU Jr. Eagles 0

The second game was all-Monkeys as they scored three unanswered goals in both the first and second periods and added two more in the third.

Mateya Conklin powered the Monkeys’ attack with four goals and an assist, Emmalyn Ezman scoring a pair. Hayley Royster and Phoebe Hager, Royster adding an assist. Also chipping in an assist was Lucy Hahn.

Megan Collins picked up the shutout win in goal for the Monkeys and Wojcik was busy again, kicking out 32 of 40 for the Eagles.

The wins boost the regular season record for the 12U Monkeys to 2-1-1. On Saturday, the Monkeys will face a tough challenge, traveling to Verona to face the 14U ‘B’ Madison Mavericks.

Busy post-Thanksgiving weekend for area youth teams

A combination of Thanksgiving and hunting season slowed down youth hockey a bit in the past couple weeks, but entering December, teams are just a month away from Regional seedings and of course the holiday tournaments.

Throw in the Ducks and a full slate of varsity contests and there is plenty of action over the upcoming weekend.

Dells Ducks

The Ducks hit the ice right after Labor Day and the only let up was a forced one back in October. After playing right through the holiday weekend, the Ducks played a Thursday morning contest at the Lake Delton Ice Arena, falling to 0-21-0-0 on the season with a 7-2 defeat at the hands of the Steele County Blades.

The traditional weekend dates are dark this time around, but the Ducks will be on the ice Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. to play the Northern Colorado Junior Eagles from the new Mountain Division.

The Eagles have a 13-3-1 record and sit second in the division standings behind only the Pueblo Bulls who have played seven more matches.

Varsity hockey

The opening week of WIAA varsity hockey enters its first weekend with a couple Sauk County teams in action.

The RWD Cheavers will be entering the third game of the season and the first road test when its heads to Fond du Lac to take on St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers the defending Division 2 State Champion with a large number of returning players with a high noon faceoff.

The Badger Lightning who opened their own regular season Thursday will be on home ice at Pierce Park Pavilion at 4 p.m.

Baraboo Thunderbirds have a weekend off and the Sauk Prairie Eagles will not drop the puck on its regular season until Tuesday.

Youth Hockey

Bantam

Both the Baraboo T-Birds and Sauk Prairie Flyers Bantam ‘B’ team will host Waunakee ‘C’ on Saturday, starting at Pierce Park against the T-Birds at 2 p.m. and followed up at 6 p.m. at SPARC against the Bantam ‘B’ Flyers.

Bantam ‘A’ Flyers have a weekend off.

RWD Cheavers are scheduled to play in a Black River Falls tournament this weekend beginning early Saturday with a game against the Southeastern Hockey Association of Wisconsin (SHAW) Timberwolves at 8 a.m. The rest of the tournament is TBA.

U-14

The U-14 Monkeys have a busy four-game weekend scheduled, all at SPARC. The Central Wisconsin Storm will be in town Saturday for a pair of games, scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday it will be the Viroqua Thunder paying a visit with faceoffs at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The Badger Lightning will also be home for a pair Saturday, taking on the Mavericks at Pierce Park with faceoffs at 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Peewee

Sauk Prairie ‘B’ Flyers will be on home ice Saturday, taking on Waunakee C1 Red Wildcats in a 9:45 a.m. contest, then facing off against Viroqua ‘B’ at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the Sauk ‘B’s will head to Baraboo for a 10 a.m. contest against the Peewee T-Birds.
The ‘A’ Flyers have a three-game homestand at SPARC with the Waunakee ‘B’ squad in town Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and a pair of games against Black River Falls Tigers at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday.

RWD will see eight games for the peewees as the Peewee ‘A’ team hosts Black River Falls at 2:45 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, then entertains Onalaska ‘B’ Tornado in games at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The ‘B’ Cheavers will face off against Tomah/Sparta at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, then returns for a 7 p.m. contest against Sun Prairie ‘C2’. On Sunday Viroqua will pay a visit for a 10:15 a.m. start with a rematch against Sun Prairie ‘C20 at 3 p.m.

U-12

The Sauk Prairie U-12 ‘A’ Monkeys will be at a tournament in Appleton on the weekend, beginning with a Friday night match against Wisconsin Valley Union Junior Eagles at 6:45 p.m. with the rest still TBA.

The U-12 ‘B’ Monkeys will also be on the road, playing two at Cornerstone Community Center in Ashwaubenon against the Green Bay Bobcats. The same two teams squared off the previous weekend, splitting a pair of games at SPARC.

Squirt

The RWD Squirt ‘A’ squad will kick off its weekend with a home game against Sauk Prairie Flyers ‘A’ at RACA at noon Saturday and makes the trek to Viroqua for a 2:30 p.m. start on Sunday.

The RWD ‘B’ Squirts will take on Waunakee C2 Yellow at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at RACA and will join their brothers in Viroqua Sunday with a 12:45 p.m. faceoff.

Sauk Prairie Squirt ‘B’ Flyers have just one game, a 7:45 a.m. start Saturday at SPARC against Waunakee C1.

After its game in Reedsburg Saturday, the Squirt ‘A’ Flyers will stay on the road, and play a second game at Onalaska, starting at 7:30 a.m. against the host Onalaska Tornado ‘A’ Squirts

The T-Birds Squirts are out of action until Dec. 12.

U10

The Sauk Prairie U-10 Monkeys will also take part in an Appleton tournament, starting Saturday at 9:15 a.m. against the Green Bay U10 Bobcats. The rest of the event is TBA.