Eagles’ soccer team splits a pair

Sauk Prairie reached the midpoint of the boys soccer regular season last week hoping to make a run at the Badger North Conference title, then chase postseason greatness. So that made the Eagles’ quadrangular event last Saturday an important barometer on the state of the program according to first-year coach Drew Kornish. Appleton West dominated play in the opener, dealing Sauk Prairie a 4-1 defeat. But the Eagles rebounded in the consolation game to blank Waukesha North, 2-0. Sauk Prairie opened the week with a 4-0 victory over visiting Portage/Poynette in a Badger North Conference match on Sept. 17. However, the Eagles’ non-conference match against visiting Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld last Thursday was cancelled. “Unfortunately they didn’t have enough varsity eligible players,” Kornish said of the Vanguards. “I’m not looking to reschedule that one with our remaining games and competition picking up. But it worked out, guys got an extra day of rest before the quad.” Against Portage/Poynette, senior forward Evan Carlson recorded a hat trick in leading the Eagles to their first conference victory of the season. Carlson scored off an assist from senior Caden Pugh in the third minute and then scored off a free kick in the 25th minute to stake Sauk Prairie to a 2-0 lead. Senior Simon Enerson found the back of the net in the 39th minute on an assist from sophomore Eddie Breunig to send the Eagles into halftime with a 3-0 lead. “We got off to a great start,” Kornish said. “Evan (Carlson) did a great job and was able to put one away inside of the first five. Then complacency crept in. We felt very comfortable with the way we were playing. Portage did a good job of shutting down our attack. “Although we dominated the game and time of possession, our opportunities weren’t all that great, and I give them credit for that.” Senior Abe Castro found Carlson for his third goal of the game in the 57th minute for an insurance tally, and senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek made two saves to help preserve the Eagles fourth shutout of the season. On Saturday, Sauk Prairie capped the first half of its regular-season schedule with a split at its own quad to push its record to 7-2-1, including 1-0-1 in the Badger North Conference. Against Appleton West, Sauk Prairie scored first on junior Joe Baumgardt’s goal from Simon Enerson for a 1-0 lead in the third minute. But that was all the offense the Eagles could muster the rest of the way as West closed the match with four unanswered goals. “We went up right away and played well for about 20 minutes,” Kornish said. “But then a little bit of complacency slipped in, and they scored just before half.” The game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but it was all Appleton West in the second half. “A multitude of mental errors in the second half just let the game get away from us,” Kornish said. Appleton West scored a pair of goals early in the second half to grab a 3-1 lead and then added a final goal in the closing seconds to seal the Eagles’ fate. Jelinek finished with five saves for Sauk Prairie, which suffered just it’s second loss of the season. During the break between games, though, Kornish said the Eagles found a way to get back on track. “I challenged them a little bit to play with a little more pride than what they did in that first game” he said. “They kind of seemed to lose their way as far as what they were playing for. We had a nice conversation on what it means to play high school soccer and what goes along with it, making sure that they are doing things the way they wanted to be represented.” Kornish was pleased with how the Eagles responded to the challenge posed by a solid Waukesha North squad. “They beat Arrowhead and are a big team with a lot of nice experience,” Kornish said of North. “We dominated that game.” Senior defender Trevor Spray scored his first varsity goal in the 26th minute on an assist from Carlson to provide all the offense Sauk Prairie would need. “Trevor scored off a set piece,” Kornish said of Spray, who is in his first varsity season. “It came at big point for us. We were playing well, but to see the ball go into the back of the net was important for our confidence and to get our spirits up again after the way the morning game went. “Trevor had a real outstanding weekend overall. I’m real happy with his play.” Sophomore Quinn Baier added an unassisted goal in the 78th minute to cap the scoring, while Jelinek recorded two saves for Sauk Prairie. Kornish said the weekend served as a crucial turning point in the season for the Eagles. “This weekend was a little bit of a gut-check for us, absolutely,” said Kornish, who is also looking forward to the return of injured sophomore forward Sam Drescher, who has been sidelined with a quad injury. “To rebound the way we did tells me a lot about the team and the direction they want to take this season. “In every single game we’ve played, we have seen flashes of what they are capable of. Getting that kind of play sustained for 90 minutes on any given day, that’s where the challenge comes in. We’re looking at a very realistic conference contender as well as a team that can make a run in the tournament.” • On deck: Following a Badger North Conference game at Beaver Dam on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie will play a non-conference game at Plattevillle on Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 Sauk Prairie 4, Portage/Poynette 0 Portage/Poynette …........… 0 0 – 0 Sauk Prairie ….......……… 3 1 – 4 First half: SP – Evan Carlson (Caden Pugh), 3:00; Carlson (fk), 25:00; Simon Enerson (Eddie Breunig), 39:00. Second half: SP – Carlson (Abe Castro), 57:00. Saves: P/P (Lynch) 8; SP (Riley Jelinek) 2. GIRLS SWIMMING It was a dual meet that Sauk Prairie’s swimming team was expected to win. But that didn’t lessen the impact or the importance of each of the Eagles’ Badger North Conference meets. Sauk Prairie placed first in eight events and recorded 10 second-place finishes to swim past the visiting Lodi/Wisconsin Heights co-op 114-53 in a Badger North Conference dual on Sept. 17. “We have conference coming up in five weeks and then girls resting for sectionals at that point,” Sauk Prairie coach Melani Guentherman said. “Even though we have some time left, I feel quite a sense of urgency to make the most of this part of the season.” Leading the way against Lodi were junior Lauryn Drager and sophomore Kassandra Miller, who each won two individual events and swam on a winning relay. Drager secured her first career individual victories, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, 11.47 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 5:53.57. “All the girls had a great meet,” Guentherman said. “But for Lauryn, that was her first varsity win ever so that was pretty exciting.” Drager also swam on the Eagles’ ‘A’ 200 freestyle relay along with sophomores Ashley Pape and Amelia Hunter and senior Alexa Judd, which finished first in 1:51.64. “Lauryn really committed to swimming in the off-season this year,” Guentherman said. “She has been working so hard throughout the summer and we’ve seen that steady improvement into the season. It’s really exciting to see her have the success she is having right now.” Miller won the 200 individual medley (2:23.27) and the 100 backstroke (1:05.36). Miller also anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay (4:02.02) that included freshman Riley Talmage along with Judd and Pape. “We’ve been putting her in all kinds of different places, and she is seeing steady improvement across the board,” Guentherman said of Miller. “She swam club all off-season and has made tons of improvement and is swimming with a new confidence this season, which is fun to see.” Rounding out the individual victories for the Eagles were Talmage, who also won the 100 butterfly (1:10.25), while Hunter captured the 100 breaststroke (1:17.12). • On deck: After competing in a Badger North Conference dual at Portage on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie is off until Oct. 1 when it hosts River Valley in a dual beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 Sauk Prairie 114, Lodi/Wisconsin Heights 53 200-yard medley relay — 1, Lodi/Wisconsin Heights (Petrick, Puls, Presny, Drabenstadt), 2:00.84; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Kassandra Miller, Amelia Hunter, Grace Orr, Riley Talmage), 2:01.75; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Summer Acker, Giulia Brickl, Carly Coy, Emily Vande Hey), 2:10.52; 5, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Abbey McCumber, Jade Babcock, Isabel Menendez Ontanon, Klaire Baier), 2:39.78. 200 freestyle — 1, Drager, SP, 2:11.47; 2, Alexa Judd, SP, 2:12.15; 4, Ashley Pape, SP, 2:19.52. 200 individual medley — 1, Miller, SP, 2:23.27; 2, Talmage, SP, 2:30.50; 4, Coy, SP, 2:42.83. 50 freestyle — 1, Presny, L/WH, :26.80; 2, Hunter, SP, :27.54; 3, Brickl, SP, :28.46; 4, Vande Hey, SP, :29.28. 100 butterfly — 1, Talmage, SP, 1:10.25; 2 Acker, SP, 1:24.75. 100 freestyle — 1, Presny, L/WH, :58.45; 2, Pape, SP, 1:00.99; 4, Coy, SP, 1:06.12; 6, Vande Hey, SP, 1:10.78. 500 freestyle — 1, Drager, SP, 5:53.57; 2, Judd, SP, 5:59.60; 4, McCumber, SP, 6:26.99. 200 freestyle relay — 1, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Pape, Hunter, Drager, Judd), 1:51.64; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Coy, McCumber, Orr, Allyson Saladis), 2:00.54; 4, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Audrie Nurkala, Babcock, Menendez Ontanon, Patricia Silva), 2:18.67. 100 backstroke — 1, Miller, SP, 1:05.36; 2, Brickl, SP, 1:12.93; 3, Acker, SP, 1:13.58. 100 breaststroke — 1, Hunter, SP, 1:17.12; 2, Orr, SP, 1:21.69; 4, McCumber, SP, 1:28.61. 400 freestyle relay — 1, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Talmage, Judd, Pape, Miller), 4:02.02; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Brickl, Vande Hey, Acker, Drager), 4:23.76; 5, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Menendez Ontanon, Saladis, Nurkala, Baier), 5:25.50.