Eagles’ kickers win regional title

Jakob Wilson and the rest of the seniors on Sauk Prairie’s boys soccer team made sure their final game on the home pitch would be a memorable one last Saturday evening. The Eagles spent the day having lunch together and hanging out at the school in anticipation of securing a regional championship and extending their season at least one more week. Wilson made it happen when he slammed home his first varsity game-winning goal, and the fourth-seeded and host Eagles gained a measure of revenge against fifth-seeded Baraboo with a 1-0 victory over the Thunderbirds in a WIAA Division 2 regional final in the Elkhorn Sectional. Sauk Prairie extended its winning streak to 12 games. The Eagles have posted nine shutouts and outscored their opponents 54-3 during that span. Wilson made sure Sauk Prairie would survive to play another day. “Simon (Enerson) was calling for it in the middle, but the side was open and I could see the goalkeeper biting over, and it was just a wide-open shot from about 20 yards, just outside the box,” said Wilson, who scored off an assist from sophomore Sam Drescher at the 63 minute, 53 second mark to snap a scoreless tie. “I could see it arcing down. I saw (goalkeeper Will Gunnell) put his hands up and knew it was over him.” On a misty and chilly evening with temperatures hovering in the upper 30s, that was all the seventh-ranked Eagles (18-2-1) needed to advance to meet top-seeded and second-ranked Elkhorn (19-1), a 4-1 winner over eighth-seeded Stoughton, in a sectional semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m. “We knew it would be a defensive battle,” said Wilson, who recorded his sixth goal of the season. “We knew both defenses were strong. We knew it would be low scoring.” Baraboo (13-5-1, 4-2-1 Badger North) tied Sauk Prairie 2-2 in a Badger North Conference match on Sept. 10, which proved to be the Eagles’ only blemish (6-0-1 league) on their way to the conference championship. So, there was ample motivation to stymie the Thunderbirds in their rematch with the regional title on the line. “We wanted to come out and prove ourselves against a really good team in our conference who will be good for a while,” Sauk Prairie coach Drew Kornish said. “It’s come full circle for us.” Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half playing through intermittent rain, but were unable to find the back of the net. However, it was apparent early that one goal might be enough to secure the victory. So the message was simple at halftime. “We just had to continue what we were doing, clean up some things and show a little more heart in the tackles and stuff, especially in the middle of the field,” Kornish said. “We knew if we could control the middle of the field, that we’d see the game out. “The first 20 minutes or so of the second half they did a great job tightening up in the middle, winning those balls and getting some opportunities and thankfully we were able to finish one of them.” After Wilson’s goal in the 64th minute, the Eagles held off numerous charges by the Thunderbirds to protect their slim lead. “That was great composure, too, by Jakob on his goal,” Kornish said. “He opened up his hips really well. He saw the keeper off his line and finished. It was great composure in a big moment for a senior. That’s the kind of thing you’d expect from these guys.” Kornish said Baraboo gave the Eagles all they could handle and more. “Hats off to Baraboo, that is an incredibly talented team,” Kornish said. “They will be good for a long time, too, so they’re going to definitely have theirs. But I feel very fortunate to come away with the win tonight.” Senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek finished with three saves and recorded his 13th shutout between the pipes behind another solid defensive effort from the Eagles, who were still without senior Austin Werderits, an all-conference defender, who has been sidelined with an injury. But senior co-captain Blake Gibbs, sophomore Austin Keyser and seniors Aaron Frey and Trevor Spray picked up the slack with a yeoman-like effort once again. “You can’t ask for much more,” Kornish said. “They kind of answer the call every single time no matter who’s back there. Those guys seem to mesh. “It was about three weeks ago that Austin Keyser stepped into a really big spot coming down the stretch with those last few conference games and now into the tournament. That’s been big, especially for a sophomore. He’s playing all 90 minutes each game. He’s not come off the field.” Keyser said it has helped that the upperclassmen have been supportive the whole way. “They’ve always got my back, so I’m comfortable,” he said. “I don’t want to let them down or let myself down so I just keep going. I knew it was going to be a close game, and we had to shut them down.” • Sauk Prairie 6, Westosha Central 0 — Senior forward Evan Carlson scored a goal in each half to spark the Eagles to a victory over the 13th-seeded Falcons in a regional semifinal on Oct. 22. Carlson, who has scored a team-best 31 goals, provided the only offense Sauk Prairie needed with an unassisted goal in the 25th minute. But that was all the Eagles could muster in the first half. “It just took us a little while to get going,” coach Drew Kornish said. “Westosha Central was really athletic. They got a lot of guys behind the ball. They stayed compact. We certainly had a lot of opportunities we missed.” Jakob Wilson started a run of five unanswered goals in the second half when he scored in the 53rd minute to extend the Eagles’ lead to 2-0. Quinn Baier later added a goal and an assist, while Carlson, Breunig and Trent Schneeberger all found the back of the net to close out the scoring. “We were able to get that one goal before half, which gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half,” Kornish said. “We kind of slowly wore them down.” The Eagles needed just one save from Riley Jelinek to preserve their 12th shutout of the season. • On deck: Fourth-seeded Sauk Prairie is at top-seeded Elkhorn in WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game meet the winner of third-seeded Monona Grove at second-seeded Oregon on Saturday at 1 p.m. “Elkhorn is a good squad, big team,” Kornish said. “They’ve had a lot of really big results this year. We have a lot of respect for that team and program.” Oct. 22 Regional semifinal Sauk Prairie 6, Westosha Central 0 Westosha Central .............. 0 0 – 0 Sauk Prairie …...........…… 1 5 – 6 First half: SP – Evan Carlson, 25:00. Second half: SP – Jakob Wilson, 53:00; Quinn Baier (Abrahan Castro), 67:00; Carlson (Sam Drescher), 71:00; Eddie Breunig (Baier), 73:00; Trent Schneeberger, 78:00. Saves: WC (Brewer) 7; SP (Riley Jelinek) 1. Oct. 26 Regional final Sauk Prairie 1, Baraboo 0 Baraboo ……...................... 0 0 – 0 Sauk Prairie ….................... 0 1 – 1 Second half: SP – Jakob Wilson (Sam Drescher), 63:53. Saves: B (Will Gunnell) 6; SP (Riley Jelinek) 3.