Sauk Prairie’s super seven

As a returning three-time all-conference selection, much was expected of Sauk Prairie senior forward Evan Carlson this season. At the other end of the spectrum, junior midfielder Joe Baumgardt was looking to score his first varsity goal and find his niche on a team, which had conference championship aspirations. Not only did the Eagles secure their first conference championship since 2016, but both Carlson and Baumgardt played major roles in the Eagles’ success. For their efforts, the duo was rewarded by being named to the All-Badger North Conference first-team in a vote of league coaches. Joining Carlson and Baumgardt on the honor squad were second-team selections senior forward Simon Enerson, senior defender Blake Gibbs and senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek, and honorable mention picks senior defender Trevor Spray and senior midfielder Caden Pugh. Sauk Prairie finished the season with an 18-3-1 overall record, including 6-0-1 in Badger North Conference play. The conference championship was the Eagles’ first since they tied with Mount Horeb with back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. Leading the way was Carlson, a team co-captain and one of four unanimous first-team selections. He was also the lone repeat selection on the first team. Sauk Prairie first year coach Drew Kornish said Carlson was also the only player to receive the maximum score of 70 points on the North and South All-Conference squads. “Evan’s one of those guys that you’re going to coach once every 10 years if you’re lucky,” Kornish said. “This year, his biggest gains were made in the leadership role. He took that upon himself at the cost of extra goals. “He was on the sidelines coaching when the games were out of hand, and he could have had possibly three or four more goals throughout the season.” A first-team selection as a sophomore and junior and second-team pick as a freshman, Carlson led Sauk Prairie in goals (31) and points (71) and was second in assists (nine). But it wasn’t just his threat on offense that made him indispensable and the unofficial conference player of the year. “That step forward for him as a leader was a big step,” Kornish said of Carlson. “Guys responded really well to him, and the team as a whole benefitted from Evan in that role. That was great to see.” While his expectations entering the season were modest at best, Baumgardt was a rising star for the senior-laden Eagles’ squad. “Joe Baumgardt was by far our most improved player as far as coming out of tryouts to the end of the season,” Kornish said. Baumgardt, an outside midfielder finished with five goals and five assists to tie for fourth on the team with 15 points. “At the beginning of the season, his goal was to score one goal this season,” Kornish said. “He wasn’t sure how much he was going to play. But his fitness allowed him to get into a regular starting 11 spot and from there he flourished. He’s a kid we can’t wait to have back next year. “He was a kid that the other team had to account for coming down wide, which opened up a lot of space in the middle for our center fielders which were a big part of our team. He was a big reason for that.” Second-team selections Jelinek and Gibbs played key roles on a defense that recorded 13 shutouts and allowed just 15 goals all season. Jelinek also finished with 95 saves and a 0.68 goals-against-average. “Riley was probably the best athlete that we’ve got on our team if not in the school,” Kornish said of Jelinek, who is also an outstanding hockey forward and lacrosse midfielder. “He was outstanding all season. I was a little surprised he didn’t get first team. I thought his stats spoke for themselves. It was a real positive season for him. I enjoyed really being able to work with him.” Gibbs earned his third consecutive all-conference second-team selection and also served as a co-captain with distinction on and off the pitch. “He was an outside back who helped hold Mount Horeb scoreless and held Waunakee to just one goal,” Kornish said. “The reason we were able to do what we did in conference was because of our defense and that kind of starts with Blake and his leadership and his ability to lock down key players on the opposing team. “That responsibility always fell on Blake. He carried that responsibility extremely well throughout the season. He played really hard, and I appreciated that from him.” Rounding out the second-team selections was Enerson, a forward, who led the team with 11 assists and also scored 11 goals to finish second on the team with 33 points. “Every possession that he won, every goal that came to him, he was just an absolute workhorse,” Kornish said of Enerson. “ This was his first year at the varsity level with quite a bit of playing time. I thought he stepped up really well in that role and gave us a lot.” Both Spray and Pugh were honorable mention selections in their first year as varsity performers. “Trevor was part of that back line that didn’t change much throughout the season,” Kornish said. “At 6-7, Trevor’s long and pretty tough to play the ball over the top of. He really shut down a lot of opponents and make people play wide. He was a big reason behind the success we had this season as well.” Pugh made an impact at center midfielder, earning a reputation of keeping teams honest with his ability to distribute the ball. He ranked third on the team with eight assists and added three goals to finish sixth on the team with 14 points. “Caden became a full-time player, who found himself with a starting 11 role playing underneath Evan and Simon and all season became this absolute incredibly consistent distributor of the ball for us,” Kornish said. “He was a guy who would pick us up where ever he was on the field. “He was always able to patiently kind of pick apart a defense and was the orchestrator of a lot of our goals.” Kornish said he would have loved to have had more of his players represented on the all-conference squad. “I was a little surprised that none of our defenders, including Riley (Jelinek), were represented on the first team especially with the season that they had,” Kornish said. “But at the same time, I was extremely proud of every guy on that team, a conference championship team. They can’t take that away from any of them. All 18 guys on the team had a huge role to play in that.”