Hockey co-op falls to Waunakee

The last chance for the Sauk Prairie co-op hockey team to earn at least a share of the Badger North Conference title slipped away at the Ice Pond at Waunakee last Thursday night. The Warriors rallied from a second-period deficit to edge visiting Sauk Prairie, 3-2, and secure the conference championship. It was a busy week for the Eagles, who played four games in five days, posting a 2-1-1 mark. Sauk Prairie (17-3-1) opened the week, tying McFarland 2-2 in a non-conference game on Feb. 4 before falling to Waunakee. “We played really well both games,” Sauk Prairie coach David Lohrei said. “I have nothing to complain about. We could have won either game. But we played very, very well. If we play like that, we’ll win every game the rest of the year.” The Eagles bounced back quickly, blanking Beloit Memorial, 11-0, on Friday night and routing Black River Falls, 14-1, on Saturday afternoon in back-to-back non-conference games. Sauk Prairie then received a No. 4 seed and will host 13th-seeded Madison La Follette/Madison East co-op (3-19) in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal of the WIAA playoffs at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center Ice Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. “We probably could have fought for the third (seed), but that’s probably right where we belong,” Lohrei said. The winner will then advance to a regional final in the Madison Edgewood sectional to play the survivor of a semifinal matchup between fifth-seeded Madison West (16-6-2) vs. 12th-seeded Deforest (4-18) on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. Verona, which received the top seed in the sectional, second-seeded Madison Edgewood and third-seeded Sun Prairie each received a first-round bye. Other semifinal matchups in the sectional include, eighth-seeded Baraboo/Portage vs. ninth-seeded Madison Memorial; sixth-seeded Middleton vs. 11th-seeded Tomah/Sparta; and the seventh-seeded Reedsburg co-op vs. the 10th-seeded Monroe co-op. It is the first season of the two-division format for the boys hockey tournament. It is also the 50th anniversary of the State Boys Hockey Tournament. The state boys and girls hockey tournaments are scheduled for March 5-7 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison.  Following is look at last week’s action: • Sauk Prairie co-op 2, McFarland co-op 2 — Senior Camden Desroches scored two goals and senior Riley Jelinek recorded two assists, but the host Spartans used a third-period goal to forge a tie. McFarland opened the scoring before Desroches countered with a power-play goal on an assist from Jelinek at the 11:28 mark of the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Desroches and Jelinek teamed up to give Sauk Prairie a 2-1 lead at 7:50 of the second period. But McFarland got the equalizer at 11:18 of the third period to cap the scoring. Sauk Prairie outshot McFarland 41-24, including 8-3 in the overtime session.  August Hoel made 39 saves for McFarland, while senior Jordan O’Connor stopped 22 shots for Sauk Prairie. • Waunakee 3, Sauk Prairie co-op 2 — The host Warriors, ranked fifth in Division 2 in the WisconsinPrepHockey.net state poll, rallied from two deficits to sweep the season series with the Eagles. Waunakee, which also blanked Sauk Prairie 2-0 on Jan. 7, contained Sauk Prairie senior Riley Jelinek, who entered the game leading the state in points (69) and was second in assists (42), but was held scoreless. “We were prepared, but unfortunately just came up short,” Sauk Prairie coach David Lohrei said. “We made a couple mistakes that cost us.” Camden Desroches and sophomore Nick Mast each scored goals for Sauk Prairie, which was looking to earn at least a share of its first conference championship since 2013. Desroches scored an unassisted goal at the 12:29 of the first period to stake Sauk Prairie to a 1-0 lead. The Eagles outshot Waunakee, 13-5, in the opening period, The host Warriors evened the score before Nick Mast converted an assist from senior Willy Hanson at the 9:03 mark of the second period for a 2-1 lead. But Waunakee tied the game on a power-play goal with 5 minutes remaining in the period. Danny Reis then converted the game-winner for Waunakee with 11:46 to play.   Jordan O’Connor had 22 saves for Sauk Prairie. • Sauk Prairie co-op 11, Beloit Memorial 0 — Senior Lance Bauernhuber recorded his first career hat trick and added three assists, and senior Dylan Andrews contributed two goals and two assists to power the host Eagles past the Purple Knights. Sauk Prairie scored seven goals in the first period to promptly put the game out of reach with six different players scoring goals, including Andrews, who scored both of his goals in the frame. The Eagles outshot Beloit Memorial, 53-8, including 24-3 in the first period. Jordan O’Connor made eight saves for Sauk Prairie. • Sauk Prairie co-op 14, Black River Falls co-op 1 — Riley Jelinek scored five goals, including a hat trick in the first period, and had two assists as the host Eagles had 13 players record at least one point in the game in the non-conference victory. Nick Mast added three goals and two assists, Dylan Andrews had two goals, and Camden Desroches had four assists for Sauk Prairie. The Eagles outshot Black River Falls, 51-14. Jordan O’Connor had 13 saves for Sauk Prairie. In winning back-to-back games over Beloit Memorial and Black River Falls, 13 players scored at least one point for the Eagles. “That might have been a little bit of a hangover from Tuesday and Thursday on the road,” Lohrei said. “We very opportunistic those two games.” • On deck: Following a Badger North Conference against DeForest on Tuesday, the Sauk Prairie co-op hosts Stoughton in a non-conference game on Thursday at 7 p.m. and hosts Middleton in a non-conference game to end the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m.   Feb. 4 McFarland co-op 2,  Sauk Prairie co-op 2 (OT) Sauk Prairie …...... 1 1 0 0 — 2 McFarland ....…… 1 0 1 0 — 2 First period: M — Grant Newcomer (Simeon Pommerening), 5:04. SP — Camden Desroches (Riley Jelinek), 11:28 (pp). Second period: SP — Desroches (Jelinek), 7:50. Third period: M — Pommerening (Cal DeChambeau), 11:18. Saves: SP 22 (Jordan O’Connor), M 39 (August Hoel). Penalties-minutes: SP 3-6, M 2-4.   Feb. 6 Waunakee 3,  Sauk Prairie co-op 2 Sauk Prairie …........ 1 1 0 — 2 Waunakee …........…. 0 2 1 — 3 First period: SP — Camden Desroches, 12:29. Second period: W — Isaac Nett (Steven Pasinato, Danny Reis), 8:05. SP — Nick Mast (Willy Hanson), 9:03. W — Christianson (Pasinato, Nett), 11:56 (pp). Third period: W — Reis (Pasinato, Nett), 5:14. Saves: SP 22 (Jordan O’Connor); W 29 (Hunter Beck). Penalties-minutes: SP 2-4; W 0-0.   Feb. 7 Sauk Prairie co-op 11,  Beloit Memorial 0 Beloit Memorial ….. 0 0 0 —   0 Sauk Prairie ……… 7 3 1 — 11 First period: Nick Mast (Camden Desroches, Luke Mast), 5:13; Jay Liedtke (Lance Bauernhuber), 6:54; Desroches (Augie Begalske, Riley Jelinek), 7:32; Dylan Andrews (Bauernhuber, Caeben Schomber), 10;12; L. Mast (N. Mast), 12:43 (sh); Erik Peterson (Desroches, Liedtke), 14:30; Andrews (Bauernhuber, Begalske), 16:39. Second period: Jelinek (Desroches), 2:25 (pp); Bauernhuber (Wily Hanson, Andrews), 3:15; Bauernhuber (W. Hanson, Schomber), 14:02. Third period: Bauernhuber (Schomber, Andrews), 15:49. Saves: BM 42 (Aidan Wright 17, Jameson Flanagan 25); SP 8 (Jordan O’Connor). Penalties-minutes: BM 6-23; SP 2-4.   Feb. 8 Sauk Prairie co-op 14,  Black River Falls co-op 1 Black River Falls .. 1 0 0 —   1 Sauk Prairie …….. 8 5 1 — 14 First period: BRF — Nathan Johnson (Jake Zukowski), 6:53; SP — Nick Mast (Camden Desroches), 7:03; Jay Liedtke (Lance Bauernhuber), 8:20; Riley Jelinek, 10:03; Jelinek (Desroches), 11:55; Dylan Andrews (Bauernhuber, Willy Hanson), 12:28; Jelinek (N. Mast, Luke Mast), 15:58; Jelinek, 16:26; Micah Hanson (Erik Peterson, Hakan Peterson), 16:58. Second period: SP — N. Mast (Jelinek, Desroches), 6:27; H. Peterson (E. Peterson, Augie Begalske), 9:16; Jelinek (N. Mast), 12:54; Andrews (Desroches, Caeben Schomber), 15:39; Bauernhuber (Schomber), 16:01. Third period: SP — N. Mast (Jelinek), 8:54. Saves: BRF 37 (Cody Kuehl); SP 13 (Jordan O’Connor). Penalties-minutes: BRF 1-2; SP 2-4.