Eagles’ lacrosse takes center stage

One of the best-kept secrets for the Sauk Prairie Eagles athletics program over the years has been a sport that Zach Lare developed a passion for, first as a player and now as a first-year head coach. Beginning this spring, lacrosse joins the family of WIAA-sponsored sports, one in which Sauk Prairie has been a trailblazer of sorts.  The Eagles won the 2017 Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation Division 2 state championship when it was a club program. But at its meeting on Dec. 2, 2022, the WIAA Board of Control approved the addition of lacrosse as a sanctioned sport with a Tournament Series for boys and girls in the spring of 2024. “Sauk Prairie treated it as a varsity sport the last few years, since I’ve been here,” said Lare, a Pennsylvania native, who played collegiately at Concordia University in Mequon and served as an assistant coach for the Eagles the past two seasons. “With the WIAA now recognizing it, I’m looking for a lot of growth in the next couple of years. In taking over the team my goal is to see the sport and team grow again.” Lare said ideally for a lacrosse program, fielding varsity and JV teams, you want between 35 and 40 student-athletes.  “We have 21,” he said. “I started out with 10. We have a varsity team and will also have at least four varsity reserve games.” It’s the first time an entirely new sport has been introduced for both genders since the addition of boys and girls soccer in 1982-83.  Since that time, hockey and wrestling expanded to girls sponsorship in 2002 and 2022, respectively, and boys volleyball was reinstated in 2000. But those sports were already sanctioned for the other gender.  “We will have just one division for state (with two sectionals),” Lare said. “There are 39 boys’ teams this year. Next year Janesville and La Crosse will have teams. My sights aren’t set on this year. It’s on trying to grow the program.” Competing in the Badger Big Conference a year ago, the Eagles tied for sixth in the league with a 2-6 mark. They finished 6-11 overall and welcomed back eight starters led by second-team all-league senior defender Karsyn Banta. “The strength of the team will be the backline of the defense, having three seniors back there,” Lare said. “But it will be growth through transition. A big part of the game is you have your set defense and your set offense. But like in any sport, being able to push the ball and being able to stop the rush that’s the big thing we want to make sure we’re improving this year.” Lare said the Eagles plan to be an aggressive team that will be fun to watch. “When we have an opportunity, we’re not putting on the brakes. We have to make sure we take every chance that we get,” he said. “The big keys are strong defense, opportunities in transition and having an offense that can possess and take the opportunities when they come.” Sauk Prairie, which fields a co-op program that includes Baraboo, Lodi and Wisconsin Heights, has 12 returnees, including four seniors and eight sophomores.  “On defense, we return two starters. We have two starters back at midfield and one at attacker. We will be a relatively young team outside of the defensive end,” Lare said. “Our returning starters on defense are senior co-captains Karsyn Banta and Steve Romaker.  Our returning midfielders are senior Will Judge and sophomore AJ Klemm, who was our starting LSM (long stick midfielder). He starts on the faceoff. Our returning attacker is sophomore Zander Kellogg.” The Eagles will have a new goalie this year in sophomore Lucas Rehinger. “It’s his first year as a goalie. His older brother was a goalie, which was his inspiration,” Lare said. “He played some last year and picked it up. He did a lot of training over the last few months so he should be ready to rock and roll.” The other starter on defense is expected to be senior Willy Anderson, who last played as a freshman. “He left the program for a couple of years, and I was able to convince him to come back and play again,” Lare said of Anderson, the starting goalie on the Sauk Prairie co-op hockey team. “At midfield, sophomore A.J. (Klemm) is our starting LSM. Sophomore Landon Froese will be our main faceoff guy as well as one of our first line offensive middies.” Lare said that senior Isaiah Torres, a stellar soccer player for the Eagles, will be our other starting midfielder.  “He was mainly a defensive midfielder last year, but he will play both ways this year and play offense and defense,” Lare said. “Our other offensive midfielder will be senior Will Judge, a co-captain. He will come on when our long stick, AJ, comes off.” “At attacker, sophomore co-captain Zander Kellogg, from Lodi, returns at that position. We have two other sophomores stepping up this year, Drew Strathman and Kaleb Chetwood.” Other players to keep an eye on include sophomore midfielders Chalmer Hoeltke, Hayden Struse-Clark of Lodi and Josh Mast.  “They are our second-line midfielders,” Lare said. “It’s not like hockey where there is a complete line change. They will be intermixed.  “Senior Ian Frosch will be a short stick defensive specialist. Freshman Clifton Kimball, our only player from Wisconsin Heights, could see some time if one of our attackers gets injured.”    Sauk Prairie will compete in the six-team Badger Conference that includes DeForest, the Madison Knights co-op, which includes East, La Follette, Memorial, West, Edgewood and Monona Grove, Oregon, which is a co-op with Stoughton, Watertown and Waunakee. The teams will play a round-robin schedule including a home-and-away series. The Eagles’ 18-game schedule will also include games against the three Big Eight Conference schools offering the sport – Middleton, Sun Prairie co-op and Verona, which is a co-op program with Mount Horeb. Lare said the Eagles, who started practice March 11 following several off-season captains’ practices, were eager to play a game after their season-opener on April 2 was postponed due to inclement weather. Sauk Prairie was scheduled to play the Madison Knights on April 9 at Edgewood High School. Lare likes the mix of multi-sport athletes on the squad.  “We have seven hockey players,” he said. “Isaiah (Torres) is a soccer player. Clifton Kimball plays eight-man football at Wisconsin Heights.” But Lare said keep an eye on Barta, the most experienced player on the squad. “His footwork is incredible,” Lare said of Banta, a two-time co-captain. “One-on-one, I would take him in almost any matchup. His love for the game and IQ has grown so much. He is a true leader on the field.”   Sauk Prairie girls Sauk Prairie doesn’t field a girls’ lacrosse team, but three players from the school will compete this season with the DeForest Norskies co-op team, which also includes Wisconsin Heights. Representing the Eagles are junior attacker Berlin Ganser, freshman defender Ryann Betley, and freshman attacker Melanie Lamberty. “Melanie had played club before, Berlin played years ago on a boys’ team but has never played on a girls team and Ryann is brand new,” said DeForest coach Jayna Foster, who is in her eighth year with the program. “Senior Alaina Kerl from Wisconsin Heights has a history of playing for a club program out of Milwaukee and on a national team. Freshman midfielder Brenly Schoenemann, who is also from Wisconsin Heights, is a first-time player. But it’s like she was born with a stick in her hand.” DeForest finished 4-17 overall and finished sixth in the Badger Conference last season. The Norskies will compete in the Badger Conference in their debut season as a WIAA-sponsored program along with the Madison Edgewood co-op, Oregon co-op, Watertown and Waunakee. Foster said she hopes joining the WIAA will help attract more players to the program.  “We’re a mix of varsity and JV. We don’t have enough players for two teams,” she said. “We played against Watertown and did amazing although they hadn’t played together before. “We have done a lot of team bonding for the girls to get to know each other. With only 14 players this season we are running a tight ship.” DeForest opened the season with a 14-3 victory over Watertown in the snow, rain, and high winds on April 1.  Junior midfielder Marianna Champaigne, who scored a school record 56 goals last year, recorded five goals in the season-opening win over Watertown. Kerl scored three goals, while Ganser and Lamberty each added two goals and Schoenemann added a goal for the Norskies.       Sauk Prairie Boys      Lacrosse Roster No. Name Pos. Yr. 1 Clifton Kimball D/LSM Fr. 2 Will Judge M Sr. 4 Lucas Rehlinger G So. 5 Willy Anderson D Sr. 6 Wyatt Frosch M Fr. 7 Cannon Esser M/LSM Fr. 8 Josh Mast M So. 10 Eric Emshoff A/M Fr. 11 Isaiah Torres M Sr. 12 Ian Frosch M/FOS Sr. 13 Steve Romaker D Sr. 14 Drew Strathman A So. 16 Angel Ibarra M So. 17 Kaleb Chetwood A So. 22 AJ Klemm LSM/D So. 24 Karsyn Banta D Sr. 28 Chalmer Hoeltke M So. 30 Jayden Arrieta M Fr. 41 Zander Kellogg A So. 44 Landon Froese M/FOS So. 45 Hayden Struse-Clark M/LSM So.   Head Coach: Zach Lare Assistant Coach: Matt Baier, Conner Jones and Bennett West Manager: Taitym Banta