Eagles’ hockey team remains unbeaten

With just 10 games on the slate to earn a coveted Badger North Conference title, Sauk Prairie co-op boys hockey coach David Lohrei can’t emphasize enough how important it is for the Eagles’ to be at their best every night. The first of those tests is Friday when Sauk Prairie (4-0-0) hosts defending conference champion Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells (2-1-1) in a league opener at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center Ice Arena at 7 p.m. “We just have to play better, we have to play smarter,” Lohrei said. “We can’t turn the puck over, we can’t make passes that aren’t there. We have to win battles along the boards, everything you can imagine.” To add even more excitement to the event is that the Eagles are hosting ‘Rock the Rink’ Night in effort to pack the arena. “It’s one of those important games that we can’t take for granted,” Lohrei said. “If you want to win the league, which we do, we’ve got to beat Reedsburg at home. “Or if they beat you at home and you beat them on the road, you might likely tie for the lead. So we’ll see.” Sauk Prairie remained unbeaten with non-conference road victories on back-to-back nights last week. Senior wing Riley Jelinek scored four goals and added an assist to power the Eagles to a 9-0 rout of the host Viroqua Blackhawks co-op last Friday night. Senior wing Nick Mast then scored back-to-back goals in the third period to snap a tie and lift Sauk Prairie to a 4-2 victory over host Milton/Fort Atkinson at the Mandt Park Arena in Stoughton last Saturday night. The Eagles have no time to admire the work they have done so far, though. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re going to have to have a great week of practice to get them ready,” Lohrei said of the Eagles pending battle with Reedsburg. “We have work to do on the power-play, penalty kill, forecheck, this will be our biggest test of the season so far.” Against Milton/Fort Atkinson (1-4), sophomore Hakon Peterson converted an assist from his twin brother, Erik, to give Sauk Prairie at 1-0 lead at the 15 minute, 31 second mark. Although the Eagles outshot the Red Hawks a combined 32-10 spanning the first two periods, Sauk Prairie didn’t record its second goal of the game until the 4:02 mark of the second period. Jelinek found the back of the net off assists from senior center Camden Desroches and Nick Mast to stake Sauk Prairie to a 2-0 lead. Milton/Fort Atkinson’s Luke Hessenauer made it 2-1 when he scored in the final minute of the second period, and Gannon Kligora tied the game less than 3 minutes into the final period. But Nick Mast scored the eventual game-winner off assists from seniors Jay Liedtke and Willy Hanson at 6:32 of the third period. Mast scored an unassisted insurance goal in the 13th minute to cap the scoring. “They’re a much-improved team,” Lohrei said of the Red Hawks. “But in the last 10 minutes, we went to another level. We went to our level instead of their level.” Senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor made 12 saves for the Eagles, while Luke Grote turned away 45 shots for the Red Hawks. “Their goalie was amazing,” Lohrei said. “That kid played great.” Sauk Prairie has outshot its opponents by an amazing 221-41 and outscored them, 30-4, so far this season. But O’Connor, who has only had to make 37 saves in four games, and the Eagles’ defense will face its toughest test of the young season in the visiting Cheavers. Sauk Prairie dealt Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells its only conference blemish a year ago when the Eagles forged a 1-1 tie on Jan. 17 in Reedsburg. “The league games start now, and we’ve got three in a row before the Christmas break,” Lohrei said. “We’re just focused on Reedsburg now. They’re such a good team. They’re such a good program. They’ve got so many kids.  “They’re coming to our rink and it’s ‘Rock the Rink’ night. They’re (Reedsburg) all over social media, their coach telling everybody to turn it into ‘our home rink’. There’s a lot of buildup for it. But the bottom line is we have to play better than we have or we’re in a lot of trouble.”  • Sauk Prairie co-op 9, Viroqua co-op 0 — Riley Jelinek scored four goals and added an assist as the Eagles skated to their second shutout in three games this season. Jelinek and Camden Desroches scored back-to-back unassisted goals to give Sauk Prairie (3-0) a 2-0 first period lead. The Eagles easily outshot the host Blackhawks (1-2-0), holding a 25-1 advantage in shots on goal in the opening period. Sauk Prairie outshot Viroqua, 19-1, in the second frame and exploded for five goals to push its lead to 7-0 entering the final period. Jelinek and Nick Mast each scored two goals, while Dylan Andrews also chipped in with a goal to fuel the rout. Junior Caeben Schomber and Jelinek capped the scoring with a goal apiece in the final period. Jordan O’Connor had to make only four saves for her second shutout.   Dec. 6 Sauk Prairie co-op 9,  Viroqua co-op 0 Sauk Prairie.................... 2 5 2 — 9 Viroqua ............................ 0 0 0 — 0 First period: SP -- Riley Jelinek, 9:13; Camden Desroches, 15:02.  Second period: SP -- Jelinek (Nick Mast), 4:24; Dylan Andrews, 6:53; N. Mast (Jelinek, August Begalske), 7:23; Jelinek, 12:25 (sh); N. Mast (Luke Mast), 13:30 (sh). Third period: Caeben Schomber (Lance Bauernhuber), 2:13; Jelinek (Desroches), 16:15. Saves: SP 4 (Jordan O’Conner); V 45 (Hertel). Penalties-minutes: SP 5-10; V 3-6.   Dec. 7 Sauk Prairie co-op 4,  Milton/Fort Atkinson 2 Sauk Prairie ……………. 1 1 2 — 4 Milton/Fort Atkinson ….. 0 1 1 — 2 First period: SP — Hakon Peterson (Erik Peterson), 15:31. Second period: SP — Riley Jelinek (Camden Desroches, Mast), 4:02; M/FA — Luke Hessenauer (Austin Sartell, Landon Swenson), 16:07. Third period: M/FA — Gannon Kligora (Kyle Dehnert), 2:39; SP — Nick Mast (Jay Liedtke, Willy Hanson), 6:32; SP — Nick Mast, 13:51. Saves: SP 12 (Jordan O’Connor); MFA 45 (Luke Grote). Penalties-minutes: SP 3-6; MFA 3-6.