Sauk Prairie hockey team rolls

Following a two-week holiday break, the Sauk Prairie co-op hockey team got off to a slow start last Friday night. Seniors Camden Desroches and Riley Jelinek each recorded a hat trick, though, to rally the Eagles to an 8-2 victory over visiting McFarland in a non-conference game at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center Ice Arena. “We had two practices and got back at it,” said Sauk Prairie coach David Lohrei, whose squad last played on Dec. 19. The Eagles (7-1-0) had their season-opening six-game winning streak snapped before the holiday break when Beaver Dam skated to a 4-2 victory. However, Sauk Prairie made sure that loss wouldn’t start a streak going in the wrong direction. McFarland (8-2-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 9 minute, 38 second mark of the opening period on Grant Newcomer’s unassisted goal. But the Eagles got back on track, taking control with six unanswered goals, including four in the second period to grab a 4-1 lead. “We gave up one early, but managed to execute some scoring plays,” Lohrei said. “We didn’t do that against Beaver Dam and that was pretty much our emphasis the last couple of days. We had to get to the net, execute and stop them.” The Eagles finished with eight goals and nine assists. All but one assist came from Sauk Prairie’s No. 1 line. Jelinek finished with three goals and four assists, Desroches had three goals – for his first hat trick of the season — and two assists, and sophomore Nick Mast recorded two goals and two assists. “They were pretty good against a team that was 8-1,” Lohrei said. “That line was really good. That line was scary good. It wasn’t a fluke. It was passing plays, it was crazy. Good for them.” Sauk Prairie outshot McFarland 12-7 in the opening period, but Spartans’ goaltender August Hoel, who finished with 23 stops, was flawless between the pipes. That changed, though, in the second period when Desroches gave Sauk Prairie the lead for good with back-to-back goals to jump-start the comeback. Desroches converted an assist from Jelinek at 2:49 to tie the game. Nearly 8 minutes later, Desroches scored a short-handed unassisted goal for a 2-1 lead at 10:41. Jelinek scored his first goal 75 seconds later on an assist from Nick Mast. Mast then scored his first goal of the game on assists from Desroches and Jelinek with only 4 seconds remaining in the frame to send the Eagles into the third period with a 4-1 lead.  “We were hanging around the net and scoring goals,” Lohrei said. “Against Beaver Dam, we just didn’t score.” Sauk Prairie put the game away with four goals in the third period. Jelinek scored back-to-back goals in a span of 31 seconds to stake the Eagles to a 6-1 lead. Begalske assisted on Jelinek’s second goal of the game at 2:21, and Desroches set up Jelinek’s third hat trick of the season at 2:52. Chase Quelle scored nearly 5 minutes later for McFarland, but Nick Mast and Desroches capped the scoring for Sauk Prairie with their second and third goals of the game, respectively.  “It was really nice to win the game,” Lohrei said. “I was wondering how we were going to play with McFarland off to an 8-1 start, including a win over Reedsburg, and beating everyone in their way. But we managed to get that done. “It will be an important game down the road for when we get to seeding.” McFarland finished 1-of-4 on the power-play, while Sauk Prairie went 0-for-4. Sauk Prairie senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor finished with 25 saves as the Eagles allowed two goals or less in a game for the seventh time this season. “Our defense is getting a little better,” Lohrei said. “But this week will be another big test for us.” • On deck: Following a Badger North Conference game against Waunakee on Tuesday, the Sauk Prairie co-op will travel to DeForest for a conference matchup on Friday at 7:15 p.m. “Waunakee is Waunakee. It seems that every year they reload with good players,” Lohrei said. “It’s an important league game, and we already have one league loss. You can’t have too many of them if you want to win the title.”   Jan. 3 Sauk Prairie 8, McFarland 2 McFarland …........... 1 0 1 — 2 Sauk Prairie ........…. 0 4 4 — 8   First period: M — Grant Newcomer, 9:38. Second period: SP — Camden Desroches (Riley Jelinek), 2:49; Desroches, 10:41 (sh); Jelinek (Nick Mast), 11:56; N. Mast (Desroches, Jelinek), 16:56. Third period: SP — Jelinek (Augie Begalske), 2:21; Jelinek (Desroches), 2:52; M — Chase Quelle (Newcomer), 7:32 (pp); SP — N. Mast (Jelinek), 10:21; Desroches (N. Mast, Jelinek), 13:29. Saves: M 23 (August Hoel); SP 25 (Jordan O’Connor). Penalties-minutes: M 5-10; SP 5-10.