Eagles’ hockey team falls in sectionals

‘Remember where we came from.’ The motto on the poster for the 2019-20 Sauk Prairie boys’ co-op hockey program said it all. From entering the program after the Eagles were winless in conference play the previous season to making a run at the Badger North Conference title and a berth in the sectional semifinals in their final year, it was a great run for an Eagles’ senior class that won’t be forgotten. However, the Sauk Prairie co-op — which included players from Sauk Prairie, Mount Horeb and Wisconsin Heights high schools — had its season of dreams dashed when top-seeded and fifth-ranked Verona used a four-goal outburst in the first period to record a 6-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Eagles in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal on Feb. 25. Verona went on to defeat second-seeded Madison Edgewood, 5-2, to advance to this week’s state tournament. “They’re awesome,” Sauk Prairie coach David Lohrei said of his eight-member senior class that played key roles in the turnaround. “It’s just a group of multi-sport athletes, mostly all good students, who took about two-three weeks to buy into what we were doing as freshmen. “By the time they were juniors and seniors, they were pretty much on auto pilot. They were disciplined and hard-working and talented. Even the guys without a lot of talent, we got a lot out of them. There wasn’t anybody, none of those seniors, who didn’t give everything they had.” Cale Rufenacht recorded a hat trick for Verona (23-4-0), scoring a goal in each period and goalie Kaden Grant stopped 36 shots to end the season for visiting Sauk Prairie (21-5-1). “It was a great team,” Lohrie said of the Eagles. “We don’t want to dwell on that loss. “I looked around that (locker) room and said, ‘I can’t imagine anyone coming back next year that wouldn’t start training in April to get ready to play because 20-win seasons don’t come along very often.’ ” Sophomore wing Nick Mast scored twice for Sauk Prairie, which outscored its opponents 170-46 this season. The Eagles had allowed more than two goals in a game only four times entering the matchup against Verona. Verona’s Walker Haessig started the scoring when he converted a feed from Josh Ostig just 20 seconds into the game. Sauk Prairie pulled even at 5:06 of the first period when Nick Mast scored off an assist from senior center Camden Desroches. Verona, which finished with the most goals scored in a game against Sauk Prairie this season, then peppered senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor for three goals in a span of nearly 3 minutes to take a commanding 4-1 edge at the 8:34 mark. The Eagles, though, weren’t ready to concede anything. Freshman Kaden Stracke made his varsity debut, replacing O’Connor in goal, and stopped 22 shots to help hold Verona to a shorthanded goal from Rufenacht at 15:53 of the second period and an open-net goal in the final minutes.  “We could have beaten them,” Lohrei said. “We kept playing. They were up 4-1, but we didn’t quit. We kept coming. We outplayed them after that start.” Nick Mast pulled Sauk Prairie within 4-2 with an unassisted goal at 14:33. But that would be as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the game. Rufenacht scored a short-handed goal with 67 seconds left in the second period to push Verona’s lead to 5-2. Sauk Prairie senior wing Riley Jelinek scored the final goal of his stellar career off an assist from freshman Luke Mast on the power-play 31 seconds into the final period to trim Sauk Prairie’s deficit to 5-3. Rufenacht, though, finished off the Eagles with an unassisted goal at 16:48. While Sauk Prairie was unable to make its first state tournament appearance since 2004, the Eagles’ eight seniors leave quite a legacy behind to build upon. Sauk Prairie was 5-19-0 overall, including 0-10-0 in the Badger North, in the 2015-16 season. The Eagles were outscored 141-39 and shut out in 10 games that year. But the current senior class posted a 62-30-5 mark the past four seasons. While Sauk Prairie was 18-19-3 in conference play during that span, the Eagles finished 7-3 and in second place in league play this season. Coming up short of their goal of a trip to state, though, was still a disappointing way to end the season. “We played great. We put 39 shots on them,” Lohrei said. “If you had told me that we were going to take 39 shots, we were going to win the specialty battle and shut down their power play and score on the power-play, I would have told you there was no way we were losing that game. “We just couldn’t get it done.”   Feb. 25 WIAA Division 1 Sectional semifinal Verona 6, Sauk Prairie co-op 3 Sauk Prairie ............ 2 0 1 — 3 Verona …….....……. 4 1 1 — 6 First period: V — Walker Haessig (Josh Ostig), 0:20. SP — Nick Mast (Camden Desroches), 5:06. V — Ryan Ritter (Parker Ploc, Drew Yeager), 5:51; Cale Rufenacht, 6:45; Ritter (Keegan Lindell), 8:34. SP — N. Mast, 14:33. Second period: V — Rufenacht (Haessig, Nathan Jurrens), 15:53 (sh). Third period: SP — Riley Jelinek (Luke Mast), 0:31 (pp); V — Rufenacht, 16:48 (empty net). Saves: SP 33 (Jordan O’Connor 11, Kaden Stracke 22); V 36 (Kaden Grant). Penalties-minutes: SP 1-2; V 4-16.     GYMNASTICS It has been a breakout season for junior Heidi Kuhnau, who has paced Sauk Prairie in nearly every event this season. Last Thursday evening, Kuhnau smashed another barrier, posting a fifth-place finish with a score of 8.675 on the balance beam at the WIAA Division 2 Mount Horeb Sectional. That earned Kuhnau her first berth in the state gymnastics meet to be held on Friday and Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids High School. Top-ranked Mount Horeb scored 143.45 points to top Waupun’s total of 134.425. Both qualified for team state out of the eight-team sectional field. River Valley/Barneveld took third. Sauk Prairie finished sixth with a score of 119.150. The top two teams advance to team state, while the top five place-winners in each individual event and all-around advance to individual state. “Heidi will be going to state on beam and we are very excited for her,” Sauk Prairie coach Justine Anderson said. “The whole team was crying because they were so happy for her. She has grown into a great teammate and the girls really had her back.” As a freshman, Kuhnau narrowly missed qualifying for state, when she placed seventh on the balance beam with a then personal-best score of 8.45 points. Kuhnau is the Eagles’ first state qualifier since 2017 when Cynthia Flores (vault) and Audrey Pape (floor exercise) accomplished the feat. Team competition will be held on Friday beginning at 1 p.m., with individuals competing on Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School Fieldhouse. Anderson said scores in general were lower than the conference meet due to tougher judging. But she said Kuhnau did everything she could do to earn a trip to state. “She hit four out of four routines,” Anderson said. “Our varsity team score also came up a point, and we received our highest bar score of the season.” Anderson said her advice to Kuhnau was to have no regrets, to just go out and perform. “She did it all, and it is what sent her to state,” Anderson said. “She made a bonus for two-tenths on beam that she doesn’t usually make, and she made fifth place by only .025, so it was absolutely necessary.” Kuhnau also led Sauk Prairie in the floor exercise with an eighth-place finish (8.7), on the uneven bars with an eighth-place finish (8.1) and the vault with a ninth-place finish (8.475). She was also eighth in the all-around (33.95). Sauk Prairie’s highest team score in an event was 32.10 points for a fifth-place finish in the floor exercise. The Eagles were also fifth on the balance beam (29.55), seventh on the vault (31.70) and eighth on the uneven bars (25.80). “We were on beam in the second round, so very early in the meet, and with a lower score than I was expecting,” Anderson said. “I was sure Heidi wouldn’t make the cut, and she definitely wasn’t expecting it, which makes it that much better. “She deserves to go this year, as she has been working extremely hard in the gym, has a very positive attitude, and has molded into a very coachable athlete. We are excited to take her to State.”   Feb. 27 WIAA Division 2 Mount Horeb Sectional Team scores: 1, Mount Horeb 143.450; 2, Waupun 134.425; 3, River Valley/Barneveld 129.275; 4, Baraboo 128.275; 5, Monona Grove 119.300; 6, Sauk Prairie 119.150; 7, Reedsburg 118.550; 8, Markesan 116.425. Balance beam: 1, Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.525; 2, O’Connell, MH, 9.5; 3, Doege, W, 8.9; 4, L. Weier, MH, 8.875; 5, Heidi Kuhnau, SP, 8.675. Floor exercise: 1, O’Connell, MH, and Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.5; 3, O’Neil, MH, 9.25; 4, Doege, W, 9.225; 5, E. Weier, MH, 9.125. Uneven bars: 1, Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.325; 2, O’Connell, MH, 9.2; 3, Doege, W, 8.875; 4, O’Neil, MH, 8.7; 5, E. Weier, MH, 8.45. Vault: 1, O’Connell, MH, 9.45; 2, Shatrawka, RV/B, 9.4; 3, Stoenner, MH, 9.175; 4, L. Weier, MH, 9.1; 5, O’Neil, MH, 8.925. All-around: 1, Shatrawka, RV/B, 37.75; 2, O’Connell, MH, 37.65; 3, Doege, W, 35.625; 4, O’Neil, MH, 35.525; 5, L. Weier, MH, 35.15.   Sauk Prairie individual results Balance beam: 5, Heidi Kuhnau, 8.675; 17, Ava Putnam, 7.75; 30, Kylie Wilson, 6.65; 32, Rachel Endthoff, 6.475; 38, Addie Desroches, 6.15. Floor exercise: 8, Kuhnau, 8.7; 20, tie, Putnam, 8.15; 26, Wilson, 7.7; 29, Emma Bockhop, 7.55; 38, Desroches, 6.95. Uneven bars: 8, Kuhnau, 8.1; 26, Putnam, 6.8; 33, Desroches, 5.65; 37, Endthoff, 5.25; 39, Alexis Strunz, 4.45. Vault: 9, Kuhnau, 8.475; 23, Wilson, 8.125; 30, Putnam, 7.75; 34, Desroches, 7.35; 38, Endthoff, 7.25. All-around: 8, Kuhnau, 33.95; 19, Putnam, 30.45; 24, Desroches, 26.10.