Business as usual as Eagles’ soccer team rolls

With upcoming Badger North Conference matches against Waunakee and Mount Horeb looming on the schedule, Sauk Prairie’s boys soccer team couldn’t be blamed for peeking ahead. Just don’t mention that to Sauk Prairie coach Drew Kornish and his senior-heavy squad. It was another week of business as usual as the Eagles rolled to a pair of victories, blanking host Beaver Dam, 7-0, in a Badger North Conference match on Sept. 24 and securing a 3-0 non-conference victory at Platteville last Thursday. Sauk Prairie, ranked sixth in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 2 poll last week, improved to 9-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in conference play. “It’s great to get another conference win,” Kornish said after the Eagles dominated play at Beaver Dam. Senior forward Evan Carlson scored four goals in a five-minute span in the second half — three on assists from senior Simon Enerson — to break open the game against the host Golden Beavers. “For a period there, it was back-and-forth,” Kornish said. “But overall we had the run of play. They definitely had some quality players, especially on top, that took us a bit to figure out. But the boys started rolling in the second half.” Junior Joe Baumgardt opened the scoring in the 12th minute on an assist from senior Caden Pugh. Sophomore Sam Drescher then made it 2-0 off an assist from Carlson in the 26th minute to send Sauk Prairie into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Kornish was pleased to have Drescher back in the lineup after he had been sidelined for two weeks with a quad injury. “He was a very welcome sight and was able to get in about 30 minutes of work,” Kornish said of Drescher. “We’re looking forward to start working him back in. It was great to get him back in the fold.” Sophomore Quinn Baier made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal in the 46th minute. But then Carlson and Simon Enerson took over during a five-minute span beginning with Carlson’s first goal in the 60th minute. “They had that connection going early on in the second half,” Kornish said of Carlson and Enerson. “They were pretty aggressive. Evan took the game over in those five minutes. It was pretty impressive to watch. He’s a special player.” Kornish was also impressed by the play of Enerson, who has scored six goals and leads the Eagles with seven assists. “Simon is an absolute rock up top,” Kornish said. “He’s a guy that we like to have play with his back to the goal. He holds the ball up well for us. Him and Evan had a good understanding tonight especially at the moment that we needed to be successful. Simon did a great job of laying the ball out for Evan.” By the time sophomore Austin Keyser assisted on Carlson’s fourth goal of the game in the 65th minute, all that was left to determine was whether the Eagles could secure their fifth shutout of the season. Senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek made sure that happened, finishing with five saves. “Early in the game, he had one he had to go out and get,” Kornish said of Jelinek. “That could have been a big momentum shift. He handled himself really well tonight. Good for him for keeping that clean sheet because there were several times we called on him, and he stepped up.” Sauk Prairie, which has allowed just 12 goals this season, continues to excel on defense. “It really is a team credit,” Kornish said. “Those back four played 90 minutes, Austin Keyser, Aaron Frey, Blake Gibbs and Trevor Spray played the full 90. They were solid. Beaver Dam had a lot of really nice players up top with a lot of speed. We did a good job of shutting those guys down early.” • Sauk Prairie 3, Platteville 0 — Evan Carlson recorded a goal and an assist as the Eagles blanked the host Hillmen for their sixth shutout of the season. After a scoreless first half, Carlson scored off an assist from Quinn Baier in the 63rd minute for the game-winner. It was Carlson’s team-leading 16th goal of the season. Senior Jakob Wilson made it 2-0 in the 64th minute off an assist from Carlson. Simon Enerson capped the scoring in the 76th minute off a feed from senior Trent Schneeberger. Riley Jelinek finished with seven saves to stymie Platteville (8-1-1). • On deck: Following a Badger North Conference game against Reedsburg on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie hosts a pair of non-conference matches against Richland Center on Friday at 7 p.m. and against Monroe on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Eagles then play a conference match at DeForest on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 Sauk Prairie 7, Beaver Dam 0 Sauk Prairie …................… 2 5 – 7 Beaver Dam .................…… 0 0 – 0 First half: SP – Joe Baumgardt (Caden Pugh), 12:00; Sam Drescher (Evan Carlson), 26:00. Second half: SP – Quinn Baier, 46:00; Carlson (Simon Enerson), 60:00; Carlson (S. Enerson), 61:00; Carlson (S. Enerson), 63:00; Carlson (Austin Keyser), 65:00. Saves: SP (Riley Jelinek) 5; BD 7. Sept. 26 Sauk Prairie 3, Platteville 0 Sauk Prairie ….............… 0 3 — 3 Platteville .. ...............…… 0 0 — 0 Second half: SP – Evan Carlson (Quinn Baier), 63:00; Jakob Wilson (Carlson), 64:00; Simon Enerson (Trent Schneeberger), 76:00. Saves: SP (Riley Jelinek) 7; P 6. SWIMMING Sauk Prairie coach Melani Guentherman likes to mix things up a bit during a long and what can be grueling prep swimming season. So when the Eagles headed to Portage for a conference dual meet last week, Guentherman took advantage of having a larger squad to make a few changes in the Sauk Prairie lineup. No problem. Sophomore Amelia Hunter and senior Alexa Judd combined to win three individual events and help the Eagles finish first in two of the three relays as Sauk Prairie swam to a 116-48 victory over host Portage in a Badger North Conference girls’ swimming dual on Sept. 24. “They’ve got some real high-quality swimmers,” Guentherman said of Portage, which claimed two individual titles and the 200-meter medley relay. “But they just don’t have a lot of them. That gave us an opportunity to mix it up a little and have a little change-up for the girls.” Hunter got the party started for Sauk Prairie, winning the 200-meter freestyle in 2 minutes, 32.79 seconds. “The 200 free was her first varsity win,” Guentherman said of Hunter, a sophomore, who also swam on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays. “She wouldn’t consider it one of her main events, but she did a great job.” Judd also swam on the winning 200 freestyle relay and won the 200 individual medley (2:49.24) and 100 butterfly (1:18.61). “We’ve had her all over the place,” Guentherman said of Judd. “She has the ability to swim anything. But it was nice to give her a chance to swim something a little different with the IM and butterfly. I don’t know how excited she was about the change. But she embraced the opportunity and had a great swim.” Also securing her first varsity victory for Sauk Prairie was freshman Riley Talmage, who won the 400 freestyle in 5:10.71. “It was a meters short course pool so we swam 400 meters instead of the 500 yards,” Guentherman said. “She had a real nice swim.” Rounding out the individual victories for the Eagles were senior Summer Acker, who finished first in the 100 backstroke (1:18.88), and junior Lauryn Drager, who won the 100 breaststroke (1:29.13). Portage’s Brooklyn Miller, won the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and swam a leg on the winning 200 medley. Eagles’ sophomore Kassandra Miller was runner-up in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and also on the 200 medley relay. “That was a state qualifier who is a great swimmer,” Guentherman said of Brooklyn Miller. “I was hoping Kassandra might be matched up against her. It was great competition for Kassandra.” • On deck: After competing in a conference dual against River Valley on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie is off until Oct. 8 when it swims at Baraboo in a conference dual beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 24 Sauk Prairie 116, Portage 48 200-meter medley relay — 1, Portage (Brooklyn Miller, Leigha Andraschko, Rubie Kohn, Natalie Weidner), 2:17.43; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ Summer, Acker, Lauryn Drager, Kassandra Miller, Carly Coy), 2:21.72; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Riley Talmage, Grace Orr, Alexa Judd, Ashley Pape), 2:22.25. 200 freestyle — 1, Amelia Hunter, SP, 2:32.79; 2, Abbey McCumber, SP, 2:33.78; 3, Giulia Brickl, SP, 2:46.41. 200 individual medley — 1 Judd, SP, 2:49.24; 3 Pape, SP, 2:54.41; 4, Emily VandeHey, SP, 2:58.01. 50 freestyle — 1, Miller, P, :28.96; 2, Miller, SP, :29.55; 3, Talmage, SP, :31.13; 5, Coy, SP, :33.81. 100 butterfly — 1, Judd, SP, 1:18.61; 3, Drager, SP, 1:21.14; 4, McCumber, SP, 1:33.49. 100 freestyle — 1, Miller, P, 1:02.53; 2, Miller, SP, 1:05.87; 4, Acker, SP, 1:13.48; 5, Allyson Saladis, SP, 1:19.30. 400 freestyle — 1, Talmage, SP, 5:10.71; 2, Hunter, SP, 5:20.76; 3, Vande Hey, SP, 5:32.92. 200 freestyle relay — 1, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Drager, Pape, Judd, Hunter), 2:05.43; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Brickl, McCumber, Vande Hey, Saladis), 2:16.66; 4, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Audrie Nurkala, Klaire Baier, Jade Babcock, Isabel Menendez Ontanon), 2:40.38. 100 backstroke — 1, Acker, SP, 1:18.88; 2, Brickl, SP, 1:21.81; 3, Coy, SP, 1:25.40. 100 breaststroke — 1, Drager, SP, 1:29.13; 2, Orr, SP, 1:30.96; 4, Pape, SP, 1:37.28. 400 freestyle relay — 1, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Miller, Talmage, Hunter, Acker), 4:42.62; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Brickl, Coy, McCumber, Vande Hey), 4:58.85.