Eagles face off with state's best, worst

Photo by Dan Larson / Sauk Prairie Eagle

Joe Breunig (18) faces off with Madison Edgewood's Taylor Brown to begin the first period ? and the Eagles' season ? Nov. 25. The Crusaders beat the Eagles 5-2.

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By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

There were referees on the ice, fans in the stands and the result of the game counted in both team's overall record.

But when the Sauk Prairie boys hockey team squared off against Chippewa Falls McDonell on Nov. 29, what took place resembled a practice more than anything else.

At least to coach Bryan Schilling.

"(We) had the puck in their zone probably 85 percent of the game. It was almost like a power-play practice for our guys," he said in a phone interview Nov. 30 of his team's match-up with what he said was probably one of the least talented teams in the state — largely because of inexperience.

And Sauk Prairie was able to take advantage. Brandon Free scored four goals and Joe Breunig added four assists as the Eagles skated to an 8-0 win at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center.

Free scored the first two with Sauk Prairie (1-1 overall) in the power play — the first on an assist from Breunig and Casey Schroeder a little over eight minutes into the game for the Eagles first goal and the second on an assist from Breunig and Ethan Wolf with just over a minute left in the second to make it 4-0.

His hat-trick goal, which Schilling said stuck out as the most impressive of the four, came with the Eagles shorthanded midway through the third period. Free picked off a McDonell defender near the blue line and took the puck on a breakaway before beating the goaltender to make it 7-0. He punctuated the game with one second left to make it 8-0.

"In a game like that, you've got a kid ... whose got a certain pace, and he plays that way all the time," Schilling said of Free's steady, stellar effort despite playing in a largely uncompetitive game. "You need that in a game like that."

In addition to assisting on two of Free's goals, Breunig also assisted Ethan Wolf twice. The first came in the second period to make it 3-0 and the second was Sauk Prairie's third power-play goal and made it 5-0.

And Breunig's ability to control the puck and set up Sauk Prairie's offense against what Schilling said was often "chaotic" and "unorganized" play by McDonell was pivotal.

"This was a game that had potential for things to break down — you're facing things that you're not used to," Schilling said. "Joe is the kind of player that can take the puck wide, settle everybody down and make sure everyone gets in position. ... He's a very calm influence."

Madison Edgewood 5, Sauk Prairie 2

It wasn't a final exam. It wasn't even a midterm.

But as far as tests go, the one given to the Sauk Prairie boys hockey team by defending WIAA runner-up Madison Edgewood in both team's season-opener Nov. 25 was about as tough as it gets.

And even though the Eagles lost 5-2 at the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center, head coach Bryan Schilling gave his team a passing grade.

"The guys recognized in the locker room (afterwards) that if we play at that pace, we can match up with anyone in the state."

Sauk Prairie (0-1 overall) couldn't, however, match up with the Crusaders. Despite tough defensive play and a stellar effort by goaltender Travis Schwarz, who stopped 48 of the 53 shots he faced, the Eagles were unable to establish much of an attack.

Especially in the second period, when Edgewood (1-0) was able to take advantage of playing much of the period in the Eagles zone with three goals to extend the lead to 5-1.

Robert Parman scored the first on an assist from Matt Strang and Patrick McCoshen one minute, 41 seconds in, and Cody Strang set up the next a little less than nine minutes later.

Strang fired what looked like a shot from just inside the blue line but turned out to be a beautiful pass to Gage Mauer left of the net, and Mauer snuck it behind Schwarz — who appeared out of position as a result of the good pass — for the eventual game winner.

Strang got the Crusaders third goal of the period on an assist from Tim Longo at 15:51 and Brandon Free, who also scored the Eagles first goal to make it 1-1, found the net with 15 seconds left in the period to punctuate the game's scoring.

"We were hoping we would match their intensity," Schilling said of the Crusaders' second-period flurry. "We absorbed it, but we didn't equal it."

Chris Beglinger got Edgewood started early with a goal on an assist from Mauer and Cody Strang 1:41 into the contest to make it 1-0, and, after Free tied the game, Strang scored on an assist from Longo with 2:11 left in the period to make it 2-1.

The Eagles committed eight penalties and spent 16 minutes in the penalty box — many of those minutes during Edgewood's second period attack — and Schilling knows it might have been a different game if his team could have stayed out of the box.

He was pleased with how the Eagles played when they were at even strength against the Crusaders.

"We skated toe-to-toe with them," Schilling said. "(And) against a team like that, it bodes well for the rest of the season."