Rebuild or reload?

Nine starters from last year’s conference championship team are gone. A senior class that took Sauk Prairie’s boys soccer to new heights has graduated. When it comes to expectations, though, nothing has changed for the Eagles. Sauk Prairie began its new season last week, and even though many of the faces are different, the goals haven’t changed one bit. “Expectations for this season remain very high,” Eagles coach Drew Kornish said. “We don’t like to use result driven expectation but rather performance driven. We are a team that holds ourselves and one another to a high expectation and level of play. If we meet those expectations, the results will follow.” The results have certainly followed in recent years. Sauk Prairie won its first conference title since 2016 last fall. The Eagles went 18-3-1 overall and reached the WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinals, where it lost to Elkhorn. Sauk Prairie lost six all-conference players from that team, including three-time, first-team all-league forward Evan Carlson. “Evan’s one of those guys that you’re going to coach once every 10 years if you’re lucky,” Kornish said. There are several building blocks for the Eagles, though. Senior midfielder Joe Baumgardt is a returning first-team all-conference selection. A year ago, Baumgardt finished with five goals and five assists to tie for fourth on the team with 15 points. “He is going to be a huge part of our attack,” Kornish said of Baumgardt. “He is playing with more and more confidence each time he steps on the field.”  Junior forward Quinn Baier, junior midfielder Sam Drescher and junior defender Austin Keyser are three other returnees that will play large roles. “Sam and Austin started last season with Quinn getting a lot of minutes as well,” Kornish said. “All three of those guys will have to step up in many different ways for us to be successful this season.”  The Eagles also kept four freshmen on their roster — midfielders James Fishnick, Kyle Cass, William Judge and Eliot Carlson. “It is an exciting season for us with the number of new players we have on our varsity roster,” Kornish said. “There is a lot of unknown that comes with it, but a lot of optimism as well.” There’s also a lot of excitement after the Eagles weren’t sure much of the summer if they’d even have a season. While many teams in the area opted to push fall sports to the spring due to fears surrounding COVID-19, Sauk Prairie left things as they were. And while the season will be truncated, 64% of the state’s boys soccer teams are playing this fall — meaning the Eagles will see terrific competition throughout. The postseason is currently scheduled for late October and the state tournament is slated for No. 5-7 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. “We are all extremely excited to have the opportunity to play,” Kornish said. “Guys took to social distancing and wearing a mask really early on and have stuck to that to ensure our best possible chances of maybe seeing this season to the end. The new stadium sure helps the excitement as well.” While Kornisch said coaching during a pandemic has been tricky, the Eagles have all the proper protocols in place and are optimistic they’ll have a highly successful season. “Coaching during this time has really forced us to take a moment by moment approach to everything,” Kornish said. “Communication with athletes, administration, coaches, families and the community has always been very important, but is really put to the test in times like these.  “The coaching staff we have at Sauk is second to none though and our administration is all we can hope for and more. We have done pretty well navigating whatever is thrown our way so far.”