Go to link below for FDL Cardinal Boys Hockey Badgerland Conference standings & game results:
www.wisconsinprephockey.net/page/show/1354541-fond-du-lac
Go to game results below schedule & roster
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME |
| SCORE | |||
| SCRIMMAGE | HOMESTEAD | 4:00-9:00PM | |
| 4 – 1 | MARQUETTE | HOME | 1:30 PM |
| 3 – 2 | WAUPUN | AWAY | 7:30 PM |
| 1 – 4 | ST.MARY’S SPRINGS | AWAY | 7:30 PM |
| 2 – 5 | USM | AWAY | 7:00 PM |
| 3 – 1 | FOX CITIES | HOME | 7:00 PM |
| 0 – 4 | CEDARBURG | AWAY | 9:00 PM |
| 4 – 5 OT | BAYPORT | HOME | 7:00 PM |
| 2 – 3 | BARABOO / PORTAGE | MADISON | TBA |
| 6 – 2 | EAU CLAIRE REGIS | MADISON | TBA |
| 7 – 1 | MCFARLAND | MADISON | TBA |
| 5 – 8 | WISCONSIN RAPIDS | AWAY | 4:00 PM |
| 3 – 6 | NEENAH/HORTONVILLE/MENASHA | AWAY | 7:00 PM |
| 4 – 5 | WAUSAU WEST | AWAY | 1:00 PM |
| 5 – 3 | BEAVER DAM | HOME | 7:30 PM |
| 4 – 0 | ARROWEAD | HOME | 5:00 PM |
| 1 – 2 | EDGEWOOD | HOME | 8:00 PM |
| 3 – 1 | Superior @ Green Bay Showdown | GREEN BAY | TBA |
| 3 – 4 OT | Wausau @ GB Showdown | GREEN BAY | TBA |
| 1 – 2 | APPLETON | HOME | 8:00 PM |
| 7 – 5 | OSHKOSH | AWAY | 7:00 PM |
| 5 – 3 | WAUPUN in Badgerland Tournament | TBD | TBD |
| 0 – 1 | APPLETON in Badgerland Tournamen | HOME | TBD |
| 2 – 9 | Neenah in Badgerland Tournament | HOME | TBD |
| 3 – 3 | HOMESTEAD | AWAY | 6:00 PM |
2014-15 Varsity Roster
| Head Coach: | Ryan Sarazin | |||
| Varsity Assistants | Gary Lakin, Jon Schubert | |||
| Name | Pos. | Grade | Height | Weight |
| TJ Draves | G | 9 | 5’6″ | 140 |
| Ryan Sabel | F | 10 | 5’6″ | 125 |
| Thomas O’Leary | D | 10 | 5’6″ | 122 |
| Caylen Dyni- A | F | 11 | 5’6″ | 165 |
| Jack Nejedlo- C | F | 12 | 6’0″ | 195 |
| Zach Schmit | D | 9 | 6’1″ | 160 |
| Dayne Hefter | F | 10 | 5’10” | 175 |
| Chase Auchue | F | 11 | 5’6″ | 130 |
| Chase Koenigs | D | 11 | 5’8″ | 141 |
| Clayton Deanovivh | F | 11 | 5’10” | 200 |
| Henry Lange | F | 9 | 6’0″ | 180 |
| Noah Wilson | D | 10 | 5’8″ | 150 |
| Hunter Garrison | D | 10 | 5’8″ | 155 |
| Bryce Benedict | F | 12 | 5’10” | 165 |
| Joseph Voight-A | F | 11 | 5’5″ | 125 |
| Kolton Sabel | F | 9 | 5’8″ | 150 |
| Sam Todd | F | 11 | 5’8″ | 175 |
| William Shober | G | 11 | 5’9″ | 155 |
| Nate Polakoski | G | 11 | 5’8″ | 145 |
| Joe Roloff | F | 10 | 5’11” | 140 |
| Adam Grimm | D | 10 | 5’11” | 200 |
Fondy and Homestead settle for tie 3 – 3
The Cardinals had a 3-0 first period lead, but Homestead answered with three in the second en route to a tie.
Jack Nejedlo scored two goals to lead Fondy while Noah Wilson added the third. Caylen Dyni and Dayne Hefter had assists for the Cards.
William Shober had 21 saves for Fondy.
| FOND DU LAC | 3 | X | X | 0 | — 3 |
| Homestead | X | 3 | X | 0 | — 3 |
First period: FDL — Noah Wilson (Caylen Dyni), 12:33. FDL— Jack Nejedlo, 3:34. FDL — Nejedlo (Dayne Hefter), pp, :56.
Second period: H — Max Henry, 15:30. H — Henry, 3:17. H — Cole Simpson, pp, :50.
Saves: Fond du Lac (William Shober) 21 , Homestead (Conner McPike) 21.
Badgerland Conference Tournament
Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha 9 Fond du Lac 2
The Cardinals struggled as they fell in a Badgerland Conference Tournament game against the Rockets.
Jack Nejedlo and Caylen Dyni scored for Fond du Lac, both goals coming in the third period. Thomas O’Leary had two assists for the Cardinals and Dyni added one.
William Shober had 12 saves in goal.
| FOND DU LAC | 0 | 0 | 2 | — 2 |
| Neenah/Hort./Men. | 4 | 3 | 2 | — 9 |
First period: NHM— Mitch Gerhartz (Travis Treml), 1:51. NHM— Gerhartz (Carter Grishaber, Alec Elkin), 7:09. NHM— Jack Kraus (Elkin, Brendan McNeff), 13:17. NHM— Reid Molitor (Max Hackinson, Tyler Hafeman), 13:57.
Second period: NHM— Grishaber (Elkin, Gerhartz), 10:35. NHM— Treml (Sam Kelly), 11:59.
Third period: FDL— Jack Nejedlo (Caylen Dyni, Thomas O’Leary) SH, 6:56. FDL— Dyni (Nejedlo, O’Leary), 9:23. NHM— Grishaber (Elkin), 9:32. NHM— Gerhartz, 15:59.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 12. NHM— Riley Malone, 13
FDL hockey falls to Appleton United 1-0
Fondy advances with win over Waupun 5 – 3
There’s something about the Badgerland Conference Tournament that brings out the best in Fond du Lac boys hockey team.
The fourth-seeded Cardinals, which won the last two conference tournaments, opened up the first round with a 5-3 win Tuesday night over fifth-seeded Waupun in a game played at the Blue Line Family Ice Center in Fond du Lac.
Fondy will face top-seeded Appleton in a semifinal game played Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at the Blue Line for a chance to get to the championship game.
“Coming into this we knew we had to come in and play hard,” Fondy’s Caylen Dyni said. “Our home rink in the conference tournament, we needed this one trying to defend our conference championship from last year. It was a must win tonight.”
After a close first period, where it was tied 1-1, Fondy started to take advantage its opportunities. The Cardinals scored three goals in the second and added another one early in the third to jump out to a 5-1 lead, giving them a comfortable lead. “I thought it was good, I thought it was a typical Waupun first period,” Fondy coach Ryan Sarazin said. “It was a good battle in the first and we traded goals. I think the key pull away for us was when (Waupun) had a chance one way, we came back and we scored the other way. Caylen was able to capitalize and help us pull away.”
Dyni scored the game’s first goal of the game at the 13 minute, 52 second mark of the first period but then Waupun’s Brady Beekman answered to tie it up at 1. Then Dyni added another one in the second while getting two goals from Jack Nejedlo, which gave Fondy a 4-1 lead going into the final period. “They have been leading us all year and it’s key that we counted on those couple goals,” Sarazin said of Dyni and Nejedlo. “It solidified the game for us and it gave us that distance because you never know, you have to play right to the end.
It was Nejedlo’s 24th and 25th goals of the year while Dyni scored his 17th and 18th. “We haven’t been scoring much lately so that was key tonight, putting the puck in the net,” Dyni said. “It was good to get it from our line.” Joseph Voight scored Fondy’s final goal with 14:52 left on the clock in the third, making it 5-1. But like Sarazin said, it was key for the Cards to get that comfortable lead because Waupun wouldn’t go away. The Warriors nabbed two goals in the third period – both on power plays – from Ryan Panten and Adrian Harmsen. But it was little too late for Waupun, as Harmsen’s goal came with just over 30 seconds left.
Other than that, Fondy’s defense played well. William Shober had 21 saves in the game for Fondy while Caleb Sauer had 24 for Waupun. “William (Shober) is playing well, I didn’t like the way we finished, though,” Sarazin said. “I knew, even if it’s 5-3, I knew it wasn’t over. Especially with a rival team like Waupun.”
Now the focus switches to Appleton, a team Fondy recently lost to in a close 2-1 game. “It’s our goal,” Sarazin said of potentially winning a third straight conference tournament title. “We just played them the other night and we’d like another crack at them.”
| WAUPUN | 1 | 0 | 2 | — 3 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 3 | 1 | — 5 |
First period: FDL — Caylen Dyni (Dayne Hefter), 13:52. WAU — Brady Beekman (Collin Holz, Carson Schramm), 8:28.
Second period: FDL — Jack Nejedlo (Chase Koenigs), pp, 14:36. FDL — Dyni (Noah Wilson), 8:40. FDL — Nejedlo (Dyni), 2:09.
Third period: FDL — Joseph Voight (Ryan Sabel), 14:52. WAU — Ryan Panten (Jordan Foster, Beekman), pp, 7:18. WAU — Adrian Harmsen (Foster, Schramm), pp, :32.
Saves: Waupun (Caleb Saruer) 24, Fond du Lac (William Shober) 21.
Fond du Lac rallies past Oshkosh 7 – 5
Dayne Hefter and Jack Nejedlo scored two goals apiece as the Cardinals knocked off Oshkosh in Badgerland Conference action.
Fond du Lac scored four goals in the third period to come away with the win after trailing 4-3.
Ryan Sabel, Joseph Voight and Caylen Dyni added goals for the Cardinals. Nejedlo chipped in with two assists, while Noah Wilson added two assists as well. Dyni and Hefter had one assist each.
William Shober had 22 saves.
| FOND DU LAC | 3 | 0 | 4 | — 7 |
| Oshkosh | 2 | 2 | 1 | — 5 |
First period: FDL— Dayne Hefter (Jack Nejedlo), 4:20. OSH— Ben Jager, 5:16. FDL— Nejedlo (Caylen Dyni), 7:48. OSH— Hobey Kraus, 11:36. FDL— Ryan Sabel, 14:05
Second period: OSH— Tyler Hoodie, 12:18 PP. OSH— Pete Verstegen, 13:33.
Third period: FDL— Dayne Hefter (Noah Wilson), 0:31 PP. OSH— Ryan Mantz, 3:13. FDL— Nejedlo (Hefter), 12:12. FDL— Joseph Voight (Wilson), 14:11. FDL— Caylen Dyni (Nejedlo), 16:52.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 22. OSH— Zach Holliday, 22
Appleton tops Fond du Lac 2 – 1
The Cardinals were unable to muster much offense as they fell to Appleton United in Badgerland Conference action.
Jack Nejedlo scored Fond du Lac’s only goal with four seconds remaining in the game. Dayne Hefter and Thomas O’Leary had assists for the Cards.
“It was a hard-fought game, a close game,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said. “We’ve just got to get going there and get some energy going early. Their defense and goalie played well down the stretch.”
William Shober had 15 saves in goal for Fond du Lac.
| APPLETON | 1 | 1 | 0 | — 2 |
| Fond du Lac | 0 | 0 | 1 | — 1 |
First period: APP— Matthew Gruber, 10:02.
Second period: APP— Gruber, 16:59.
Third period: FDL— Jack Nejedlo (Dayne Hefter, Thomas O’Leary), 16:56 PP.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 15. APP— Dylan Phinney, 28
Fond du Lac falls in OT to Wausau West 4 – 3
GREEN BAY – Noah Wilson’s goal late in the third period sent the game into overtime but Fond du Lac couldn’t pull off the come-from-behind win, falling to Wausau West, 4-3, in the final game of the Green Bay Tournament on Sunday.
Wilson scored off assists from Caylen Dyni and Dayne Hefter at the 15:32 mark of the third period as the Cardinals rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits in the game.
Sam Radenz got the game-winner for the Warriors a little more than five minutes into overtime.
Jack Nejedlo’s goal late in the second period tied the game at 2 before Wausau scored four minutes into the final period to regain the lead.
Dyni opened the scoring in the opening period for Fond du Lac as the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead but the Warriors tallied two goals a minute apart midway through the second to move in front.
Hefter finished with a pair of assists in the game, while William Shober totaled 35 saves in net for Fond du Lac.
Fond du Lac…1 1 1 0 — 3
Wausau West…0 2 1 1 — 4
First period: FDL — Caylen Dyni (Jack Nejedlo, Dayne Hefter), 15:05 (pp).
Second period: WW — Cale Bowman (Alex Gessler, Kellen Tharaldson), 8:31. WW — Alex Osness (Sam Radenz, Jacob Evans). FDL — Nejedlo (Chase Koenigs, Thomas O’Leary), 15:03.
Third period: WW — Tharaldson (Radenz), 4:01 (pp). FDL — Noah Wilson (Dyni, Hefter), 15:32.
Overtime: WW — Radenz (Hunter Ricklefs, Nick Techel), 5:20.
Saves: FDL (William Shober) 35, WW (Quinn Coyle) 14.
Fond du Lac downs Superior 3 – 1
Caylen Dyni scored two goals as the Cardinals knocked off the Spartans in a tournament hosted by Green Bay Notre Dame.
Henry Lange gave Fond du Lac the lead with a goal in the first period off assists from Jack Nejedlo and Dayne Hefter before Dyni scored his first goal in the second.
Superior cut the Cardinals’ lead to 2-1 early in the third, but Dyni responded with another goal, assisted by Hefter and Nejedlo.
William Shober had 44 saves for Fond du Lac.
| FOND DU LAC | 1 | 1 | 1 | — 3 |
| Superior | 0 | 0 | 1 | — 1 |
First period: FDL— Henry Lange (Jack Nejedlo, Dayne Hefter), 11:22 PP.
Second period: FDL— Caylen Dyni, 4:54.
Third period: SUP— Daniel Burger (Tyler Nystrom), 0:37. FDL— Dyni (Hefter, Nejedlo), 1:37.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 44. SUP— Caden Welch, 12
Edgewood tops Fond du Lac 2 – 1
Henry Lange scored for the Cardinals, but the rest of the team was unable to manage much offense in a nonconference loss to Madison Edgewood.
Lange was assisted by Jack Nejedlo and Ryan Sabel. Nick Tancill and Grant Reichenbacher scored for Edgewood.
William Shober had 16 saves in goal for Fond du Lac.
| MADISON EDGEWOOD | 1 | 2 | 0 | — 2 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 0 | 0 | — 1 |
First period: ME— Nick Tancill, 8:59 PP. FDL— Henry Lange (Jack Nejedlo, Ryan Sabel), 13:22 PP.
Second period: ME— Grant Reichenbacher, 14:36 PP.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 16. ME— Tommy Mohs, 24.
Nejedlo with another hat trick Fondy 4 Arrowhead 0
Jack Nejedlo recorded his second consecutive hat trick as the Cardinals shut out Arrowhead in nonconference play. Three nights after scoring three goals against Beaver Dam, Nejedlo did it again against the Warhawks. Nejedlo scored twice in the second period and once in the third. Noah Wilson added Fond du Lac’s other goal.
Caylen Dyni had two assists for the Cards. William Shober had 30 saves in goal.
“A good win. I thought we were opportunistic,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said. “Obviously Jack had the hat trick and William played well in goal.”
| ARROWHEAD | 0 | 0 | 0 | — 0 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 2 | 1 | — 4 |
First period: FDL— Noah Wilson (Caylen Dyni), 7:16 PP.
Second period: FDL— Jack Nejedlo (Dyni), 8:15. FDL— Nejedlo, 11:56.
Third period: FDL— Nejedlo, 15:57.
Saves: ARR— JJ Gerlach, 23. FDL— William Shober, 30.
Nejedlo scores hat trick in Fond du Lac win FDL 5 Beaver Dam 3
After digging itself into a hole, the Fond du Lac boys hockey team needed someone to step up. The Cardinals’ senior captain answered the bell.
Jack Nejedlo recorded a hat trick and Fond du Lac overcame a two-goal deficit as it knocked off Beaver Dam 5-3 in Badgerland Conference action Tuesday night at Blue Line Family Ice Center. “When we needed something to happen, he’s the guy we look to,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said of Nejedlo. “He was able to get us some confidence, get us going and to kind of draw it even there and to battle through.” Early on, it didn’t look good for Fond du Lac (6-8, 3-2 Badgerland), which has had its share of rough losses recently.
Beaver Dam (4-12, 0-5 Badgerland) was hot right out of the gate, grabbing an early lead on the Cardinals despite being outshot 18-8 in the first period. The Golden Beavers took advantage of a tripping penalty called on the Cardinals within the first few minutes, scoring 3:17 into the contest on a power play goal from Alex Lindeman, assisted by Drew Bornick. After a scrum in front of the net, the puck found its way to the backside of Fond du Lac goalie Nate Polakoski and Lindeman was there for the easy score. Beaver Dam took a two-goal advantage just minutes later, when James Oettinger scored on assists from Ben Lundin and Koby Jones at 10:06. Despite its huge advantage in shots on goal, it took until 13:21 of the first period for Fond du Lac to finally score, when Chase Koenigs found the net unassisted.
The second period saw Fond du Lac gain a lead before giving it up only minutes later. Nejedlo tied up the game at two goals apiece when he beat Beaver Dam goalie Adam Lindeman with a laser wrist shot at 4:34, assisted by Noah Wilson. Nejedlo then gave the Cardinals a short-lived lead at 8:50 of the second. After his initial shot clanged off the top post, somehow the puck came back to Nejedlo and he ripped a shot past Lindeman. “We were not going to lose that game. We were down 2-0 and right then and there we were like ‘This is ridiculous,'” Nejedlo said of the team’s comeback. “We need to stop this and start tuning it up because I think we came into the game not being prepared as much as we should have. That falls back on me and we just stepped it up once we figured out that this is going to be a hockey game.” After the Cardinals took the lead in the second, Beaver Dam did not go away as the Beavers scored at the 11:21 mark on a goal from Lundin, tying the game at 3-3.
The Cardinals also missed a couple of prime opportunities at goals from Caylen Dyni in the second as the junior nearly found the net twice, only to be foiled by the magnificent goaltending of Lindeman. Nejedlo also had a shot at another goal late in the period, but he was tripped by a Beaver Dam player as he approached the net. Fond du Lac was unable to take advantage of the ensuing power play. The Cardinals finally put the game away in the third period.
Dyni scored the go-ahead goal at the 4:13 mark of the third on an improbable shot in which he simply appeared to be passing the puck towards the goal. Yet somehow it meandered its way into the net. Nejedlo then added his third goal minutes later, one that gave the Cardinals a bit of insurance and sealed the victory. Nate Polakoski picked up the win in goal for Fond du Lac, recording eight saves. Lindeman had 48 saves for Beaver Dam as the Cardinals outshot the Beavers by a 53-11 margin.
Tuesday’s win marked the first in Polakoski’s varsity career, who stepped in for usual starter William Shober. “I’m very happy for Nate,” Sarazin said. “He only saw a few shots and the goals he let in, we kind of handed it to them. I’m just really happy for his first win and I thought he stood tall.” After losing three straight prior to Tuesday, the win over Beaver Dam couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cardinals, who hope that momentum will carry into the rest of the season. “It’s hopefully going to propel us in the future to win more games and be more confident in ourselves and our teammates,” Nejedlo said of the win. “We’ve suffered some tough losses, but to have this game is huge going into this stretch of the season.”
| BEAVER DAM | 2 | 1 | 0 | — 3 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 2 | 2 | — 5 |
First period: BD — Alex Lindeman (Drew Bornick), 3:17 PP. BD — James Oettinger (Ben Lundin, Koby Jones), 10:06. FDL — Chase Koenigs, 13:21.
Second period: FDL — Jack Nejedlo (Noah Wilson), 4:34. FDL — Nejedlo, 8:50. BD — Lundin, 11:21.
Third period: FDL — Caylen Dyni (Dayne Hefter), 4:13 PP. FDL — Nejedlo (Dyni, Wilson), 5:49.
Saves: Beaver Dam — Adam Lindeman, 48. Fond du Lac — Nate Polakoski, 8.
Fondy drops heartbreaker to Wausau West 5 – 4
The Cardinals led 4-2 entering the third period, but allowed three goals in the final 17 minutes as they fell to the Warriors in nonconference action. “I thought we competed really well, but we couldn’t get it done at the end,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said.
Jack Nejedlo, Chase Koenigs, Noah Wilson and Joseph Voight scored for the Cardinals, who seemingly held a comfortable lead entering the third. But Wausau West stormed back. Andrew Lee began the comeback for the Warriors with a goal less than a minute into the third, before Sam Radenz scored at 12:07 to tie it up and Cale Bowman netted the game-winner less than a minute later.
Caylen Dyni had two assists for Fond du Lac, while Nejedlo and Wilson each had one.
William Shober had 46 saves in goal for Fond du Lac.
| FOND DU LAC | 2 | 2 | 0 | — 4 |
| Wausau West | 1 | 1 | 3 | — 5 |
First period: WW— Nick Snow, 4:53. FDL— Jack Nejedlo (Caylen Dyni), 12:21 PP. FDL— Chase Koenigs (Dyni), 13:01.
Second period: FDL— Noah Wilson (Nejedlo), 4:11 SH. FDL— Joseph Voight (Wilson), 7:35. WW— Sam Radenz, 13:52 PP.
Third period: WW— Andrew Lee, 0:52. WW— Radenz, 12:07. WW— Cale Bowman, 13:01.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 46. WW— Jacob Warnke, 15.
Caylen Dyni hat trick not enough as Wisconsin Rapids defeats Fond du Lac 8 – 5
On a relatively balmy 28 degree early-January afternoon, the Fond du Lac Cardinals invaded the South Wood County Rec Center, hoping to steal a win from the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders.
After a back-and-forth battle for the first two periods, the hosts scored a pair of goals 18 seconds apart seven minutes into the final stanza and hung on for an 8-5 win in what would be called a ‘slugfest’ in baseball parlance.
The guests got on the board first just under three minutes into the period.
Caylen Dyni grabbed a pass and fired a shot from the slot that beat Rapids goalie Tyler Werne high on the blocker side for the early 1-0 lead. Adam Grimm was awarded an assist on the play. Fondy grabbed a 2-0 lead just a few minutes later on a nice re-direct.
Zach Schmit fired a shot on the ice from the left point and just before the puck got to the goalie, Dyni placed the blade of his CCM twig on the ice and saw the biscuit pop over Werne’s glove for the two-goal lead. Schmit and Jack Nejedlo earned helpers on the play.
A couple minutes later, Nejedlo and Dyni connected on a cross-ice pass for a back-door goal, giving the junior assistant captain his third goal in just 726 seconds of play. Logan Conkey stole the puck at the blueline and took the puck deep, deking the goalie and sliding it past the FDL netminder at 15:00 of the first. The period would end with that 3-3 tie, with shot advantage to Rapids, 13-8 in the first 17 minutes.
The second period was completely different, as only one combined goal was scored.Rapids had two great opportunities early on, but Gilbert sent one off the crossbar and then a cross-ice pass bounced off a Cardinal defender, but Shober was able to alertly snag the puck out of mid-air. A few minutes later, Gilbert had another chance but Shober made another nice glove save with just over 11 minutes left in the middle period. Just over a minute later, Gilbert challenged again and his chest-high shot was sticked aside by Shober, using the paddle of his Bauer goalie stick to send the puck into the corner. The period ended with the home boys holding a 4-3 lead. Rapids held a 12-5 shot edge in the stanza.
Fondy almost tied it up a couple minutes into the final period, but the shot from the right side glanced off Werne’s right pad before slipping off the outside of the left post to keep the score at 4-3. Rapids got a pair of scores in 18 seconds to more or less put the game away four minutes later.
Nejedlo was in the left circle and fired a pass across in an attempt to connect on a back-door play, but the pass bounced off the skate of a Rapids defender and slid in past a surprised Werne to make it 6-4. Nejedlo cut the lead to 7-5 with an assist to Grimm, with just under four minutes left to set up an exciting finish. The clock ticked down to just over a minute left and Shober came off for an extra attacker, but Rapids scrubbed that plan when Kreuser completed his hattie just eight seconds later with the empty-netter.
Fondy had a power play for 39 seconds at the end, but failed to score as the puck was tied up in front of the Rapids crowd as the horn sounded.
Shots were 18-6 in favor of Rapids in the period. Werne stopped 14 shots for Rapids (9-3-1), while Shober was much busier, making 35 saves for Fondy, who dropped to 5-6.
Nejedlo, Fondy crush McFarland
Fond du Lac 7 McFarland 1
Jack Nejedlo had a hat-trick as the Cardinals used a big second period to get past McFarland in the final day of the Madison West Tournament.
Thomas O’Leary, Caylen Dyni, Dane Hester and Zach Schmidt added goals for Fond du Lac, while William Shober had 26 saves.
“The kids played well the last two nights, we are making some progress,” Fondy head coach Ryan Sarazin said. “We had some tough games and it was nice to get some scoring and see our team build some chemistry.”
Fond du Lac also beat Regis Eau Claire, 6-2, Sunday night in the opening night of the Madison West Tournament.
| MCFARLAND | 0 | 0 | 1 | — 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 4 | 2 | — 7 |
First period: FDL —Thomas O’Leary, 15:33.
Second period: FDL — Caylen Dyni (Jack Nejedlo, Noah Wilson), 15:36 (pp). FDL — Dane Hester (Nejedlo), 12:16. FDL — Zach Schmidt (Joe Voight), 7:19. FDL — Nejedlo (Chase Koenigs, Dyni), 3:44.
Third period: FDL — Chase Auchue (Koenigs, Dyni), 13:47. M — Kemitz, 12:27. FDL — Nejedlo (Adam Grimm), :56.
Saves: Fond du Lac (William Shober) 26.McFarland (Jordan Mazzara) 42.
Early deficit hurts Fondy in loss
Baraboo/Portage 3 Fond du Lac 2
The Cardinals couldn’t overcome an early 3-0 deficit in a loss in the Madison West Tournament Saturday.
Baraboo/Portage scored all three of its goals in the first period, while Fondy managed to get two back — one in the second and one in the third.
Chase Auchue scored the first goal for Fondy — on an assist from Dan Hefter — while Chase Koenigs scored the last goal. Koenigs goal was assisted by Thomas O’Leary and Henry Lange.
William Shober had 23 saves in the loss for the Cardinals.
“It was a slow start, we gave them three goals,” Fondy coach Ryan Sarazin said. “We came out flat but I thought we played well at times down the stretch. Our top scorers were kept off the board.”
| BARABOO/PORTAGE | 3 | 0 | 0 | — 3 |
| Fond du Lac | 0 | 1 | 1 | — 2 |
First period: B/P — Steven Mordini, 7:13. B/P — Griffin Nicksie, 11:39. B/P — Mordini, 14:16.
Second period: FDL — Chase Auche (Dan Hefter), 1:22.
Third period: FDL — Chase Koenigs (Thomas O’Leary, Henry Lange), 7:43.
Saves: Fond du Lac (William Shober) 23, Baraboo/Portage (Nate Herkondorfs) 35.
Bay Port knocks off Fondy in OT Bay Port 5, Fond du Lac 4
The Cardinals rallied in the third period, but fell to the Pirates in overtime. With Bay Port leading 2-1 entering the third, the two teams played a wild 17 minutes as the Pirates scored twice and Fond du Lac scored three times to send the game to overtime tied 4-4. In overtime, Bay Port’s Spencer Challe scored at the 4:15 mark to give the Pirates the nonconference victory.
Fond du Lac’s Caylen Dyni had a hat trick to lead the Cardinals. Dayne Hefter also scored for Fondy, while Jack Nejedlo and Noah Wilson added two assists apiece.
Ryan Sabel and Chase Koenigs had assists as well for Fond du Lac. “It was a hard-fought game,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said. “I really saw some good things out of the team tonight.”
| BAY PORT | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — 5 |
| Fond du Lac | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — 4 |
First period: BP— Spencer Challe, 8:20 SH.
Second period: BP— Logan Froberg, 0:26. FDL— Calen Dyni (Jack Nejedlo), 4:53 SH.
Third period: FDL— Dyni (Ryan Sabel), 2:53 PP. FDL— Dyni (Nejedlo, Noah Wilson), 3:24 PP. BP— Martin Suda, 10:43. BP— Suda, 12:42. FDL— Dayne Hefter (Wilson, Chase Koenigs), 16:28.
Overtime: BP— Challe, 4:15 PP.
Saves: FDL— William Shober, 24. BP— Shawn Angle, 27
Cedarburg 4, Fond du Lac 0
The Cardinals were shut out in a nonconference game played at Cedarburg.
Evan Gabel, Kyle Samera, Drew Decker and Tom Bibby scored for the Bulldogs, who put the game away with two third-period goals.
William Shober had 30 saves in goal for Fond du Lac, while Matt McCoy had 29 for Cedarburg.
| FOND DU LAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | — 0 |
| Cedarburg | 1 | 1 | 2 | — 4 |
First period: CED — Evan Gabel, 6:01.
Second period: CED— Kyle Samera, 4:03.
Third period: Drew Decker, 10:52. CED— Tom Bibby, 9:13
Saves: William Shober, 30. CED— Matt McCoy, 29.
Fondy’s Nejedlo comes back stronger after ACL injury
When Fond du Lac’s Jack Nejedlo tore his ACL last year in just the second game of the football season, he knew it would be a long road to recovery. With the hockey season starting in December, it only gave him a little over four months to get back on the ice.
After Nejedlo learned what had happened to his knee — an ACL injury usually takes six to nine months to be cleared to play any sports — everyone told him there would be no way he would be back for the hockey season. “Anytime you lose your top guys, and I’m a big football fan, but there is always a dreaded message for the other season,” Fondy boys hockey coach Ryan Sarazin said after hearing about Nejedlo’s injury. “I got about 50 messages on my phone and it blew up. But I encouraged him to get after it. He got right into the weight room and rehab, I never heard of anyone recovering so quickly.”
Nejedlo proved the doubters wrong, as the junior at the time came back for Fondy’s final four games of the hockey season before the Cardinals were knocked out of the playoffs. In his first game back — 4 1/2 months after having surgery to repair his ACL — Nejedlo set a school record with seven points, scoring four goals while assisting three in an 8-1 win over Waupun. “It was devastating because I knew it was going to be a long-term injury,” Nejedlo said. “I had everyone tell me ‘No you won’t be able to come back for hockey, you won’t be able to do this or that.’ I wanted to work hard to prove those people wrong that you can do it in four-and-a-half months. “I wanted to come back and play with my buds who I have been playing with my whole life and end their senior season well. I knew that was my goal, to get back for hockey.”
In those final four games of last year’s hockey season, Nejedlo scored seven goals while assisting on eight. That’s the kind of determination Nejedlo has, whether it’s on the ice rink or on the football field. But his success didn’t stop there. Nejedlo helped rejuvenate the Fondy football program by leading the Cardinals to a 10-2 record before falling to Kimberly in the WIAA Division 1 Level 3 playoff game. Kimberly went on to win the state championship.
Between football and hockey the last four years, Nejedlo has found success at a very high level. But picking a favorite sport between the two — not so easy. “There is no favorite, whatever season it is that’s my favorite,” he said. “If I had to play one sport, I kind of like hockey a little more.”
Nejedlo started to play hockey as early as three years old. He said he grew up with a family that had a passion for hockey and fell in love with the sport then. “My family got me into it, my cousins were great hockey players and they always made me come out and skate on my grandma’s pond,” he said.
The senior has led the Cardinals to a 3-2 start in the young season, and despite losing two games already he is happy with how the year has gone with such a young team. “So far I think it’s going really good, we got off to a hot start with a 4-1 win over Marquette and that boosted our confidence right off the bat,” Nejedlo said. “We had a tough game against Waupun, a big rival, but we persevered through that and it was nice to see our young team come through in such a big game. “So far you can’t complain with the young team coming out poised, confident, and playing good hockey.”
After losing Michael Wilson, Fondy’s all-time leading scorer who graduated last year, Nejedlo has taken the role of the leader of the team. He said he has been hard on himself this year because he knows he can do better. “I’m hard on myself, I’d like to generate more offense, even with my line mates,” he said. “I look at the goals but the assists is what really matters because you are setting up the team with success. We are winning some games, losing some games, but I need to step it up and make sure my line mates are doing their job.”
Wilson, who now plays in the United States Hockey Junior League for the Omaha Lancers, taught Nejedlo a lot. Nejedlo said it’s strange not playing with him again this year, but wouldn’t be the same player without him. “It’s a lot different playing without Willy out on my line, you kind of see what he had to go through last year,” Nejedlo said when Wilson had to lead a young team after Nejedlo was injured. “I can’t complain, just have to work hard. With the young team I have to be poised and be more of a leader than a scorer and I learned a lot of that from Michael, too. Nejedlo also said that Wilson helped him get back into the flow of things after he returned from his injury. “It was scary coming out right away but I had Michael there, who always protected me and made sure I wasn’t going to get any cheap shots,” Nejedlo said. “He took the pressure off me. Coming back and having that hot start, it goes to my coaches and my team. I couldn’t have done it without them.” If it weren’t for the injury last season, Nejedlo would have a chance to be up in the school record books behind Wilson. Nejedlo earned honorable mention all-state his sophomore season after scoring 21 goals while assisting on 41 for a total of 62 points. In four years he has 47 goals and 68 assists.
Sarazin said it’s Nejedlo’s instincts that make him a great hockey player, something he saw out of him when he was a varsity player as a freshman. “He’s been a varsity player of mine for four years, right off the bat he had a unique competing level on the ice, even as a freshman,” Sarazin said. “He’s very composed, he rises up at the big moments. What he has that is special, and puts him aside, is that he has good instincts. He thinks ahead of the play. He sees where guys will be but not where they are at. “That separates the good players from the average players. Hockey moves fast and he has the mind to keep up with it.” Although he survived the final part of the hockey season last year, Nejedlo called his first football hit in August something he will never forget. “It was my most nerve-wracking thing I have ever experienced,” he said. “My coach for football suffered three ACL injuries in college and told me, ‘You’re going to get hit, but you’ll get back up again.’ I got hit right in the knee and I was like ‘Wow, it’s still there.’ So I was happy about that.”
Nejedlo earned first-team all-Valley Association South this fall after throwing for 1,520 yards and 19 touchdowns — to only seven interceptions — while rushing for 652 yards and eight touchdowns. He said it was cool to put Fondy football back on the map, but it all started with coaches Mike Gnewuch and Steve Jorgensen, who were hired three years ago to turn around the program. “We started off my sophomore year hitting the weight room every day and I think that is the biggest contribution to our winning,” Nejedlo said. “We worked out, we knew the class had the talent to go far in the playoffs and do some damage. With the coaching staff that was brought in, it really helped us out. “It was nice to see the Fondy community get back on the train. St. Mary’s Springs also helped us out, making a deep run at state so the football community is looking strong here.”
After graduating in the spring, Nejedlo said he wants to go to college. He has reached out to some junior hockey leagues, but unless they have a great offer, he wants to get his degree as soon as possible. “I will probably go to school unless an offer comes along to play some hockey at a junior level somewhere,” Nejedlo said. “I haven’t thought it through too much. We’ll see how the year goes but I think school is the most important thing for me. I wouldn’t want to go into college at 21 years old. I see college as an opportunity to get out into the real world.” Nejedlo said as of right now, he’s interested in the field of health care or sports marketing.
Fondy uses big third to beat Fox Cities
Fond du Lac 3, Fox Cities 1: The Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie in the third period when Jack Nejedlo scored on a power play to help seal the win.
Freshman Henry Lang added two goals for Fondy while William Shober had 15 saves.
“It was a good grind out win, both teams played hard,” Fondy head coach Ryan Sarazin said. “We didn’t get off to a quick start, we waited for something to happen. But that power play goal was huge and then we grinded it out and had that empty net goal.”
| FOX CITIES | 0 | 1 | 0 | — 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 0 | 1 | 2 | — 3 |
Second period: FDL — Henry Lang (Jack Nejedlo),:27. FC — Matt Piete, 13:55.
Third period: FDL — Jack Nejedlo (Caylen Dyni, Noah Wilson), 11:48 (pp). FDL — Lang, 16:16.
Saves: Fond du Lac (William Shober) 15; Fox Cities (Colin Hartel) 20.
University School tops Fond du Lac
University School of Milwaukee 5, Fond du Lac 2: The Cardinals fell in a nonconference game to University School of Milwaukee.
Jack Nejedlo scored twice for Fond du Lac (2-2), but it wasn’t enough as University School scored three times in the second period to take control.
Caylen Dyni and Henry Lange added assists for the Cardinals. William Shober had 23 saves in goal.
| FOND DU LAC | 1 | 0 | 1 | — 2 |
| University School | 1 | 3 | 1 | — 5 |
First period: FDL— Nejedlo (Dyni, Lange) 12:44 PP. USM— Billy Miller, 16:02.
Second period: USM— Bainey, 2:44. USM— Hlabak, 8:23. USM— Erickson, 9:01.
Third period: FDL— Nejedlo, 2:29 PP. USM— Bainey, 10:14 SH.
Saves: FDL— Shober, 23. USM— Ostermeyer, 12.
Springs tops Fondy for Sturgeon Cup
It didn’t take long for the St. Mary’s Springs co-op boys hockey team to get out of its offensive funk. After being shut out in a 4-0 loss to Onalaska this last Saturday, Springs got on the board 10 minutes in and got a hat-trick from Connor Black as the Ledgers claimed the first-ever Sturgeon Cup in a 4-1 win over Fond du Lac in a Badgerland Conference game played at the Blue Line Family Ice Center in Fond du Lac. “I thought for the most part we controlled the game, both sides got into some penalties at times but I think when we handled the puck down low they had some trouble with us, especially on that first line,” Springs head coach Tim Ahern said.
Blanck’s first goal was the most important goal of the night. The Ledgers held a 1-0 lead before Fondy sophomore Noah Wilson took advantage of a power play and scored on an assist from Caylen Dyni. But the tie didn’t last. Less than a minute later, Ledgers’ Mitchell Grebe found a wide open Blanck who was able to hit it into the right side of the goal with ease to give Springs a 2-1 lead going into the third period. His goal came just minutes after the Ledgers failed to score after they had a 5-on-3 advantage on a power play. “That was tough, we didn’t have a lot of good looks on that,” Ahern said of the power play. “They popped it in to tie then but then we tied it and that was big.”
That goal by Blanck gave the Ledgers all the momentum as the senior went on to score twice more in the third period to allow Springs to pull away. “He was solid,” Ahern said of Blanck. “He was gripping it too hard against Onalaska and frankly he was overworking. He floated it a little bit better into some soft ice and he finished. His biggest goal was that second goal.” Blanck added his second goal of the night at the 9:55 mark in the third period. The assist again came from Grebe, who finished with two assists. Blanck later scored with 1:28 left on an open net, giving him his hat-trick. It was his sixth goal of the season and his 10th point of the year. “It was a good first period, slower second but once we picked it up we really finished it,” Blanck said. “My teammates Mitchell (Grebe) and Anthony (Grebe) helped out a lot, they grounded down low. I couldn’t have done it without them so I give most of the credit to them.”
St. Mary’s Springs sophomore Mitchell Grebe put the Ledgers on the board first after finding the right side of the goal after receiving a nice pass from just behind the net. The assist on Mitchell Grebe’s goal, his first of the season, came from Blanck and Anthony Grebe.
It became a defensive game after that for the next 25 minutes until Fondy tied things up with just over three minutes from the goal from Wilson. But that’s as much offense as the Cardinals would have for the rest of the game. It was an impressive day for freshman goalie Colin Ahern, who finished with 35 saves on the night for the Ledgers. William Shober had 29 for Fondy. “Colin was solid, made some tough saves, kept the pucks in front of him and the angles got off a bit but overall he was really good,” Tim Ahern said. Added Blanck: “Colin is a freshman, he played an outstanding game. You couldn’t ask for more.”
Notes: St. Mary’s Springs recognized former hockey coach Jerry Tighe before the game. Tighe began as the head coach in 1980 and led the Ledgers hockey program for six seasons. He was instrumental in establishing the first private school state tournament and led the team to four state championships and two Midwest tournament titles. Tighe was recently inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame and will be presented his Hall of Fame ring tomorrow. SMSA hockey alumni, families and friends are invited to attend Tighe Night at Blue Line Family Ice Center. … Thursday’s contest also marked the first year that Fond du Lac and St. Mary’s Springs played for the Sturgeon Cup, a trophy given out to the winner of the game.
| FOND DU LAC | 0 | 1 | 0 | — 1 |
| St. Mary’s Springs | 1 | 1 | 2 | — 4 |
First period: SMS— Mitchell Grebe (Connor Blanck, Anthony Grebe), 9:30.
Second period: FDL— Noah Wilson (Caylen Dyni), 14:33. SMS— Blanck (M. Grebe), 15:21.
Third period: SMS— Blanck (M. Grebe), 7:05. SMS— Blanck (A. Grebe), 15:32.Saves: FDL — William Shober, 29. SMS— Colin Ahern, 35.
Fond du Lac rallies to edge Waupun
As the second period drew to a close Friday night, things were looking pretty grim for the Fond du Lac boys hockey team.
The Cardinals trailed rival Waupun 2-0 after allowing goals in the final minute of both the first and second periods and the Warriors seemed to have all the momentum. It took only five minutes of play for Fond du Lac to turn the game on its head.
The Cardinals scored as time expired in the second and then tallied two goals in the first four minutes of the third period as they knocked off Waupun 3-2 Friday night in Badgerland Conference action at Waupun Community Center, reclaiming the Cowan Cup from their rivals. “That’s a total momentum changer,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin of his team’s goal as time expired in the second. “We come out and get the two quick ones at the start of third and that’s a momentum shift right there. Then we were able to grind it out in a very difficult way down the stretch. That momentum was a key switch in the game I felt.”
After Waupun’s Jordan Foster scored with 19 seconds left in the second period to give the Warriors a two-goal advantage, Fond du Lac (2-0, 1-0 Badgerland) needed a big play to shift things in their direction. The Cards got it when Caylen Dyni somehow managed to sneak the puck past Waupun goaltender Austin Taylor in the middle of a scrum in front of the net as time expired in the second, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Just 53 seconds into the third period, Fond du Lac’s Hunter Garrison scored on a wicked wrist shot to even up the game and Dyni added his second goal of the contest minutes later as the Cardinals grabbed their first lead. After that, Fond du Lac was able to keep a powerful Waupun offense in check, using a fine effort in net from goaltender William Shober, who had 19 saves. Shober stood tall despite a couple of breakdowns throughout the game in which Waupun players had breakaways or open shots on goal. “He was really good,” Sarazin said of Shober. “At the times we were getting dominated or at least giving away some pucks in the first period, he stood really strong. I thought there were two or three key exchanges there where we might have coughed one up on the power play, if they popped one in there, that’s their momentum change. William stood tall.” Taylor also had a fine night in goal for Waupun (2-2, 0-1 Badgerland), stopping 22 shots. Aside from Foster, Cody Kast also scored for the Warriors, notching his goal unassisted at 16:31 in the first period. Brady Beekman and Ryan Panten assisted on Foster’s goal near the end of the second.
Henry Lange assisted on Dyni’s score to close the second period, while Dyni himself assisted on Garrison’s goal to start the third. Jack Nejedlo and Noah Wilson assisted on Dyni’s game-winner at the 3:34 mark of the third period.
Nejedlo, the senior captain for Fond du Lac, left the game midway through the third period and had his arm in a sling for the rest of the contest. Sarazin wasn’t sure of the severity of the injury, but noted he wasn’t taking any chances as Nejedlo is still dealing with a minor shoulder injury he suffered during the football season. “We’re hoping nothing major,” Sarazin said. “He had a bit of tweak with his shoulder coming in from the football season. We’re not thinking it’s too major. It got worse during the game and we don’t want to injure him any worse at this point in the season.”
Nejedlo’s injury aside, Friday’s win was a big one for the Cardinals as it gave them a victory over their rivals, but more importantly started them off on the right foot in conference. “Huge win,” Shober said. “It just gave us a really big confidence boost.”
| FOND DU LAC | 0 | 1 | 2 | — 3 |
| Waupun | 1 | 1 | 0 | — 2 |
First period: WAU— Kast, 16:31.
Second period: WAU— Foster (Beekman, Panten), 16:41. FDL— Dyni (Lange), 16:59.
Third period: FDL— Garrison (Dyni), 0:53. FDL— Dyni (Nejedlo, Wilson), 3:34.
Saves: FDL— Shober, 19. WAU— Taylor, 22.
Fond du Lac dominates Marquette in Opener
Saturday afternoon’s season opener probably didn’t start the way the Fond du Lac boys hockey team wanted. The Cardinals didn’t let that bother them. After allowing a power play goal a few minutes into the game, Fond du Lac scored four unanswered goals as it defeated Milwaukee Marquette University 4-1 in a nonconference contest played at Blue Line Family Ice Center. Initially the Cardinals played undisciplined hockey, committing two five-minute major checking-from-behind penalties in the first seven minutes — resulting in a 5-on-3 power play opportunity for the Hilltoppers. Marquette’s Mike Gilbert capitalized, scoring at the 6:52 mark on assists from Danny McKenna and Max Boll.
But Fond du Lac responded, evening up the game at 11:01 on a shorthanded goal from Joseph Voight assisted by Caylen Dyni. Despite the slow start, which was a result of the penalty minute differential, the Cardinals went into the first intermission tied 1-1 with the Hilltoppers. “It was a rough first period,” Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said. “If anybody would have told me we’d take two five-minute major (penalties) in the first period and kill them off and come out 1-1, I would take it. I thought we came out OK, but we didn’t win the penalty battle and they got some opportunities.”
Fond du Lac (1-0) took the lead for good early in the second period when senior captain Jack Nejedlo scored on assists from Dyni and Chase Koenigs. Dyni would add a goal of his own two minutes after Nejedlo’s score.
With a goal and two assists, the junior Dyni delivered in his first game as an assistant captain. Sarazin and the Cards are counting on him to take on a larger role this season with the loss of a few crucial seniors from last year’s team and if Saturday’s game was any indication, he’s more than capable of that. “He did a great job,” Sarazin said of Dyni. “He had a highlight backhand in there. He’s always going hard and beating guys, doing the right thing.” Added Dyni: “Our team chemistry this year is unreal. I was just excited to get back on the ice this year and just picked it up.” Voight added his second goal midway through the third period on assists from Dayne Hefter and Noah Wilson, capping off the game’s scoring.
Fond du Lac goaltender William Schober played outstanding in net on Saturday, recording 25 saves and allowing just the early power play score. His performance helped minimize the early damage Marquette (1-2) caused and he shut down the Hilltoppers for the final two periods. “He was really good,” Sarazin said of Schober. “Any chance they had, he was there on the backdoor or there waiting for them. I think that’s deflating for a team. I don’t want to give up those chances to the other team, but they make a good play and he’s right there all over it.” Scott Pelkowski made 30 saves in goal for Marquette.
| Marquette | 1 | 0 | 0 | — 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | 2 | 1 | — 4 |
First period:
MAR— Mike Gilbert (Danny McKenna, Max Boll), 6:52 PP.
FDL— Joseph Voight (Caylen Dyni), 11:01 SH.
Second period:
FDL— Jack Nejedlo (Dyni, Chase Koenigs), 3:57.
FDL— Dyni, 5:34.
Third period:
FDL— Voight (Dayne Hefter, Noah Wilson), 7:37.
Saves: MAR— Scott Pelkowski, 30. FDL— William Schober, 25.
Boys Hockey preview
Despite losing four of its top players from last year’s squad, the Fond du Lac boys hockey team has high hopes entering the 2014-15 season. The Cardinals lose leading scorer Michael Wilson (team-high 54 points) from last year’s 12-12-1 team, as well as Bailey Koenigs (24 points), Ian Tess-Wanat (22 points) and Alex Graf (16 points). Those four players accounted for much of the experience and offensive production of Fond du Lac’s 2013-14 squad, which finished tied for third in the Badgerland Conference. That said, 11th-year coach Ryan Sarazin believes his team has the potential to be just as good or better this year. “Last year, we were average and I don’t like teams to be average,” Sarazin said. “Last year, there were games where we gave teams games where we normally don’t lose. That’s what kind of drives a coach nuts. We were not good at certain times. We had leads that we gave up against teams that we normally do well against. … We’ve got kind of a mix of young and old. We build a tough schedule and that’s a tough thing, but we expect to be above average. Hopefully we can follow through on that.”
The Cardinals’ success this season may hinge on the play of senior captain Jack Nejedlo, who scored 16 points in only five games last year. Nejedlo returned late in the year after suffering a knee injury in the football season the previous fall. Nejedlo scored 62 points as a sophomore. “Him being gone last year hurt us and when he returned he was really dynamic,” Sarazin said of Nejedlo. “A very extraordinary return off a knee injury. He helped us play better going into the playoffs. The offense runs through him and junior Caylen Dyni. Both look really dynamic here and they’re really putting a lot of tempo into practice.” Dyni scored 14 points last year as a sophomore.
Defensively, the Cardinals return junior goaltender William Schober, who had a 3.07 goals-against average a season ago. Sarazin said the team is building its defense around Shober, who gained a bunch of experience as the primary goaltender in 2013-14. “He has a ton of experience,” Sarazin said of Schober. “He played 10 games his freshman year. Last year he played every game and got a ton of confidence.” Apart from Schober, Fondy’s defense will rely on the likes of Noah Wilson, Chase Koenigs and Hunter Garrison. “I feel good about the defense,” Sarazin said. “Building out from William.”