MONROE — Monroe had all of the momentum in an overtime Badger Conference game against Sauk Prairie Jan. 7. The Cheesemakers put more shots on goal and had puck possession, but it only took one breakaway score for the Eagles to come away with the 5-4 victory.

Looking on the bright side, though, Monroe improved quickly throughout the contest.

The Eagles outshot the Cheesemakers 28-15 in the first two periods with much time spent in Sauk Prairie’s offensive zone. The lone penalty of the contest — a cross-check by Brady Spotts — gave the Eagles their first goal in the first period. On the power play, Brock Hill waited behind the goal, assessing his options. He found Ryan Rickard in front of the net, who put it past Monroe’s Brock Brandli with a one-timer. 

Sauk Prairie looked to take that one-goal lead into the third period, but Patrick Alt knotted the game at 1-1 with 40 seconds left on the clock in the second frame.

Coming out of the locker room for the third stanza, the momentum shift was apparent. Monroe created chaos in front of the Sauk Prairie net in the first three minutes before goalie Corbin Domka covered the puck. Six minutes later, Monroe took the lead with an unassisted goal from Cam Newcomer.

In the final nine minutes of the contest, though, the two teams scored six combined goals. Connor Grant put a shot on goal that trickled away from Brandli, allowing Brock Hill to score on the rebound. Just 30 seconds after tying the game, the Eagles took a 3-2 lead with a goal from Gunnar Nachreiner, who took advantage of a Cheesemaker turnover. Less than a minute after that, Monroe evened the score at 3-3. Brody Koehn drew the defender on a 2-on-1, leaving Carter Nemergut open for the cross-ice pass and goal. 

After a small lull, the Cheesemakers regained the lead. Spotts won a face off in the offensive zone, where it trickled out to Alt, who kicked it out to defenseman Brody Goode. He skated toward the middle of the zone and let it fly for a score. But Monroe couldn’t maintain the lead to the end, as Nachreiner notched his second goal of the game with two minutes left. 

In the final minute, it appeared as if Monroe would get a power-play opportunity. Koehn skated down the ice and was knocked off course by a defender — eliciting interference complaints from the crowd —  but no penalty was called.

Knotted at 4-4, another eight minutes were added to the clock for overtime. Koehn hit the pipe in the first minute while Alt and Spotts put shots on goal. With just over a minute left, Nachreiner completed his hat trick with the game-winning goal.

With the loss, Monroe drops to 5-9 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Cheesemakers remain in the upper half of the conference with 10 points — tied with Waunakee, Monona Grove and Oregon all four points behind McFarland.